Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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EU tries to mend split over war BY CONSTANT BRAND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BRUSSELS, BELGIUM- Future European Union members en dorsed an EU position Tuesday warning Saddam Hussein he has one last chance to disarm, an effort to mend Europe’s bitter rift over a possible U.S.-led war on Iraq. Thirteen countries slated for EU membership next year backed the statement, a hard-fought agreement that gives Europe a common position, though a com promise between pro-Washington nations and those who oppose us ing force to disarm Saddam. EU leaders! who reached their resolution Monday in an emer gency meeting, have been painful ly aware that their prolonged and acrimonious split over Iraq has un dermined their push for a strong, shared voice in world .affairs. “We had extensive, very effec tive and constructive consulta tions, and we have reached an agreement,” op the EU summit declaration, said Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency. The declaration was a balanc ing act between supporting the United States and following France and Germany, who con tinue to oppose imminent military action against Baghdad. In the joint statement, support ers of the U.S. stance went along with France and Germany’s in sistence that the U.N. weapons in spectors “must be given the time and resources that the U.N. Security Council believes they need.” However, they acknowledged that “inspections cannot contin ue indefinitely.” The EU statement also stressed that “war is not inevitable.” But Germany, which has fiercely op posed any talk of military action, agreed that force could be “a last resort” and went along with a strong warning on the failure to disarm and cooperate with the U.N. inspectors. “Iraq has a final opportunity to resolve this crisis peacefully,” the declaration said. “The Iraqi regime alone will be responsible for the consequences if it contin ues to flout the will of the interna tional community.” President Jacques Chirac sig naled he would use his veto on the U.N. Security Council to block a resolution authorizing war, but French Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin played down that idea Tuesday. Raffarin said the veto was a “very strategic element” for France that allows Paris to act in dependently on the world stage. But he said that the current strat egy on dealing with the Iraq cri sis “consisted of maintaining the unity of the international com munity.” Britain, the chief U.S. ally in Europe, stood by its call for a res olute threat of military action if Saddam fails to cooperate fully with U.N. weapons inspections. “We cannot be in a situation where Iraq refuses to comply and we do nothing,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. France and Germany have mustered support from Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Greece, Ireland and Luxembourg, while Spain, Italy, Denmark, Portugal and the Netherlands back Britain’s tougher stance. Still, EU leaders face pressure from strong anti-war sentiment among voters who turned out in the millions over the weekend to demonstrate around the world. On Monday, after endorsing the common EU position, Chirac is sued a stinging attack on future EU members, almost all from the for mer communist East, who support Washington and Britain on Iraq. His comments were a reaction Incubator CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 work with faculty to develop their ideas. Through the new agree ment, MTC and USC will work to gether to develop MTC’s program. Sorensen said the collaboration is a good fit with USC’s plan to es tablish a research campus to stim ulate economic development for the state. “In these economic times, the state’s universities and colleges must explore every innovative av enue possible to develop and grow to future EU nations — specifical ly Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic—who signed letters last week backing the U.S. position without waiting to get behind a common European stance. “It is not really responsible be havior,” Chirac told reporters Monday after the EU issued its declaration. He also warned the eastern can didates their position could be “dangerous,” because the parlia ments of the 15 current EU nations still must ratify the decision for 10 new members to join the bloc in May 2004. Britain, the United States’ staunchest ally, and Germany, which with France has tried to slow the drive toward'war, criti cized Chirac’s attempt to silence eastern European nations. “They have as much right to speak up as Great Britain or France or any other member of the European Union today,” Blah told reporters in London. Eastern European capitals — already upset that they were ex cluded from the talks on Monday — reacted defiantly to the French attack, reminiscent to some of their treatment under the former Soviet Union. The EU declaration was en dorsed by representatives of the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Malta. businesses and industries for South Carolina,” Sorensen said. Columbia Mayor Bob Coble said the partnership between the two institutions is an important step in making the city a center for technology industries. “This collaboration unites two outstanding educational institu tions in a critical effort to develop and support new business for the Midlands,” said Coble, whose re cent Columbia Technology Summit examined ways to bring more tech related businesses and jobs to the area. “The success of this endeav or depends, in large part, on an ed ucated work force that can meet the Police CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 said many graduates of the MPCC go on to get promoted. Baker said he became inter ested in the MPCC because of his international interests and his history. He traveled extensively during the ’80s, he said, and had always been fascinated with the Soviet Union, especially having grown up during the Cold War era. “I was interested, and I felt challenged,” he said. “It was a new frontier. It was also way to show people that the resources in South Carolina and in this area are as good as anywhere.” Christopher said the program has proved beneficial. “If 10 of them carry back the idea that victims have rights, de fendants have rights, families have rights and that it’s impor tant to guard those rights, then it’s been successful,” he said. Baker said the relationship be tween universities and police de partments is key to the pro gram’s success. USC and the International University in Moscow work closely with the governments of their respective countries and each other. For instance, along with the instruction they receive at USC, the officers receive 120 hours of instruction from International University in preparation for their trip. “It’s been like the police and the university here and the po lice and the university over program has created more than 225 jobs throughout the Midlands. USC’s incubator companies are in volved in enterprises such as Internet learning, the production of silicon-carbide graphic wafers for computers, medical monitor ing, computer 3-D imaging and computer networking. Universities nationwide are de veloping incubator programs to meet the needs of businesses and industries. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com needs of employers. “We are fortunate in Columbia to have a strong educational sys tem that not only will train stu dents for the immediate needs of companies, but even encourage them perhaps to develop their own businesses in the future,” Coble said. “This initiative builds on USC’s successful incubator pro gram, and I am encouraged by this innovative partnership between USC and MTC to help build the sconomic future of the Midlands.” Since 1998,28 businesses have gotten their start through USC’s incubator program, including sev sn that are run by graduates. The there, SLED and USC, Moscow police and International University, so it’s been a nice kind of arrangement,” Baker said. Rob Rinker, who acfed as the program coordinator for the MPCC, said the connections made through this program have continued to have positive ef fects. The MPCC “brings to the university a lot of international contacts, like with Moscow International University,” Rinker said. “It’s pretty remark able all the contacts made through the program.” Christopher also found these contacts beneficial. “Those core types of relationships come in handy when you’re investigating other crimes,” he said. “If I need ed something in Moscow, I could just pick up the phone and call one of the 80 people that I know.” The program has also had oth er benefits. “As a spinoff from the MPCC, the MPCC actually generated a student exchange program with the Volgograd Law Institute,” Rinker said. The program, which ran for two years, allowed stu dents from USC to go to Volgograd for Maymester cours es and vice versa. Rinker and Baker both agree that the MPCC is not a one-way avenue of information. “We want to learn from each other,” Rinker said. “The idea is to help people. Whatever we can do to share our ideas, that’s what the program is after.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com I • II1 111 jjg K _iaa®s^ics i L,