Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Violence erupts in Serbian prison BY DRAGAN ILIC Associated Press NIS, Yugoslavia — Fire and shoot ing broke out Tuesday in one of three Serbian prisons where inmates rioted to demand better treatment as well as amnesty for some convictions, while a female inmate at another jail spoke of “an orgy of rape” and other violence by rampaging male prisoners. The spreading unrest was the newest demonstration of the problems facing the government of the new president, \bjislav Kostunica, as he tries to prevent the pent-up discontent that accumulat ed under the past regime from spilling over into anarchy. Spectators gathered outside die prison in Pozarevac, east of Belgrade, saw flames shooting from at least four buildings in side the compound and heard gunfire im mediately afterward. The fires appeared to have burned out or been douseij sev eral hours later and the situation appeared calm. In the southern city of Nis, where inmates had rioted Monday, a disheveled female prisoner told reporters the riot ers were raping and molesting die women. “They broke into our ward and it’s now hell inside,” said Bosiljka Sumas. “It’s an orgy of rape.” Sumas walked out of the compound. She said one of her friends had smuggled her outside, but she gave no details. “The ringleaders are forcing other prisoners into rape,” she said. “They are also fighting among themselves.” At Pozarevac, about 50 miles east of Belgrade, prison warden Stipe Marusic said guards shot in the air. Some of the : inmates told reporters contacted by tele phone that they were shot at and that several prisoners were injured. The riots at Pozarevac, Nis and Stem ska Mitrovica appear linked by common demands focusing on an end to alleged ill treatment and inclusion of Serbs jailed for some criminal activities into a pro posed amnesty law that would free Koso vo Albanian political prisoners who had been put behind bars underjomier Pres ident Slobodan Milosevic. It wasn’t disclosed which crimes the inmates wanted covered in an amnesty. The amnesty law, suggested Kostu nica, is still at the discussion stage. It • would affect ethnic Albanians arrested for activity in or support of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army. At Pozarevac, witnesses saw inmates perched on the prison’s rooftops, some brandishing signs: “Wego out, JULgoes in. ” They were alluding to the neo-com munist Yugoslav Left party that ruled Yugoslavia together with Milosevic’s So cialists until the former president lost elections and was then toppled in a re volt Oct. 5. Other signs hoisted by inmates since the unrest began Sunday have expressed support for Kostunica, in an indication that backing for his pro-democracy poli cies and rejection of the Milosevic era extends deep into all segments of Ser bian society. The unrest could hurt Kostunica and his supporters. They now control government on the federal level but not in the two Yu goslav republics. With elections in Ser bia, the main Yugoslav republic, only six weeks away, the riots give their pro-Milo sevic opponents fresh ammunition in al legations that the new authorities are un able to deal with growing anarchy that wouldn’t have been tolerated under Milo sevic. Although opinion polls now project a solid victory for Kostunica’s Democ ratic Opposition of Serbia in the Dec. 23 elections, his camp is worried their sup port could erode until then, as pro-democ racy euphoria is replaced by disen chantment over price hikes, growing energy shortages and other hardships. While the economy was destroyed un der Milosevic, there is fear his succes sors will harvest the blame. In Nis, hundreds of helmeted riot po lice, toting submachine guns, took up positions around the prison, while hun dreds of jeering inmates climbed to the rooftops inside the compound. The police didn’t act, presumably to give time to negotiations between the inmates and Vladimir Domazet, a Nis city official, who had entered the prison to try to calm the situation. The prisoners had earlier rejected an offer to meet with chief warden Mio drag Djordjevic and other prison offi cials, saying they wanted to negotiate in stead with senior justice ministry officials on demands that they be included in the proposed amnesty for Kosovo Albanian prisoners. About 1,000 inmates at Nis began a hunger strike Monday in a show of sol idarity with Seibian prisoners in the north ern city of Sremska Mitrovica. The in mates in Sremska Mitrovica began rioting late Sunday; they claimed they were beat en by guards and demanded an expan sion of the proposed amnesty law. One prisoner, 30-year-old Vasilije Kujovic, slipped and fell from a rooftop early Tuesday. He later died at the Nis hospital after suffering brain damage, the state Tanjug news agency reported. Three more inmates were slightly injured. An ethnic Albanian inmate who spoke to The Associated Press by tele phone said all 300 Albanian prisoners in the prison were locked in a separate block, sitting in the dark because the electric ity had been turned off. The inmate, who didn’t give his name for fear of reprisal, said the Serbs had asked them to join the riot, but they declined. Palestinians call for international protection force ■ Palestinian request comes amidst clashes and U.S. objections by Sergei Shargorodsky Associated Press . JERUSALEM — The Palestinians pressed for an international protection force despite U.S. objections as new clash es erupted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Tuesday. A Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire. A second Palestinian died Tuesday of injuries sustained last week. The two deaths bring to 175 the number of peo ple killed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting since Sept. 28. Most of the victims have been Palestinian. Israel’s navy said a suicide bomber apparently was aboard a fishing boat that exploded overnight near an Israeli patrol boat off the Gaza Strip. The Israeli vessel wasn’t damaged. The fishing boat came from Egypt, but the assailant apparently was Palestin lan, an Israeli secunty source said on con dition of anonymity. Also Tuesday, Israel permitted Gaza International Airport to reopen during daylight hours. Two flights landed, in cluding a German military plane taking 23 Palestinians seriously wounded in re cent clashes to Germany for treatment. Israel had closed the airport shortly after Israeli-Palestinian fighting broke out and a bus carrying Israeli workers pame under fire. An Israeli newspaper said investiga tors were re-enacting the Oct. 1 shoot ing death of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Aldura, whose terrifying last moments were captured on camera and broadcast around the world. The Israeli army has said its initial investigation showed the boy, who along with his father was caught in an Israeli Palestinian gun battle, apparently was killed by Israeli fire. The Haaretz daily said the army has since asked private investigators to conduct a new probe, and that a reenactment at one of the army’s firing ranges was part of that effort. The army had no comment Tuesday. Mideast seepages Middle East inquiry group members named by Clinton by Barry Schweid Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Clinton named fomier Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to lead an inquiry into the cause of the violence that wracked the West Bank and Gaza for five weeks and imperiled already shaken peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians. White House press secretary Jake Siewert said Tuesday that the committee . would work with the two sides to “pro vide an independent and objective re view of the current crisis with the goal of preventing its recurrence.” Mitchell, a Maine Democrat who was Clinton’s mediator for Northern Ire land, will be joined by another former senator, Warren Rudman, a New Hamp shire Republican, and three Europeans. They are former Turkish President Suleyman Dentirel, Foreign Minister Thorbjom Jagland of Norway and Javier Solana, a Spanish diplomat who is the se nior security official of the European Union. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had demanded the inquiry be conducted through the United Nations, which con demned Israel’s forceful response to Pales tinian rioters. But at the emergency sum mit meeting three weeks ago at Shami i el-Sheik, Egypt, the United States was given the primary role in assembling the commission. In a gesture to Arafat, it was agreed that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan would be consulted. Tuesday’s White House statement said Clinton devised the committee in consultation with Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Annan. Annan welcomed Clinton’s an nouncement and said he is convinced the committee will be impartial and thor oughness and “make an important con tribution towards the search for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.” He called on the Israelis and tire Pales tinians to implement the Shami el-Sheikh agreement “with the aim of bringing vi olence to an end and restoring an at mosphere of calm in which the search for a peace settlement can be resumed.” Arafat is due to meet with Clinton at the White House on Thursday. Barak will follow on Sunday. Siewert said the immediate priority was to implement all the provisions of the summit agreement, particularly those aimed at stopping the bloodshed and vi olence. Arafat and Barak had agreed under Clinton’s mediation to have their forces back away from confrontation Over-the-counter drugs being pulled from stores ■ Ingredients in diet and cold pills may cause strokes by David Ho Associated Press WASHINGTON - A number of major drug store chains are pulling dozens of over-the-counter cold reme dies and diet pills from their shelves after the government warned an in gredient could cause hemorrhagic strokes, especially in young women. The Food and Drug Administra •• tion issued an unusually strong warn ing Monday, telling Americans to im mediately quit using drugs containing phenylpropanolamine, or PR\, which is found Dexatrim, Tavist-D and dozens of other over-the-counter med icines. The agency, which intends to ban the ingredient, asked manufac turers voluntarily to stop selling PRA containing drugs immediately and to replace the ingredient with a safer al ternative. Rite Aid, with 3,800 drug stores in 30 states and the District of Co lumbia, soon will begin posting warn ing signs and removing products with PPA, spokeswoman Jody Cook said “We would advise our customers to check with the pharmacist about the alternatives,” she said. CVS Pharmacy, which has 4,100 stores, and Walgreen Co., with 3,200 stores, made similar announcements. Dr. Charles Ganley, the FDA’s nonprescription drugs chief, said buy ers should be alert for PPA in the in gradient list of nonprescription cold relievers — both brand names and generic or store brands—and instead choose decongestant pills with the safe alternative pseudoephedrine or use nasal sprays. Over-the-counter alternatives don’t exist for diet pills, however, so dieters will have to consult doctors about prescription-only alternatives, Ganley said. Whitehall-Robins Healthcare quit shipping PPA-containing Dimetapp on Monday. New liquid Dimetapp formulas lacking PPA will head for store shelves next week, with pill ver sions to follow. Also, some stores are selling PB\-containing versions of its Robitussin-CF product, and some are selling a new non-PPA formula, in boxes flagged with a yellow band. SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare said people shouldn’t use its PFA-containing Contac 12-hour Cold Capsules, but five other Con tac versions contain the safe pseu doephedrine. Even though manufacturers learned three weeks ago that the FD\ was preparing to act, when the agency’s scientific advisers declared PPA unsafe, many scrambled Mon day to decide what to do. Top-selling manufacturers that refused to reveal their plans include Novartis Corp., maker of PPA-con tainingTriaminic and Tavist-D; Bay er Corp., maker of Alka-Seltzer Plus cold medicines; and Chattem Inc., maker of Dexatrim diet pills. About 6 billion doses of PFA are sold in this country each year, most ly without prescriptions. There are a few PRA-containing prescription de congestants, and the FEW. asked their makers also to stop selling them while it moves to ban prescription use as well. While the risk of a hemorrhagic stroke, or bleeding in the brain, is very small to an individual user, these are often deadly strokes, and survivors can be left disabled. With millions of Americans swal lowing PRA daily, the FDA estimated it could be to blame for 200 to 500 strokes yearly just in people under age 50. Hemorrhagic strokes typically occur in the elderly, and are extremely rare underage 50. In the 1980s, how ever, medical journals cited several dozen young women who suddenly had strokes days after taking their first PPA-containing diet pill. A five-year Yale University study comparing PRA use among stroke sur vivors with healthy people conclud ed that PPA increases stroke risk for young women within three days of taking PPA-containing appetite sup pressants or within three days of tak ing their first-ever PRA dose for any reason. In some cases, using PPA in creased stroke risk 12- to 15-fold. Nobody knows why, although first-time PPA use sometimes tem porarily raises blood pressure, an ef fect that wanes as the body gets used to die drug. Risk was highest with the higher doses—more than 75 mil ligrams daily — that dieters typical ly used. The study didn’t find men at risk, but the FDA cautioned that enough men weren’t studied to be sure they’re OK. Doctors separate Siamese twins, one twin passes away by Emma Ross Associated Press LONDON — The stronger of 3 month-old conjoined twins struggled for life Tuesday after being separated from her sister, who died as a result of the 20-hour operation. The surviving girl, known only as Jodie, was in “critical but stable” con dition, St. Mary’s Hospital in Man chester said. “As with all major suigery, the first few days following an opera tion are the most critical,” the hospi tal said. Her sister, known as Mary, died following suigery to separate the two, St. Mary’s said. Experts said the case was the first in Britain where judges had to choose whether to accelerate the death of one person to save another. The Court of Appeal allowed the operation after doctors said both girls would have died within months without it. The next 48 hours are critical, ex perts say. “The process is by no means over,” said Dr. Lewis Spitz, a pediatric sur geon at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. “You have to remember that a huge body mass has been taken from them of between at least 45 percent to 50 percent.” Much depends on the function of Jodie’s bladder, bowel and lower limbs, he added. Doctors say Jodie will probably need further surgery to reconstruct some organs damaged in the surgery, including her rectum, sexual organs and lower abdomen. She is also ex pected to need skin grafts. The hospital provided no details of the complicated procedure, which began Monday and lasted until early Tuesday. But according to testimony at the Court of Appeal, doctors said one of the main problems was that Jodie’s aorta, her main artery taking blood away from the heart, was feed ing blood to Mary and that her vena cava, the main vein bringing blood back to the heart, was handling Mary’s blood as well her own. Both those blood vessels would need to be separated and divided to give Jodie the best chance of surviv ing, and severing those connections would kill Mary, an unidentified doc tor was quoted in court records as say ing. The legal battle began shortly af ter the twins were bom at St. Mary’s in August with lused spines, joined at the abdomen and with amis and legs Siamese Twins see page 5 , News Briefs ■ New Hampshire votes first results in WASHINGTON (AP) —America was electing a president Tuesday in what bid to be the closest election in 40 years, choosing between Republican George W. Bush’s promise to be a “uniter not a divider” and Democrat A1 Gore’s claim that he alone has the experience to “fight for you and win.” Bush was casting his ballot in Austin, Texas, and making calls to West Coast radio stations to urge voters to turn out. He also was calling voters in Michigan, Oregon, Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin After some pre-dawn campaigning in Florida, Gore was voting in Carthage, Tenn. The earliest results came in moments after midnight Tuesday from two New Hampshire towns. In Dixville Notch, the result was Bush, 21, Gore 5, Ralph Nad er 1. In nearby Hart’s Location, it was Bush 17, and Gore 13, with one vote for a wrte-in candidate. ■ Judge refuses to block California crackdown on vote swapping LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge has refused to stop state officials from cracking down on California-based Web sites that let users in one state trade their vote for president to someone in another state. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California had sought to get a temporary restraining order, arguing Secretary of State Bill Jones’ actions were an unconstitutional restriction of free speech. U.S. District Judge Robert Kelle her denied the request in a ruling issued Monday night. The Web sites seek to have Green Party candidate Ralph Nader support ers cast their votes for Vice President A1 Gore in states where Tuesday's presi dential race is expected to be close. In exchange, Democrats agree to vote for Nader in states where Republican George W. Bush is expected to win. ■ Study links low birth weight to early puberty CHICAGO (AP) — Early puberty in some girls may be linked to low birth weight, Spanish researchers say, offering a tantalizing theory that could help ex plain the baffling trend toward preco cious sexual development. The findings come from a study of 54 Spanish girls who showed breast de velopment around age 8. Those who weighed 5.5 pounds on average at birth started menstruation 1.6 years earlier than those of normal birth weight. One theory is early puberty in these girls might be a result of the body overzealously trying to make up for lost time. Some scientists have theorized that chemicals that mimic estrogen, the fe male sex hormone, may be the cause. ■ Clinton signs debt relief bill WASHINGTON (AP) - Calling it “good for our souls,” President Clin ton signed a foreign aid bill that supplies $435 million to forgive debts of the world’s poorest countries. The money was contained in an al ready-signed $14.9 billion foreign aid bill that also increased military aid for Israel, provided $100 million to the new gov ernment in Serbia and $300 million to fight HIV infections and AIDS around the world and lifted a ban on U.S. aid for overseas family- planning groups that ad vocate or participate in abortions. With the U.S. funding, the Interna tional Monetary Fund expects to meet its goal of providing 20 of the world’s poorest countries with debt relief by Dec. 31, officials said.