he Battalion
WORLD & NATION
Wednesday, Decembers, 1989
ew Czech government
y non-Communists for
[PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia (AP) — One of
/jBmhoslovakia’s two republics named the first
iRvernment in 41 years dominated by non-Com-
y ffflunists, and talks began with opposition leaders
on their demands for a new national govern-
W ment.
^ I Leaders of the Communist-controlled labor
organization took the unprecedented step of en-
| jdprsing a general strike that the opposition has
threatened if the national government is not
Hanged this week.
■ An Interior Ministry announcement said work
bn dismantling fortifications on the border with
justria would begin Monday. The government
I said last week some of the barbed wire, watch
towers and trip wires would be taken down.
H About 2,000 demonstrating students chanted
“Resign! Resign!” as Ladislav Adamec, the Com
munist premier, met with dissident playwright
Vaclav Havel on demands for a new Cabinet to
replace the Communist-dominated one chosen
Sunday.
Jiri Dienstbier, spokesman for Havel’s opposi
tion group, Civic Forum, said the discussions
would continue Wednesday. Head of state tele
vision Miroslav Pavel attended the talks and said
they were “very complicated.”
Opposition groups said the general strike will
take place Monday unless the 21-member Cab
inet, which contains only five non-Communists,
is replaced before then.
Dienstbier called the new Czech government
“a step in the right direction,” but said its compo-
-Bush makes concessions
dominated
first time
sition still was not an accurate reflection of public
opinion.
A parliamentary commission, which is investi
gating the police violence Nov. 17 that started the
nation’s peaceful revolt, said Tuesday that ousted
Communist Party chief Milos Jakes and Miroslav
Stepan, the former Prague party boss, “bear di
rect political responsibility” for the crackdown.
It proposed that six senior police officers be
fired to prevent them from influencing the inves
tigation.
The Czech Cabinet named to serve under Pre
mier Frantisek Pitra, a Communist, includes nine
non-Communists and seven members of the
party. It is the first government of any kind in
Czechoslovakia since 1948 not to be dominated
by Communists.
to Soviets
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Bush made three concessions at
lihe Malta summit that were over-
Ihadowed in the euphoria and con
tusion surrounding the first-ever
ioint U.S.-Soviet presidential news
Conference.
Those steps met longstanding So-
iet requests and marked a political
lilestone for a man who had reac-
Jed cautiously to the reforms of So
viet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
Administration officials said
(Tuesday, however, that the fine
tint still needed to be written on
Kush’s offers involving the lifting of
Irade sanctions against Moscow and
a halt in U.S. production of chemical
weapons.
I Although the summit produced
no clear arms control break-
hroughs, and was not expected to,
ush gave Gorbachev these welcome
its of news:
• Bush would take steps to ease
Itariffs on Soviet exports to America.
• He would seek observer status
Jor the Kremlin in a major interna-
Quayle voices hard line against USSR
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House, deal
ing with aftershocks from the Malta summit, at
tempted to quell criticism from conservatives Tues
day and play down any differences between
President Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle op
the Soviet Union.
On another summit topic, the administration said
the meeting enabled Busn to look ahead to possible
budget savings two years from now as a result of
likely arms reductions.
White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater said
that if an agreement is signed next year to slash long-
range nuclear missiles, a think that could have an
impact, certainly” on the budget that would be sub
mitted the following January.
Bush, on his first day back in the Oval Office, got
a standing ovation from his Cabinet, summoned to
the White House for a report on his two days of talks
with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
Bush ignored ouestions from reporters about
Quayle, who has offered a rttore guarded and skepti
cal post-summit assessment of the Soviets than Bti$h
has.
Quayle, in an interview with the Washington Post,
called the Soviet Union “a totalitarian government"
and said, “I don’t think they’ve changed much in for
eign policy.”
tional trade group.
• He was altering his previous
proposal on chemical weapons, seek
ing to sign a treaty for the June sum
mit to destroy most U.S. and Soviet
chemical weapons stockpiles. His
previous proposal called for a reduc
tion of the weapons that the Soviets
considered too small.
Several major U.S. and Soviet
steps are necessary before Bush
grants the Soviet Union most-fa-
vored-nation status, easing tariffs on
Soviet imports to the United States.
The United States and the Soviets
must reach a commercial treaty, said
a U.S. official who expects the
American side “to be in talks with
the Soviets in the next six or eight
weeks.” Bush proposed that he and
Gorbachev sign such a treaty at the
summit they are planning in Amer
ica in the last two weeks ofjune.
Administration searches
for professional regulator
to head savings and loans
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Bush administration began looking
for a successor to savings and loan
regulator M. Danny Wall on Tues
day, while the chairman of the
House Banking Committee said
hearings that led to Wall’s resigna
tion were “just the beginning” of the
investigation.
The administration wants a pro
fessional regulator to head the Of
fice of Thrift Supervision, rather
than an appointee whose chief qual
ifications are political connections,
said an industry source, who spoke
on condition of anonymity.
Candidates under consideration
include longtime officials with the
Federal Reserve System and the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The administration, in searching
for a successor, is consulting Trea
sury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady
and chief economic adviser Michael
Boskin, White House spokesman
Marlin Fitzwater said.
He said a replacement won’t be
announced before January, when
Congress returns from holiday re
cess.
According to legislation enacted
in August, the director of the thrift
office serves a five-year term and
must be confirmed by the Senate.
Speculation centered on three ex
perienced regulators:
• Richard F. Syron, president of
the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
and a former president of the Fed
eral Home Loan Bank of Boston.
• William H. Roelle, a long-time
official of the Federal Deposit Insur
ance Corp., now in charge of savings
and loan rescue deals at the Resolu
tion Trust Corp.
• William Taylor, a senior regula
tory official at the Federal Reserve
Board, now serving as an adviser to
the administration board overseeing
the RTC.
The House Banking Committee
has just started an investigation of
the savings industry’s crisis.
This fall, more than 50 hours of
hearings were conducted focusing
on the collapse of Lincoln Savings
and Loan Association of Irvine,
Calif. Lincoln is expected to become
the nation’s biggest savings and loan
failure, at a cost to taxpayers of more
than $2 billion.
The sessions triggered criticism
directed at Wall, leading eventually
to his resignation Monday.
Officials:
Bomb caused
plane crash
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) —
Investigators have concluded that
a bomb destroyed a Colombian
jet that crashed last month and
killed all 107 people aboard, and
they believe it was hidden under a
seat, an official said Tuesday.
Carlos Lemos Simmonds, the
minister of government, did not
say who may have planted the
bomb, but suspicion has fallen on
Colombia’s drug traffickers, who
have bombed banks, restaurants,
hotels, schools and other public
places.
“All of the technicians who
took part in the investigation
agreed without exception that it
was the work of criminals and
that an explosive device was
placed in a seat near the gasoline
tanks,” Lemos said.
The Bogota daily El Especta-
dor, quoting the report by Colom
bia’s Civil Aeronautics Authority,
said the bomb was in seat 15F,
along the right side of the plane.
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Christmas...Aggie Style
Picture a star filled night.
Christmas lights and 1500 Aggies!
Join your family away from
home, for Aggie Christmas Mass,
Wednesday, December 6th, at 7
pm. on the east lawn of the
church. Take the opportunity to
say goodbye to your friends before
you leave for semester break. After
mass join us for refreshments in
the student center.
Advantage is yours
a Battalion Classified.
Call 845-0569
Texas A&M University
MSC FORSYTH CENTER GALLERIES
The Public is Invited to an
ARTISTS' RECEPTION
Wednesday, December 6, 1989, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Honoring the following
New Art Exhibits
DICK DAVISON: From the Leonard's Auto Parts Series
INTRODUCTION: NINA BEALL
LEE ESTES: Parochial Subjects
Located in the Southwest Corner of the Memorial Student Center opposite the Post Office
Admission Free