Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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■ H|H fl V'. ^BHR 1 H • - •• .’V$r: -.|■ ;> -s-: • snEs.j.ioier»-»«aMtsaE-:aDB-. g^i:^ jt»-' ^gni -■aw'aranuwaf^gfjBywy iiwjwa !»»»■«•■*•«»,«»«r«c—i—ia»'ft■■■: . Page 4 '(Of 09HltCOCR Wednesday, February 21, 2001 FBI agent suspected of spying for Russia by Karen Gullo Associated Press WASHINGTON — A veteran FBI agent was accused Tuesday of spying for Moscow for more than 15 years and giving the KGB the names(of three Russian intelligence agents working for the United States in exchange for up to $1.4 million in cash as well as diamonds. President Bush read a statement to reporters traveling with him on Air Force One, in which he called it “a difficult day for those who love our country.” He added: ‘To anyone who would betray its trust, I warn you, wedll find you and we’ll bring you to justice.” “Individuals who commit treasonous acts against the United States will be held fully accountable,” Attorney General John Ashcroft said. Robert Philip Hanssen, 56, is only the third FBI agent ever accused of spying. The government charged him with espionage and conspiracy to commit espionage. He was arrested at a park near his home in Vienna, Va., Sunday night and arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. “The arrest of Robert Hanssen for espionage should remind us all, every American should know that our nation, our free society is an international target in a dangerous world,” Ashcroft said. “In fact, the espionage operations designed to steal vital secrets of the United States are as intense today as they have ever been.” According to a 100-page affidavit, Hanssen voluntarily became an agent of the KGB in 1985 while assigned to the intelligence division of the FBI field office in New York City and as supervisor of a foreign counterintelli gence squad. He independently disclosed the identity of two KGB official who, first compromised by Aldrich Ames, had been recruited by the government to serve as “agents in place” at the Soviet embassy in Washington. When these two KGB returned to Moscow, they were tried on espionage charges and executed. The third was imprisoned and ultimately released, said FBI Director Louis Freeh. The FBI director said agents covertly intercepted $50,000 in cash intended for Hanssen. Overall, Freeh said, Hanssen had received more than $650,000 in cash, as well as diamonds, and an additional $800,000 had been set aside for him in an overseas escrow account. “This was his bread and butter for many, many years,” said Freeh. Hanssen kept his identity a secret even from the Russians, who didn’t learn his name or his employer until his Mourning begins for fallen NASCAR legend Earnhardt by Eddie. Pells Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. —The newspapers were all gone before sunrise. The fans lined up seven-deep to place flowers at a makeshift monument outside the track. A hastily scrawled sign on a pickup truck read, “No. 3, RIP.” Daytona Beach was in mourning Monday, as race fans began the solemn return home after the death of the great Dale Earnhardt. “I guess I’ll go out to the races to watch his son now,” said race fen Mark Yarashefski of Highland Falls. N. Y„ dressed head to toe in Earnhardt’s signature black. “But it’s never going to be the same.” The top officials at NASCAR admitted as much, even though they wouldn’t stray from their traditional stances. Their afternoon news conference was full of pronouncements about what they wouldn’t do. They wouldn’t cancel next week’s race in Rockingham, N.C., they wouldn’t immediately decide whether to retire Earnhardt’s famous No. 3 Chevrolet and they refused to take stopgap safety measures following their latest tragedy. They also had no immediate plans for a special tribute. “We’re not going to react for the sake of reacting,” NASCAR president Mike Helton said. Helton said NASCAR officials had impounded Earnhardt’s car and were holding it at an undisclosed location to analyze the accident. Earnhardt’s family made no funeral arrangements as of Monday. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished second Sunday in the Daytona 500, said his family appreciated the outpouring of support. “We’ll get through this,” he told WBTV in Charlotte, N.C. “I’m sure he’d want us to keep going, and that’s what we’re going to do.” Dr. Steve Bohannon, who tried to save Earnhardt’s life as the driver sat slumped in the wreckage, said the autopsy confirmed what everyone suspected: Earnhardt died on impact when his car slammed into the wall on the final turn of the final lap. He sustained a skull fracture near the base of his brain. It was much the same injury responsible for the deaths of three NASCAR drivers last year. Once again, the debate began whether the Head And Neck Support (HANS) device would have saved his life. “He was just doing his job,” Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip said. “Close racing sometimes makes contact Special to The Gamecock The crash that took Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s life during the last lap of the Daytona 500. happen, and sometimes contact happens with the wall. I don’t think anyone could have done anything any different in that situation to help Dale.” Newspapers were sold out before sunrise. The Orlando Sentinel and Daytona Beach News-Journal hastily printed thousands more copies to satisfy unprecedented demand. Outside the track, fans had already come up with thousands of ways to pay tribute and send their message.. The centerpiece of a makeshift memorial to The Intimidator was a wide semicircle of white posterboard sitting atop bronze easels outside the Daytona USA museum. Among the hundreds of poems and heartfelt messages scrawled on tne Hoards was one simple mougni, onered by a couple in Texas: “The Master. You Will Be Missed By All.” Indeed, there is no way to replace Earnhardt, the Man in Black, who always stole the show as he circled NASCAR’s well-wom tracks, collecting trophies, friends and enemies wherever he went. Waltrip said his victory was great, but he had been looking forward to the celebration even more. He had been close with Earnhardt for years, and Earnhardt finally hired him this year to drive a car for Dale Earnhardt Inc. ; “I couldn’t wait to get that big grab, that big hug on the neck, and to hear him say, ‘That’s what I’m talking about, right there,’” Waltrip said. The hug never came, and now NASCAR must figure a way to fill the void. Teens arrested in protessors deaths by Tom Davies Associated Press NEW CASTLE, Ind. - Waiting in the pre-dawn cold at a truck stop, two teenagers wanted for the slayings of two popular Dartmouth College professors were expecting a lift from a truck driver. Instead, a police officer who overheard a CB radio message from another trucker, James Hicks, who said the two teens were looking for a ride to California, arranged for the boys to be driven to the county jail. “I actually didn’t expect it to be them, but I thought it was worth checking out,” Sgt. William Ward said Monday. \\hrd pretended to be a trucker and radioed Hicks to drop the teens off at the Flying J Plaza on Interstate 70 for a 4 am. pickup. Instead of a tractor trailer, two deputies arrived. James Parker, 16, and Robert Tulloch, 17, were captured before dawn Monday, more than 700 miles from the site of the Hanover, N.H., slayings. Both face adult chaiges of two counts of first-degree murder in the Jan. 27 stabbing deaths of professors Half and Susannc Zantop. 1 Tulloch was due to appear Tuesday before Henry Superior Court Judge Michael Peyton and say whether he would voluntarily return to New Hampshire. Otherwise, the judge would schedule an extradition hearing. A hearing for Parker was delayed until the arrival of his attorney from New Hampshire, Henry County sheriff Kim Cronk said. Hicks, who had been hauling a load of M&M candy to Chicago, said he decided to give the pair a ride from Columbia, N.J., because they reminded him of his 17- and 13-year-old sons at home, and a 14-year-old son killed in a motorcycle accident in October. He told The Boston Globe he “just felt sorry for them.” Hicks was fired because of his company’s policy against picking up hitch hikers. The teens were to appear in court Tuesday for an extradition hearing. Parker’s attorney, Robert Katims, said no decision had been made on whether the boys would waive extradition. Parker’s parents and New Hampshire police visited the prison Monday night, but didn’t comment to reporters. “We love our son, and’we want the press to know that he’s innocent until proven guilty,” Tulloch’s mother, Diane, told The Dartmouth, a student newspaper. Authorities have refused to discuss a motive or any connection between the boys and the victims, who were stabbed repeatedly in their home. Half Zantop, 62, taught earth sciences. His wife, Susanne Zantop, 55, was chairwoman of the German Studies Department. Both were naturalized citizens who were natives of Germany. Orange County, Vt., Sheriff Dennis McClure said the boys became suspects in the Dartmouth case after authorities learned one had bought a military-style knife on the Internet. The boys were asked last Thursday to come in and provide their fingerprints, which they did voluntarily. They are believed to have left their hometown of Chelsea, Vt., the same day. Arrest warrants for both were issued and a man hunt began during the weekend. As police were taking them away, Hicks said, one of the boys — he’s not sure which one — looked him in the eye and said “I’m sorry’ They seemed sorry they did that to me.” arrest, Freeh said. The agent monitored the FBI’s own security systems to see if authorities had any suspicions about him. He apparently came under suspicion only late last year. “The trusted insider betrayed his trust without detection,” Freeh said. Ashcroft said he and Freeh had agreed to immediately launch a review of FBI practices. Freeh said Hanssen’s alleged conduct “represents the most traitorous actions imaginable.” He said the full extent of the damage done is not yet known “because no accurate damage assessment could be conducted without jeopardizing the investigation. We believe it was exceptionally grave.” Freeh credited the government for catching Hanssen “red-handed” in turning over secret documents but couldn’t explain how the agent was able to work for the Russians undetected for 15 years. “We don’t say at this stage that we have a system that can prevent this kind of conduct,” he said, adding that the bureau must rely on the integrity of people who take the oath of public service. The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the CIA, the State Department and the Justice Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Bellows said Hanssen could face the death penalty if convicted and could be fined up to $2.8 million — twice his alleged personal gain from the activities of which he is accused. The FBI agent was also charged with passing classified documents to agents for the KGB on March 20,1989, with the intent of injuring the United States. The charges contended that Hanssen has been spying since October 1985 and that his espionage continued until his arrest. A hearing was set for March 5. Plato Cacheris, Hanssen’s attorney, said he believes federal authorities “always talk like they have a great case, but we’ll see.” Cacheris, asked if Hanssen’s case was related to that of convicted spy Aldrich Ames, replied: “There’s not a connection, but there is some relevant material.” In an affidavit, FBI agent Stefan Pluta said Hanssen “compromised numerous human resources of the United States intelligence community” and three of the sources “were compromised by both Hanssen and former CIA officer Aldrich Ames, resulting in their arrest, imprisonment, and, as to two individuals, execution.” The affidavit said Hanssen also compromised “dozens of United States government classified documents,” including those involving the U.S. government’s double-agent program, a study on KGB recruitment operations against the CIA, an analysis of KGB operations and “a highly classified and tightly restricted analysis of the foreign threat” to a top-secret U.S. program. Pluta said Hanssen also compromised the intelligence community’s “specific communica tions intelligence capabilities, as well as specific targets.” “He compromised numerous FBI, counterintelligence techniques, sources, methods and operations and FBI operational practices and activities targeted against” Russian intelligence agencies. The affidavit said Hanssen uiscioseu 10 me tvuD me rm s secret espionage investigation of Felix Bloch, which led the KGB to warn Bloch that he was under investigation and “completely compromise” the probe. Among secrets allegedly disclosed by Hanssen included U.S. methods for conducting electronic surveillance. He also might have confirmed for the Russians information originally supplied to them by Ames, the source said. Cullen said Hanssen’s wife, Bernadette, teaches religion classes part-time at a Catholic high school. The Hanssens’ $300,000 middle class split-level home of brown brick and cedar was encircled by yellow police tape Tuesday. A dozen FBI agents wandered in and out, carrying in electronic equipment. Neighbors briefly filled the cul-de-sac to watch the activity. Bush tours for tax, education reform b y Scott Lindlaw Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Bush hit the road to build public support for his tax-cut plan and education reform package Tuesday, pledging $5 billion over five years to promote reading. At a half-hour round-table discussion with educators and parents at a Columbus elementary school, Bush forcefully promoted his accountability and testing proposals, dismissing critics in the “no-testing crowd.” To detractors who say some school testing is racist, Bush said “what’s racist is not testing,” equating that with “giving up on kids.” The president was openly hunting congressional support in the appearance. At the round-table with him and his wife, Laura, was Rep. Pat •m-i . n /'XL’ X if: J_.1_...L Llr 11UC11, i\ viiiv;. i'uunuj uuv/u^u pitch, Bush said to Tiberi, “Are you with me, Pat? I’m not putting any pressure on you.” When Tiberi echoed Bush’s “recipe for success,” Bush said “that means yes.” Bush defended his school voucher plan as a critical “consequence” for chronically failing schools. “At some point in time, there has to be a final moment” where parents have more options for their children. Bush promised to ask Congress for $900 million for reading funds in fiscal year 2002, which spokesman Ari Fleis cher said would be a threefold increase over current spending. The $5 billion would be part of the $47.5 billion Bush proposed to spend over 10 years on education, spokesman Scott McClellan said. “Education has always been ltis top priority, and that’s going to be reflected in ltis budget,” McClellan said. Bush toured a couple of classrooms at Sullivant Elementary School, a school in a working-class residential and warehouse district of Columbus known as the Bottoms. Later Tuesday, he was pitching the tax-cut plan at a school in St. Louis. Bush’s predecessor. Bill Clinton, took a similar school tour two years ago when he was pressing Congress for national testing standards and funds for charter schools. Bush’s plan would tie federal funds to student performance in failing schools and pull federal dollars from schools that fail three years in a row, allowing students to use that money to enroll elsewhere. Last year, 31 percent of Sullivant’s fourth-graders passed a reading proficiency test, up from 27 percent the previous year, while 58 percent passed a writing test, up from 42 percent. Statewide averages for the tests • irn.n CO rflO/l 1 T1 (T Otlfl 70 »» vi v yj j/vivviii i'" * —-o * percent for writing. Afterward, Bush was heading to St. Louis to visit Moline Elementary School and to nearby Kirkwood, Mo., to talk about his plan to cut taxes. The president’s travels lay the groundwork for the budget and tax cutting proposals he will present to Congress on Feb. 27. He is likely to prevail in the House, where Republicans have a 10-seat majority. But he still is not certain of the neces sary votes in the Senate, where two Re publicans have announced their oppo sition, saying it is too big and tilted too heavily toward the rich. Bush hopes to curry support among Americans who polls say are in favor of reducing taxes but don’t want those reductions to come at the expense of popular government programs such as aid to education and debt re duction. World Briefs ■ Supreme Court hears arguments on marijuana case WASHINGTON (AP) - An Ore gon man says narcotics agents invaded his privacy and trampled on his Fourth Amendment rights when they used a device to detect excessive heat coming from his house — without a search warrant. The “thermal imager,” a cam era-like device that depicts infrared ra diation, gave law enforcement officials a piece of evidence that led to a search warrant for Danny Lee Kyllo’s home in Florence, Ore. Inside, agents found drug paraphernalia and more than 100 marijuana plants and arrested him. Kyllo has appealed his case to the Supreme Court, which on Tuesday was considering whether law enforcement officials violated a constitutional ban on unreasonable searches when they used the heat-sensing device. The nine-year-old case pits technology against personal privacy. ■ Beijing welcomes Olympic inspectors, but not reporters BEIJING (AP) — With fake flow ers, heavy police security and polls showing overwhelming public support, Beijing on Tuesday welcomed Olympic inspectors whose assessment could make or break the Chinese capi tal’s bid for the 2008 Games. The last of the 17-member commission arrived Tuesday morning ahead of a four-day inspection tour starting Wednesday. Despite the warm welcome on display, officials in charge of Beijing’s bid de livered a different message to re porters: Don’t bother the inspectors. “The inspection commission is not op posed to meeting the media, but they won’t accept any interviews,” Beijing Vice Mayor Liu Jingmin said. “The media must not interfere in the work of the commission nor disturb com mission members during their visit.” ■ Trade dispute threatens free AIDS treatment in Brazil RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — Thanks laigely to the drug handout, in just four years the number of AIDS deaths in Brazil has fallen from 11,024 to 4,136. The program has been hailed by doctors as a model for other devel oping countries, where few can afford expensive treatment. That lifeline could soon be severed. On Feb. 1, the United States filed a complaint with the World Trade Oiganization, con tending that Brazil’s patent law dis criminates against imports in violation of the rights of big drug companies. The claim is true. By manufacturing most of the drugs itself, the govern ment reduced costs by as much as 79 percent. But it ignored drug patents is sued prior to a 1997 Brazilian law that recognized foreign patents only after that date. ■ Filipino president says cease-fire reached with rebels MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippines’ new president an nounced a cease-fire Tuesday with the main separatist rebels in Mindanao, a resource-rich but economically back ward region where fighting has claimed more than 120,000 lives over three decades. The rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have been fighting to make the region a Muslim republic. The rest of the Philippines is mainly Roman Catholic. The order for suspension of military operations will take effect as soon as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is sues an executive order. The decision does not apply to a smaller but more radical Muslim separatist group, the Abu Sayyaf, which has outraged the government by kidnapping dozens of hostages. That group said Tuesday it had tortured an ailing U.S. hostage, Jeffrey Schilling, to rcuiliatc for U.S. ;uid British iiirstrikcs on Ir.u,.