Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Terrorist networks targeted by US. BY BARRY SCHWEID TIIK ASNOCIATKI) I’llKSS WASHINGTON -The Bush ad ministration on Wednesday urged an immediate crackdown by the Palestinian Authority on extrem ist groups and called for the dis mantling of their terrorist capa bilities. “There’s funding, there’s sup port, there’s munitions, there’s or ganization, and all that needs to be taken apart,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. U.S. officials expressed under standing of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s decision to post pone pullbacks on the West Bank, but the overriding U.S. message was that the American plan for a Palestinian state remains on trank Referring also to the bombing Tuesday qf U.N. headquarters in Iraq, Boucher said “our reaction to the horrible events is that we need to move forward, we need to stablish peace and security for people in Iraq, Palestinians, Israelis, others.” Bush’s Mideast policy is based on the idea a democratic Palestinian state can be estab lished in two years on land held by Israel and live in peace along side Israel. Secretary of State Colin Powell conveyed the U.S. call for a crack down on terror operations in a telephone call to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime min ister, who has shied away from a confrontation with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other extrem ist groups with the argument that it could touch of a civil war. “The message that we are con veying directly to the Palestinian ’ 'fide is that they need to move now Bush telephoned Sharon from his Texas vacation retreat, and Condoleezza Rice, Bush’s national security assistant, telephoned Israeli and Palestinian officials. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush expressed his condolences for the Tuesday bomb attack on a packed bus in Jerusalem. He said the president remains committed to achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians. “We are continuing to work to keep the process moving for ward,” McClellan said. Asked why Bush had not called Abbas, who he hosted last month fct the White House, McClellan said, “Our message is very clear to the Palestinian Authority about what needs to be done. They know our views.” “There is more that they can do,” Boucher said of Abbas and his security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, “and that’s why we’re calling on them to move now on security, especially to dismantle the capabilities of these organiza tions that carry out terrorist at Powell called foreign ministers Jack Straw of Britain, Dominique de Villepin of France, Joschka Fischer of Germany, Ana Palacio of Spain, Franco Frattini of Italy end Marwan Muasher of Jordan. Powell also talked to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Javier Solana, a senior European Union diplomat who helped devise the U.S.-backed road map for peacemaking be tween Israel and the Palestinians. Powell is traveling to the United Nations on Thursday to meet with Annan, according to Boucher, who provided no details on the meeting. Before the attack, Sharon was prepared to take several concilia tory steps. Among them was turn ing over security in four West Bank towns to the Palestinians. He called that off after the bombing, and the State Department appeared to accept the decision. Boucher said “we understand” ^srael’s quest for security. However, he also urged Israel “to look at the way forward,” thereby suggesting that after a pause Israel should get back on track in cooperating with Palestinian officials. Israel Policy Forum, a private group, called on Bush to “stay the course and, indeed, to increase American efforts to end the vio lence, implement the road map and move the Israelis and Palestinians toward a two-state resolution of their conflict.” Investigators say West Virginia deaths not sniper shootings BY MARTHA BRYSON HODEL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHARLESTON, W.VA. - Investigators said Wednesday that two of last week’s three slayings outside West Virginia convenience stores were ap parently drug-related, not the acts of a sniper choosing vic tims at random. Ballistic tests show a .22-cal iber rifle was used in the two Aug. 14 shootings in the Campbells Creek area, Kanawha County Chief Deputy Phil Morris said Wednesday. “We can’t eliminate the pos sibility of a sniper, but it ap pears like it is drug-related,” Morris said. Ballistic tests were incom plete for the third victim, shot four days earlier in Charleston. However, Morris said the characteristics of the bullet are similar to those of the bullets in the other two shootings. Morris declined to comment on potential suspects. Residents in Campbells Creek — home of victims Jeanie Patton, 31, and Okey Meadows Jr., 26 — had raised concerns that their deaths may have been related to drugs. The two were shot about 90 minutes apart at convenience stores 10 miles from each other. Family members of one vic tim told investigators Tuesday about a possible cocaine con nection. “That’s not to say that one of the victims had been us ing it,” Morris cautioned. He would not identify the victim or the family. Drug concerns had not been raised in the death of 44-year old Gary Carrier Jr. outside a Charleston convenience store. “We weren’t pursuing the drug angle. We didn’t have anything in the past to link that person with drugs,” Charleston Police Chief Jerry Pauley said Wednesday. All three were shot in the head or neck between 10:20 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Police also released en hanced photographs Wednesday of a Ford F-150 ex tended cab pickup similar to a vehicle that eyewitnesses to the Campbells Creek shootings have described as being at the scene. Midge Rader, Patton’s aunt, said Tuesday that the substi tute cook and custodian for Kanawha County schools was drug-free. “She was never on drugs and she never drank,” Rader said. Martin Walker, Patton’s companion and the father of her teenage son, declined com ment Wednesday. Meadows’ family did not re turn calls seeking comment. Brett Page, a friend of Meadows’, said he “was defi nitely not into drugs,” and that other friends and family mem bers were upset that authori ties were investigating possi ble drug connections. “It’s making a lot of people mad,” Page said. “He was a re ally good guy who took care of his kid and took care of his body.” Morris said Campbells Creek residents’ concerns about the extent of drug deal ing in the area was a surprise to his investigators. “Until this double homicide, the community hasn’t spoken out,” Morris said. “We knew there were drugs on Campbells Creek, but not to the extent the public is telling us now.” Earlier Wednesday, Morris said it appeared that Patton and Meadows had been target ed by the shooter because both shootings occurred in a rural area of Kanawha County, 10 miles east of Charleston. The shooter had to drive past another convenience store to reach the store where Patton was shot. The store where Meadows was shot is farther east. “I don’t believe (the shoot er) just happened upon them,” Morris said. STATE j Parents arrested for child’s murder TAMPA, FLA.(AP) -More than a dozen years after the death of a 3-year-old girl went unnoticed in Hernando County, the child’s mother and stepfather were arrested and charged with first-degree murder Wednesday. Hernando County Sheriff’s officials said Megan LeeAnn Pratt’s stepfather, Jesse James Schober, was arrested Monday in Elgin and her mother, Vicki Anne Schober was arrested Wednesday in Nekoosa, Wis. Both are being held without bail while await ing extradition to Florida. Both have admitted to beat ing the child until she was un conscious and letting her die several days later in her bed. The Schobers fled Florida be fore anyone noticed the girl was gone. Her body has never been found. Sarah Mower y of Ay nor, S.C., had been told her grand daughter was killed in a car accident, but never believed it to be true. She began questioning peo ple who knew the Schobers and traveled to Florida in search of Megan’s grave and contacted detectives when she could not find one. Duke Power says profits too high COLUMBIA — Duke Power Co. says it earned too much profit in South Carolina the past year because cold weath er increased power usage and a wet spring allowed the util ity to sell more electricity. The utility has offered to make up for the excess earn ings by writing off millions in debts instead of lowering rates. Duke Power President Ruth Shaw wrote a letter to the South Carolina Public Service Commission after regulators asked last month why the util ity had overshot its target profit rate by $41 million for the year. NATION Court won’t remove Biblical monument WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court rejected a last minute appeal Wednesday to block the removal'of a Ten Commandments monument from an Alabama judicial building. The justices said they would not be drawn, at least for now, into a dispute over whether the monument violates the Constitution’s ban on govern ment promotion of religion. The high court was Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s last hope to avoid a federal judge’s midnight deadline to remove, the display. It was unclear if Moore would comply. Other state officials have said the monument would be moved. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson has said he may fine the state about $5,000 a day if the monument is not removed by the end of the day Wednesday. * Investigators to look into blackout COLUMBUS, OHIO (AP) - A U.S.-Canadian probe of last week’s blackout will be quick but thorouglrso investigators can determine what might be done to prevent a recurrence, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Wednesday. Abraham, briefing Ohio offi cials before meeting for the first time with the task force in Detroit, said it was important to get the facts right before pointing any fingers. Later in Detroit, task force co-charimen Abraham and Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, Herb Dhaliwal, shook hands as they started their first face-to-face meeting on the joint investigation into the biggest blackout in North American history. Experts studying the outage pointed to a series of small fail ures on the northeast Ohio power grid owned by FirstEnergy Corp. that may have combined to unleash a wave of destructive electricity. WORLD U.N. attackers used crudely made bomb BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AP) - The truck bomb that devastated the U.N. headquarters here was a crude combination of explosives from Saddam Hussein’s old mili tary arsenal, including a giant 500 pound bomb, an FBI investigator said Wednesday. But U.S. and Iraqi officials said it was too ear ly to say who was behind the at ta6k—Saddam loyalists or foreign terrorists. The toll stood at 20 killed, in eluding U.N. chief envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, and was expected to climb higher because officials said more bodies were trapped in the rubble of the three-story Canal Hotel. In Baghdad, FBI agents search ing for clues in the rubble at the U.N. headquarters determined that the bomb was made up of about 1,000 pounds of old ord nance, including mortar rounds, artillery shells, hand grenades and a 500-pound bomb, Special Agem Thomas Fuentes said. Pan Am 103 families receive reparations WASHINGTON (AP) - Libya be gan transferring to an escrow ac count in an international bank $2.7 billion in compensation for families of victims of Pan Am flight 103, the State Department said Wednesday. Spokesman Richard Boucher said the tr ansfer may not be com pleted until Thursday. Libya officially agreed to the compensation package last week in response to U.N. Security Council demands. Libya also ac cepted-responsibility for the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am flight. In return, the Council is due to lift sanctions against Libya that have been in place 10 years. France has sought to delay Council action until it receives ad ditional compensation for families of people killed in a UTA bombing over Niger in 1989. The Bush administration has said it opposes any action that would delay final U.N. Security Council action on the Pan Am 103 case. Dorm Room Carpet Cheap! EXAMPLE: 12x9 room = $63.72 COGDtLL Carpet Mill Outlet OPEN MON-SAT 9AM TO 6PM www.cogdills.com » E-mail Address: fioorinB@coBdiils.com Start Your Own Business! Monday September 15 5:30 PM RH 234 Tuesday September 16 5:30 PM RH 234 The Student Business Incubator Center is looking for students who have ideas for starting their own businesses. Eight new companies will be added to the Center this fall. v \V k' IX a / \ FI , \ l \ ! \ 1 \ i \ A / /■ y i x \1 V v V W a f / ^ @©m©OOOS OOQg® DodcbOdocI]© (but not be limited to): • Capital up to $1000 • Local telephone and computer connection • Computer workstations with printer • Financial Management/Accounting software , • Access to business machines • Rent-free office space • Free legal advice • Free business advice • Business Networking and Mentoring Opportunites Applications are available online Sept. 15, 2003 ^ www.sg.sc.edu an<| are due Wedne.«Haw Oct. 1, 2003 by 12:00pm in Ho ^ / A \I\ i \ ■ \ . V Sponsored by \/ USC Research Foundation and ^ Office of Student Government and - Student Organizations