Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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U.N. Security Council intervention will worsen crisis, N. Korea says BY SANG-HUN CHOE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS I SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - North Korea warned Tuesday that any actions taken against it when the U.N. Security Council meets to discuss the communist regime’s nuclear ambitions would under mine attempts to resolve the cri sis peacefully. China said the world body has no busines’s discussing Pyongyang’s suspected nuclear weapons program. On Monday, Chinese diplomats blocked efforts by some council members to draft a statement condemning North Korea. “It is not appropriate for the United Nations Security:Council to get involved in these issues,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. “No related parties should take ac tions that would further compli cate this matter.” The council eventually could discuss imposing sanctions against North Korea if a political solution is not found. China and Russia have said they oppose sanctions. North Korea has warned that it would regard international sanc tions as a declaration of war. South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan urged North Korea on Tuesday to agree to mul tilateral talks to resolve the crisis. “If North Korea joins the mul tilotorol tollro if will be able to seek talks with the United States for a security guarantee and have opportuni ties to discuss economic aid,” he told parlia South Korea distributed a con fidential briefing paper on the nu clear standoff during Tuesday’s meeting of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila, Philippines. The paper, a copy of which was made available to The Associated Press, said the world must pre pare for North Korea to try to es calate tensions. North Korda’s possession of nuclear weapons “will not be tol erated, but our government firm ly believes that the nuclear issue must be resolved peacefully through dialogue,” the paper , said. South Korea said it would pur sue economic projects with the North to help ease tensions and the hnmanifari. an suffering there. Pyongyang insists on direct dialogue with the United States to negotiate a nonaggression treaty. Du* Washington wants to settle the crisis through multilateral chan nels, saying North Korea’s ambi tions threaten not just American interests but also those of Russia, China, Japan and South Korea. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told the ITAR-Tass news agency that the situation on the Korean peninsula was “extremely dan gerous,” and said he supports the U.S. call for multilateral talks to end the crisis. North Korea’s army Chief of the General Staff Kim Yong Chun said that if the Security Council tries to “stifle the DPRK, the U.S. will be held wholly re sponsible for the failure of all the efforts for dialogue and the ex tremely tense situation,” the North’s KCNA news agency re ported. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name. Also Tuesday, U.S. and South Korean officials began discussing plans for their military alliance that could include the redeploy ment of 37,000 American troops stationed in the South. Last month, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said troops near the inter-Korean border could be shifted south, moved to other countries in the region, or brought home. “It is not appropriate for the United Nations Security Council to get involved in these issues.” UUJIANCHAO • CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN Three journalists die in U.S. bombing raid BY HAMZA HENDAWI THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD, IRAQ - U.S.-led military strikes in the Iraqi cap ital Tuesday hit the hotel hous ing hundreds of journalists and an Arab television network, killing three journalists and in juring three others. Two Arabic-language televi sion networks said their offices were intentionally targeted by American-led forces — claims military officials denied. “This coalition does not tar get journalists,” Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said in Qatar. An American tank fired on the Palestine Hotel early Tuesday, where foreign journal ists have been covering the war from balconies and the roof. Less than a mile away, a re porter for Al-Jazeera television was killed when U.S.-led forces bombed his office. Nearby, coali tion artillery battered the Baghdad office of Abu Dhabi television, trapping more than 25 reporters who phoned for help from the basement. “I’m astonished and shocked,” said Art Bourbon, news director of Abu Dhabi, speaking from the network’s headquarters in the United Arab Emirates. “We’ve been in this office for more than 2 1/2 years. Anyone going into mil itary operations would have known our location.” •isany weunesuay, me nei work announced that it had been unable to broadcast live video from Baghdad overnight, saying American tanks were posted out side its offices. Its live shots are often used by television net works, including those in the United States. Al-Jazeera, whose offices are alongside Abu Dhabi television, also did not broadcast live scenes of Baghdad overnight. On Tuesday, Al-Jazeera chief editor Ibrahim Hilal said the U.S. military has long known the map coordinates and street num ber of his network’s office. Witnesses “saw the plane fly over twice before dropping the bombs. Our office is in a resi dential area, and even the Pentagon knows its location,” Hilal said in Qatar. Military officials offered dif ferent explanations for the at tacks. Brooks initially said the ho tel was targeted after soldiers were fired on from the lobby. Later, he told reporters, “I may have misspoken.” U.S. Army Col. David Perkins, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade, which deployed the tank, said Iraqis in front of the hotel fired rocket-pro pelled grenades across the Tigris River. Soldiers fired back with a tank round aimed at the Palestine Hotel after seeing ene my “binoculars,” Perkins said. More than 50 news cameras were set up on hotel balconies when the tank fired, according to Associated Press photographer Jerome Delay. “How can they spot someone with binoculars and not (see) cameras?” he asked. Journalists said they heard no gunfire coming from the ho tel or its immediate environs. They had been watching two U.S. tanks shooting across the al Jumhuriya bridge, more than a half-mile away, when one of the tanks rotated its turret toward the hotel and fired. The round pierced the 14th and 15th floors of the 17-story ho tel, spraying glass and shrapnel across a comer suite serving as Reuters’ Baghdad bureau. Killed were Taras Protsyuk of Ukraine, a television camera man for the Reuters news agen cy, and Jose Couso, a camera man for Spain’s Telecinco tele vision. Spain asked its journal ists to leave Baghdad following Couso’s death. Tareq Ayyoub of Jordan died at al-Jazeera’s office, located in a residential neighborhood fronting the Tigris. In all, 10 journalists have been killed since war began March 20. The wounded, all Reuters em ployees, were identified by the company as TV technician Paul Pasquale of Britain, Gulf Bureau Chief Sarnia Nakhoul of < Lebanon and photographer Faleh Kheiber of Iraq. Pasquale underwent surgery Tuesday at a Baghdad hospital for serious leg injuries, accord ing to colleagues. Nakhoul suf fered shrapnel wounds and may require surgery. Further details weren’t im mediately available. “Clearly the war, and all its confusion, has come to the heart of Baghdad,” said Reuters Editor in Chief Geert Linnebank. “But the incident nonetheless raises questions about the judgment of the advancing U.S. troops who have known all along that this ho tel is the main base for almost all | foreign journalists in Baghdad.” In a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it be lieved the attacks violated the Geneva Conventions concerning likely harm to civilians. In Belgium, the International Federation of Journalists said it ap peared Tuesday's attacks may have deliberately targeted journalists. “If so, they are grave and serious violations of international law,” said Secretary-General Aidan White. He also said Iraq, accused of using civilians as human shields during U.S.-led bombing attacks, may also be guilty of war crimes. Resolution CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 is “either necessary or desirable” to raise Iraq in the General Assembly, because the issue was discussed March 26-27 in the Security Council. But Yemen’s Alsaidi said Monday that Arab nations want a General Assembly meeting, be cause “they discovered there was no possibility of a resolution” in the Security Council, where the United States and its ally Britain have veto power. Iraq’s U.N. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri said the Arab Group knows that nearly 50 countries in the U.S.-led coali tion supporting the war will try to prevent a General Assembly resolution on Iraq. But he said Iraq was facing “the destruction of a wfhole coun try and the killing of several thousand people” and “we think the international community has to shoulder its responsibilities.” There are no vetoes in the 191 nation General Assembly. But unlike the Security Council, its resolutions are not legally bind ing though they do reflect inter national opinion. - mv PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks acknowledged, after he was asked three times, that U.S. forces were aware that journalists were In the Palestine Hotel before It was hit by coalition fire. The bombing killed two journalists and Injured three other journalists. Friday, April 11, 2003 8:00pm USC Symphony Orchestra Season Finale Presents Verdi’s Requiem featuring Vocal Soloists Ann Benson, Richard Conant, Helene Tintes-Schuermann, and Keith Jones Also appearing will be the uSC Choirs. Dream it. Do it. Disney.* . We’re recruiting on campus! Univ. of South Carolina Monday, April 14, 2003 10:00AM & 4:00PM, H. William Close Bldg, Rm 602B Mark your calendars—All majors and all college levels invited. This is your chance to go inside this world-famous resort, build your resume, network with Disney leaders and meet students from around the world. Check out a Walt Disney World® College Program paid internship. 24-hour secured housing is offered. College credit opportunities may be available. Visit our website at wdwcollegeprogram.com and then come to the presentation. Attendance is required to interview. \^/COLLEGE PROGRAM wdwCollegeprogram.com V r\^fOf • Drawing Creativity from Diversity • © Disney _ " . . . If l'h'~S 33,'5a,,, -J-!SJ£S a -f'jr IFifci® @$0® <&myis&r TREK SPECIALIZED. I 'WsjU'i, Thi -3«r/Ica ]?©y ©(g§<gsry(g In the Army National Guard, you can have it all.You can work or go to school full time, and still have a social life. In the Guard, you stand out by being a team player. Most Guard members SOUTH serve one weekend a month and two weeks a CAROLINA year, leaving you with plenty of time for family a and friends. Get into the game and learn to win. In the Army National Guard,YOU CAN! /cuaro/CIAN 1-800-GQ-GUARP • www.l-800-GQ-GUARD.com