Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Absentee votes widen Bush lead; parties await court showdown by David Espo Associated Press Geoige W. Bush’s campaign fierce ly attacked the hand-recounting of votes in Florida’s overtime presidential elec tion Sunday, depicting a process rid dled with human error and Democratic bias. A1 Gore’s lawyers defended the ef fort in papers filed with the state Supreme Court. * “I think when the American people learn about these things, they’re going to ask themselves, ‘What in the name of God is going on here?’ ” said Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, brought to Austin, Texas, by the Bush campaign to lead the GOP assault. He alleged ballots had been dropped, misfiled and mishandled by ex hausted — or pro-Gore — officials. Seven days after America voted, the final tally of overseas absentee ballots showed Bush lengthening his lead from an almost invisible 300 votes to a still minuscule 930 out of 6 million votes cast. As court-challenged recounts paused for the night in two counties, Gore had a net gain of 67 votes, which if they are counted would cut Bush’s lead to 863. There was conflict in the overseas count, too, as the GOP charged De I mocrats with systematically challenging votes cast by members of the armed forces. In rebuttal, Gore spokesman Chris Lehane accused Bush of injecting “raw, crass partisan politics into a situation that ought to be guided by the laws of our land.” All sides readied aiguments for Mon day’s hearing before the state Supreme Court. Ruling unanimously on Friday, the justices stopped Secretary of State Katherine Harris from disallowing the hand recounts and certifying Bush the winner, at least until it can consider the issue. Controversy trumped certainty from one end of the state to the other. While Republicans charged De mocrats with constructing a flawed re count process, Democrats said the GOP was forcing interminable delays. “We will all be here until Christmas if this continues,” said Charles Burton, a member of the Palm Beach County canvassing board deep into the hand re count of 462,350 ballots. Passions rose later in the day when Republicans accused officials in Miami Dade County of planning to take some ballots that can’t be counted by machine, determine the voter’s intent, then mark new ballots accordingly—pink-colored for identification — that the machines would accept. “They’ve gone from counting votes, to looking for votes, to now they’re going to manufacturing votes,” chaiged Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., who arrived in Florida during the day. Mayco Villafana, spokesman for county, said if ballots are contested by either side, “the canvassing board can take that card, replace it with a pink du plicate and anyone can tell that it is a du plicate card and that there is an origi nal.” Up the coast in Palm Beach Coun ty, Burton said the recounts were un precedented. “I don’t think there is anyone in this room who has done this before.” Or anywhere else, for that matter, in a contest that left Bush and Gore dan gling and the nation without a president elect 11 days after the votes were cast. Neither man emerged from Election Day with enough Electoral College votes to claim victory. And that made Florida, where Bush’s brother is governor and where Gore and running mate Joseph Lieberman cam paigned energetically, the decisive state. Gore has pressed for the recounts, in the hope they will allow him to over take Bush’s narrow lead. By the time counting shut dovdt for the night, recounts from 259 of 609 precincts in Broward County showed Gore with a gain of 79 votes, but totals from 31 of 531 precincts in Palm Beach County showed Bush with again of 12. The canvassing board had counted 202 precincts, but they released vote totals only from precincts where no question able ballots remained. “If there are no objections, we ex pect to begin manually counting bal lots this coming Monday, and our goal is to complete a counting by Friday, Dec. 1,” said David Leahy, supervisor of elec tions for the county where 654,000 bal lots awaited a hand review. Late Saturday, local Republicans asked an 11th Judicial Circuit judge to stop the county from running the ballots ‘ through machines again. Harris’ final tal ly of overseas absentee ballots showed Bush gaining 630 votes on his rival. She released the figures unceremoni ously, a contrast to earlier plans to trum pet the results and certify Bush winner. College Press Exchange (Left) Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks to state Commissioner of Agriculture Bob Crawford. (Above) Ivy Korman of the Dade County Election Board shows some of the federal write-in bal lots that came in Wednesday. Clinton concludes visit to Vietnam ■ No animosity left from war, president says by Terence Hunt Associated Press HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Returning from a historic trip to Viet nam, President Clinton said Sunday that “a big welcome” awaits Americans in this struggling communist nation as it looks with hope to the future without bitterness about the wartime past. “The years of animosity are past,” Clinton said, a quarter century after the Vietnam Whr ended with a communist takeover of U.S.-backed South Vietnam. “Today we have a shared interest in your well-being and your prosperity.” Clinton urged Vietnam to open its economy and allow greater individual freedoms. Despite Clinton’s optimism, Vietnam’s powerful Communist Party chief, Le Kha Phieu, expressed wariness about economic reforms and America’s involvement in Vietnam. Phieu emphatically stated that while the former Soviet Union has crumbled, the socialist system in Vietnam still stands, Clinton’s economic adviser Gene Sper ling said, recounting the talks Saturday in Hanoi. “What was the cause of our resis tance against foreign aggression,” the Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan quoted Phieu as telling Clinton. “The root cause was because imperalism col onized other countries. In an interview with CNN, Clinton said he had “a nice little debate” with Phieu about the United States and “stout ly disputed that we were an imperialist country. We had never had any imperi alist designs here.” Clinton said the trend toward free dom in Vietnam “is virtually irreversible ... And as you can see in the streets, there is a lot of goodwill toward America here.” The president flew back to a nation still uncertain whether it will be Geoige W. Bush or A1 Gore who takes Clinton’s place on Jan. 20. “I don’t think we should have all this hand-wringing, dire predictions,” Clin ton said in the CNN interview broadcast on Sunday. “Wfe’ve got a system that’s under way and you know ... these guys, the advo cates for either side, are under enormous pressure and, of course, they are being pretty snippy with each other from time to time.” Departing Ho Chi Minh City on Sun day, Air Force One was loaded with silks, purses, paintings, lacquer ware and oth er gifts purchased by the presidential en tourage on a 22,192-mile, weeklong trip to an Asian summit in Brunei and the groundbreaking stop in Vietnam. Clin ton’s plane was stopping in Alaska to re fuel, with a scheduled arrival in Wash ington before dawn Monday. “I am going home determined to con tinue the partnership we have for a bet ter future for the people of Vietnam, the people of the United States and all those whom we can reach together,” Clinton told a group of business leaders just be fore his departure. Clinton was the first president to vis it this country since 1969 and the first ever to stop in Hanoi. While he spoke hopefully of the future, there were re minders of the painful past. During his stay he visited an exca vation site near Hanoi, where searchers probed the mud for the remains of a U.S. pilot shot down 33 years ago. He met with children disfigured by foigotten land mines. And he watched silently as the re mains of three MIAs began the journey home. In a gesture for religious freedom, Clinton met Sunday with Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, the Roman Catholic iucuuisnop oi no L,ni iviiiui v-ny. White House officials said they spoke of' problems the archbishop faces in a coun try where international human rights groups and the State Department cite a pattern of harassment and imprisonment of Buddhist and other religious leaders. Earlier Sunday, he plunged into crowds in a narrow shopping street, shak ing hands and stopping at open-front mar kets to buy last-minute gifts. To a gener ation of American GIs, this bustling city of 5 million people was known as Saigon before its surrender to commu nist forces in America’s most humiliat ing military defeat. Ho Chi Minh City is the commer cial hub of Vietnam. Clinton visited a container port on the Saigon River and assured Vietnam that it will benefit by embracing the global economy. “Already in the last decade Vietnam’s exports to the world have increased by six times over,” the president said. “You will grow even more as your economy becomes more open and the rule of law develops.” Yemeni men suspected in attack on USS Cole by Ahmed Al-Haj Associated Press ADEN, Yemen — In one portrait emerging from Yemen, the plotters who attacked a U.S. warship in the port of Aden came from across the re gion, inspired by hatred, hardened by war and determined enough to try again and again until they were able to strike a mighty target. Yemeni sources close to the in vestigation of the Oct. 12 bombing say authorities have detained six Yemeni men they believe were key accomplices. Scores of people have been held so far, but the sources said these six are the first described as cen tral players — including a main plotter. The sources, who spoke late last week on condition they not be named, said no charges would be filed until the investigation was complete. Yemen’s Interior Minister Mohammed Hussein Arab told 26 September, a state-run weekly newspaper, that charges would be referred to the ju diciary “in the next few weeks.” The article, which ran in last week’s edition, quoted the minister as saying ‘several key suspects’ had been arrested. It wasn’t clear if those were the six referred to by the AP’s sources. The sources said the main ac complice was in charge of the oper ation in Yemen and coordinated be tween different cells involved in the attack. He reportedly told Yemeni in vestigators he received his orders from a man in the United Arab Emirates de scribed as an Arab veteran of the U.S. backed guerrilla war to drive Soviet forces from Afghanistan. Quoting Prime Minister Abdul Karim al-Iryani, The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the two men who carried out the suicide bomb ing have been identified as Yemeni veterans of the Afghan war. But ac cording to the AP’s sources, the man believed to be a main plotter of the Aden bombing said one of the suicide bombers may have been from Saudi Arabia. The sources also said two small American government planes left Aden for the United States Wfednesday and Thursday carrying documents relat ed to the case. Details about the documents were not known. After months of careful planning, two suicide bombers brought a small boat laden with explosives alongside the USS Cole and detonated it. The explosion killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured 39. The main accomplice reportedly told investigators he never met either of the two men and communicated with them through a third party. The plotters reportedly worked in cells of two or three people, and many suspects did not know each oth er. Ed Badolato, a former U.S. gov ernment anti-terrorism official, said the plotters were organized in cell structures that point to at least three militant Islamic groups: Egypt’s al Gamaa al-Islamiya; Afghan war vet erans linked to America’s No. 1 ter ror suspect, Osama bin Laden; or homegrown Yemeni groups. Both the Egyptian group, which aims to overthrow its country’s sec ular government, and bin Laden’s fol lowers have historically had strong ties to Yemen, where they have found support among Yemenis able to pro vide them fake travel and identifica tion documents—either out of sym pathy for their cause or simply for cash. “They are famous for doing this, not just for bin Laden, but for other groups,” Badolato said. Badolato said any government em ployees who may have helped the Cole bombing plotters were not spon sored by the government. Yemeni au thorities have detained lower- and rni dlevel security officials in connection with the attack. - While Yemeni officials may soon bring charges against the suspects now in custody, the U.S. investigation will continue and it may take time be fore it leads to members of any broad er conspiracy, said terrorism expert Yossef Bodansky, an American. “I think it will be plenty of time before we start pointing fingers,” Bo dansky said. The Yemeni sources said the main accomplice was from Aden and three others were from Lahej, a Muslim fundamentalist stronghold 20 miles north of Aden. The two others were described as Yemeni with no further details. The sources have said government officials in Lahej provided the sus pected bombers with government cars for use within Aden and between Aden and Lahej. Fire erupts at Colorado resort hotel ■ Guests forced to evacuate after flames ravage upper floors Associated Press VAIL, Colo. —A major fire broke out Saturday night at a 350-room ho tel at the base of Vail Mountain, forc ing the evacuation of guests in this ski resort community. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Guests at Marriott’s Vail Mountain Resort hotel were immediately evac uated, but it wasn’t immediately known how many were staying at the hotel, said Vail emergency dispatcher John Moran. Witnesses said flames ravaged the upper floors of the south wing of the six-floor hotel. At least four rooms were gutted, and the roof was extensively damaged. Flamesand billowing smoke were visible from a distance. An alarm at hotel sounded at about 8:45 p.m., Moran said Firefighters from five agencies were on the scene late Saturday trying to control the fire. No other structures were believed to be threatened. Firefighters extinguished flaming debris as it fell from the upper stories to the ground, witnesses said. Vail’s ski season opened Wednes day. * News Briefs ■ Jury misconduct , claim threatens corruption verdict LOS ANGELES (AP) — The fore man of the jury that convicted the first three officers to go to trial in the city’s police corruption scandal denied an al ternate juror’s allegations that he and others prejudged the defendants’ guilt. “No, I did not say that, that would n’t be something I’d even utter, be cause the law says they’re innocent until proven guilty,” Victor Flores told KNBC-TV after a Superior Court judge scheduled a hearing next week to get to the bottom of the matter. A second juror also told The Asso ciated Press on Friday that jurors acted without bias. Defense lawyers said if the alternate juror’s allegations are true then Wednesday’s convictions should be thrown out. The jury of seven women and five men convicted Sgt. Brian Liddy, Sgt. Edward Ortiz and Officer Michael Buchanan of conspiracy and other crimes involving the framing of gang members four years ago. Officer Paul Harper was acquitted of all charges. The four were the first members of the now-defunct Rampart station anti-gang unit to be tried on charges based on the allegations of ex Officer Rafael Perez, who said officers beat, robbed, framed and sometimes shot innocent people in the city’s tough Rampart neighborhood near downtown. ■ Jimmy Carter’s boyhood home named historic site PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Jimmy Carter dedicated his rural boyhood home as a national historic site, recalling how his values came from his black neighbors and Ills possessions were all from Sears Roebuck. “You can take a 1930 or ’32... cat alog and figure out everything we owned,” Carter said Friday. “As a mat ter of fact, this house is a Sears Roe buck house.” Carter said the simple, white frame home, built from Sears plans in 1922, was owned by his family from 1928 until 1948. ' He said all his childhood friends and neighbors were black and he often spent the night with a black family, sleeping on the floor on a pallet filled with com shucks. “Those were the days when the races were shaped in their relationship by a Supreme Court ruling that was called separate but equal,” he said, noting that blacks had inferior schools, could not vote and could not serve on juries. “There was no equality at all... It’s embarrassing now to look back on those days.” Carter, who worked closely with - the Park Service on the restoration, said seeing the farm as he knew it as a child was an emotional experience. “It’s exactly the way it was... before 1 we got the windmill and running water in the house,” he said. ■ Mandela says education is key LOS ANGELES(AP) — Former South African President Nelson Man dela told local youth leaders that edu cation is key to making a difference. “There are those who have risen to the highest position with the most humble educational background,” Mandela said Saturday. “But they are few and far between. Education is one of the most important weapons that you can have.” Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison under apartheid, said determina tion is what helps people become ef fective role models. “Motivation is very important, but it is determination that will make you cross the highest mountain and the most difficult river,” he said. Mandela was elected president in the country’s first all-race elections in 1994. The 82-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner retired from the presi dency last year. ‘ The meeting was hosted by the * South African consulate and the Los ~ Angeles-based Artists for a New South *’ Africa.