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Families ask Taliban for chance to see daughters BY KATHY GANNON ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Parents of two American women jailed for allegedly preaching Chris tianity pleaded with Afghanistan diplomats Wednesday to let them see their daughters. The families are hoping that the personal approach will suc ceed where government over tures have failed, a U.S. Embassy spokesman said. “They are hoping that the Tal iban can make the distinction” between a personal plea and an official request, said John Kin cannon, of the U.S. Embassy in neighboring Pakistan. “They feel there might be some merit in separating them selves from us,” he said. No one has seen the eight for eign aid workers and 16 Afghan staff of Shelter Now Intemation “You want action. You want to do something. But this may be a Tong wait for them.” JOHN KINCANNON U.S. EMBASSY IN PAKISTAN al since their arrest in the Afghan capital of Kabul in early August on charges of preaching Christianity. The U.N. World Food Program on Wednesday rejected as "base less allegations” Taliban claims that it was part of a conspiracy among some western organiza tions to spread Christianity in Afghanistan’s to weaken its peo ple’s Islamic fervor. Afghanistan is a deeply devout Muslim nation. Under Taliban rules, foreigners convicted of proselytizing serve a jail term and are deported, while Afghans face execution. On Wednesday, the mother of one American woman and the fa ther of the other were in Pakistan seeking visas to Afghanistan to see their children. Diplomats from the United States, Germany and Australia returned Tuesday from Afghanistan after a failed weeklong effort to visit the jailed aid workers. “It is a frustrating thing” for the families, Kincannon said. “You want action. You want to do something. But this may be a long wait for them.” A spokesman at the Taliban Embassy in Islamabad, Pak istan’s capital, said the family members applied Wednesday for visas, but none had been issued. wgjSSSJfllSfi* BY JEFFREY ULBRICH ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO au thorized the deployment of 3,500 allied troops to Macedonia, hop ing the mission to collect and de stroy rebel arms will nudge Mace donians and ethnic Albanians along the road to reconciliation. An advance party of 400 troops has been in place since the week end, following an earlier decision by NATO’s ruling council. Wednesday’s authorization means the main body of troops can be un derway within 48 hours. The full deployment, including several hundred U.S. troops focusing on limited logistical duties, is ex pected within 10 days to two weeks. Once the entire force is in Macedonia, the clock will start ticking on NATO’s self-imposed 30-day time limit for the mission. Macedonia’s government wel comed NATO’s decision on Wednesday and pledged its coop eration. "We have big expectations from NATO’s mission,” said Ste vo Pendarovski, an adviser to Macedonian President Boris Tra jkovksi. An ethnic Albanian rebel spokesman known as Besniku also cautiously welcomed the de cision, “provided that NATO will be evenhanded with both sides.” “If not, we still have arms in our hands - and more important ly, we have the will of the Alban ian people to go until the end in or der to gain their rights,” he said. The rebels took up arms six months ago, claiming they want ed more rights for the ethnic Al banian minority. NATO moves in under a peace accord signed last week by the country’s ethnic Al banian and Macedonian leaders. On Tuesday, the North Atlantic Council - made up of ambassadors from NATO’s 19 member nations - authorized Gen. Joseph Ralston, supreme allied commander in Eu rope, to launch the full mission. But they gave members until noon Wednesday to object. None did, and when the deadline passed the authorization was automatic. Ralston will carry out the de ployment, to be led by Britain, with about 1,800 troops, and an other 1,700 drawn from 10 other European nations and the United States. The Bush administration has made no secret of its desire to dis engage from the Balkans, al though it has promised not to make any dramatic troop reduc tions without consulting with its European allies. U.S. troops in Macedonia will likely play a be hind-the-scenes role, such as mon itoring unmanned reconnaissance flights, rather than collecting weapons Roughly 9,000 Americans re main on patrol in Europe’s most volatile region - 500 in Macedonia, 5,000 in Kosovo and 3,500 in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ralston, who is an American Air Force general, and NATO Sec retary-General Lord Robertson as sured the council that all the al liance’s preconditions for deploy ment have been met, one diplomat said, speaking on condition he not be identified. Ralston stressed that while no body could promise the current cease-fire would hold, the risk of waiting was greater than the risk of moving quickly, diplomats and officials said. Although violence has subsided since the cease-fire, an explosion early Tuesday rocked Sveti Atanasi Orthodox church in the town of Lesok, about five miles from Tetovo, Macedonia’s second largest city. Government officials blamed the rebels, who denied re sponsibility. The Macedonian government claimed Wednesday that ethnic Albanian insurgents have an ar senal vastly greater than previ ously estimated, adding potential complications to NATO’s arms collection mission. The Interior Ministry, which controls the police forces, said the rebels have 10 times more fire power than previously believed - about 85,000 weapons, not count ing individual rounds of ammuni tion. The rebels say they have only 2,000 weapons. * State of the art Fitness Center * Multi-station Computer Lab * Fax and modem station linked to USC campus * Study area * Two on-site laundry facilities * Spacious 1,2, & 3 bedroom apartments * Swimming pools * Tennis courts t * Catering to students 4 * Lounge Area * On-site 24hr maintenance i_ _ i Thomas Cooper Library Fall 2001 Tours Discover the NEW USC Library-take a tour this fall! One-hour tours will be divided into two parts: a tour of the building for the first half-hour, and a tour of the Electronic Resources Network for the second half-hour. No sign-up is necessary. Just meet us in the lobby and learn what resources and services are available to you. August 27th- September 27th Tours Mondays: 11 am Tuesdays: 11 am & 5 pm Wednesdays: 2 pm& 7pm Thursdays: 4 pm The tour will last approximately one hour. The first part of the tour will include a visit to many of the library departments, such as Reference, Science Reference, Education, Government Documents, and Circulation. The second part of the tour will focus on the electronic resources available at our libraries. USCAN Web, World Wide Web resources, and online databases will be demonstrated. r — — — — — — , I Welcome Back! i Garner's Ferry Golf Range i | 8041 Garners Ferry Road (803)695-1220 . S2.00 Coupon$2.oo 1 1 ^ one to the Customer | I Open 7 Days a Week - Lights up untill 10:00pm | 50 Balls $4.00 80 Balls $6.00 I I Coupon - 2.00 Coupon - 2.00 | | $2.00 $4.00 - 1 I I I I | Mft also have Living Rooms • Bedrooms Futons/Day Beds • Dinettes Entertainment Centers Computer Hutches • Lamps Headboards Presenting dorm Jumiture that leaves you money for tuition. 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Sold In Set* 2001 group exercise schedule 5m Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday 8:10am y°90 Y°9a *09° Noon- Step step step Step Step instructors instructors i:00pm express combo express combo express ch0ice choice Noon- yoga 1:00pm BA 2nd Floor 1:05- Faculty/staff faculty/staff faculty/staff 2:05pm fitness fitness fitness 3:00- cardio anything cardio anything cardio 4:00pn combo goes combo goes combo 4-20pm exPress oh express ab express ab express ab express ab express 4=30- step & step step 5:30pm sculpt express combop __ 5:30- water water 3:30pmexercise exercise 5:30- water yoga yoga 3:30pm exercise BA 2nd Floor BA 2nd Floor _ If- step step & Step yoga yoga 3.45pm combo sculpt pump 7 u 7^ 7:00- high kickboxinq Body ^rT 'J 3:00pn energy 9 Sculphng /^Campus Recreation^ -1 ' l I X. -HJniversity of South Carolina J 3:15- cardio V ioot ?:i5pm combo y°9q_ -- 77