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b te Battalion ORLD & NATION 15 )onday, March 5,1990 .S. soldier dies; sixteen wounded Disco visited by Americans in Panama site of grenade attack MSC POLITICAL FORUM POLITICAL AWARENESS DAY PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — An Ameri- i soldier has died of injuries suffered in a gre- fe attack on a discotheque, and 13 U.S. serv- men remained hospitalized Sunday, the U.S. Ilitary said. |A statement from the U.S. Southern Com- nd said Army Spec . Anthony B. Ward, 21, of juston, died at 5:15 p.m. Saturday of injuries the chest and abdomen. He died at the U.S. litary’s Got gas Hospital in Panama City. IWard was among 16 American servicemen |d 12 Panamanians injured late Friday in the at- k on the disco My Place, which was known to fequented by Americans. Witnesses said two men yelling “Long live No- ga!” threw a grenade through a glass wall of disco at about 11:30 p.m., then sped away in a There was no immediate claim of responsibi- Iv. It was the first such attack on U.S. soldiers in Panama since the Dec. 20 invasion that ousted dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega. “We are sacidened by the death of Army Spe cialist Anthony B. Ward and convey our heartfelt condolences to his family,” said a White House statement from Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater. “This is an unfortunate incident that mars the heroic steps the people of Panama are taking in building democracy.” Panamanian police said they had questioned several witnesses to the bombing but announced no arrests. “We ask Panamanian citizens to free their so ciety of these types of terrorists and criminals,” Maj. Gen. Marc Cisneros, commander of the U.S. Army South, said Saturday. “We must work to gether to bring these criminals to justice.” The 13 hospitalized Americans were reported Sunday in satisfactory condition. Hospital offi cials said 12 Panamanians had been injured and that three were in intensive care, but in stable condition. Southern Command officials and the head of Panama’s Judicial Technical Police met Saturday to discuss the case. Although organized resistance to the Ameri can invasion died out quickly and Noriega’s De fense Forces have been disbanded, Panamanian officials have expressed concern that paramili tary groups Noriega organized could resurface. Large caches of weapons are believed to remain hidden around the country, officials say. The attack occurred hours after Noriega’s wife, three daughters and grandson left Panama for Havana. As they left Panama City, they were surrounded by hundreds of jeering people who shouted “Go away beggars!” TALK TO REPRESENTATIVES FROM SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS IN THE FIELDS OF BUSINESS, RELIGION, ENVIRONMENT AND POLITICS. MEMORIAL STUDENT CENTER TUESDAY: MARCH 6, 1990 10:00 am - 4:00 pm pF MSC PotTKXJl Forum This program is presented for educational purposes, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Political Forum. SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE G?> ran, Syria neet to discuss lostages’ plight DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A ienior Iranian envoy discussed ffoits to f ree Western hostages leld in Lebanon when he met Sunday with Syria’s foreign min ster, an informed source said. The source, w ho ref used to be identified further, said the meet- ng between Mahmoud Hashemi )f Iran and Farouk al-Sharaa of Syria “appears to he to coordinate dfons between the governments if Syria and Iran to gain the re lease of all the hostages” held by pro-Iranian Shiite Moslem mili tants in Lebanon. He said Hashemi, the brother sf Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani, delivered "a vet v cor dial message” to Shataa f rom Ira nian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, including an invitation for him to visit 1 ehran to meet with Rafsanjani and Iran's spiri tual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khame- i. Fite source said Hashemi ar rived in Damascus, the Syrian capital, earlier after a visit to Bei rut. where he met with senior Shiite Moslem figures on the hos tage issue The source gave no other de tails of Hashemi's trip to Lebanon or the one-hour meeting with Sharaa. But another source noted: This appears to be a serious ef fort, the first in some time, to end the hostage ordeal ... But I don’t think we’ll see anyone out tomor row. "Nobody can be precise about how long the process will take. There appears to he a genuine desire by the Iranian President to end this ordeal. But there are still difficulties,” said tfie source. Earlier, the offic ial Syrian Arab News Agency reported that Ha- sherni’s talks with Sharaa, at tended by Iranian Ambassador Hasan Akhtari, centered on “bi lateral relations and issues of common interest.” Hashemi is director of the Tehran Foreign Ministry’s Third Department, which handles Iran’s relations with Syria, Leb anon and some other Arab states. He is a former senior Iranian diplomat in Damascus arid for mer ambassador to Belgium, Rafsanjani, elected president in July, has of ten used him as his personal emissary on sensitive missions abroad. Contact Lenses Only Quality Name Brands (Bausch & Lomb, Ciba, Barnes-Hinds-Hydrocurve) W. German chancellor refuses to accept Polish-German border i $ 69 0 P ?* Your Choice -A zi Fnr ctrf Haih/ cA/oor ovtonHort LIMITED time °hly WEST BERLIN (AP) — Chan cellor Helmut Kohl of West tier- many is embroiled in controversy over his refusal to categorically ac cept the Polish-German border set at the end of World War 11. It has become a political issue; rec ognition of the boundary could cost Kohl votes in the Decerriber West German election. But his failure to renounce any future attempt to re gain former territories lost in the war could delay German reunifica tion. Kohl has come under attack from Poland, from the World War II Al lies and from the opposition in West Germany and even in his own Cab inet for failing to give an unequivo cal promise on the border. There have been demonstrations in Poland in support of Polish de mands to take part in talks on reuni fication. But the chancellor faces consider able political risk if he declares the current border inviolable. Kohl’s Christian Democratic Union is running only a couple of percentage points ahead of the op position Social Democrats in public opinion polls. The CDU traditionally has en joyed the backing of conservative West Germans, including millions of “I n many speeches I have said that no one wants to connect the unity of the Germans with moving the borders. I don’t know what more I can say.” — Helmut Kohl, West German Chancellor exiles from territories now governed by Poland and the Soviet Union. More than 12 million ethnic Ger mans were driven from Silesia and East Prussia after the Third Reich was vanquished. The lands east of the Oder and Neisse rivers that were German before the war are now Pol ish territory, comprising about one- third of modern-day Poland. If Kohl agrees to give up the lands, he could alienate those voters who provide his party’s narrow lead over the Social Democrats. However, Kohl’s equivocating has cost the CDU support in East Ger many, where the Social Democrats are expected to win a majority in March 18 elections. West German political parties have been active in the East German campaign in an attempt to increase their voter base in anticipation of unification. Kohl has to be worried that the addition of a solidly Social Demo cratic East German electorate could tip the political balance and deprive him of his dream of being the first chancellor of a reunited Germany. “In many speeches I have said that no one wants to connect the unity of the Germans with moving the borders,” Kohl told East German television on Wednesday. “I don’t know what more I can say.” Democracy in Nicaragua may curtail asylum Chance of forced return small MIAMI (AP) — A successful switch to democracy in Nicaragua may sharply curtail U.S. granting of asylum to that nation’s refugees, but there is little chance politi cal exiles will be forced to return, immigration officials say. In theory, people granted asylum are subject to re view each year, and could have that status revoked, says Duke Austin, spokesman for the Immigration and Nat- uralization Service in Washington. “But I know of no single case since political asylum has been an avenue in the United States when we have involuntarily returned someone because conditions in their homeland improved,” Austin said last week. “It’s in the law, but it’s never been done.” What is more likely is that new applicants will get tougher scrutiny of their applications. An estimated 80,000 to 90,000 Nicaraguans are in the United States legally, including both political and non-political cases. Some advocates believe twice that number live in the United States if the count includes illegal immigrants — many of whom were pinning their hopes on political asylum to eventually normalize their status. In fiscal 1989, the INS granted just under 6,000 re quests from Nicaraguans for asylum, while it denied more than 10,000. Between October 1989 and January of this year, about 500 were granted and 650 denied. In the week since U.S.-backed Violetta Chamorro beat the Sandinistas’ Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua’s pres idential election, Miami immigx-ation officials noted a decrease in the asylum requests. Dozens of Nicaraguan exiles have either dropped their petitions to stay, or have stopped Fighting depor tation orders. Most of those voluntarily dropping asylum requests, like Marlene Falcon, say they are eager to return. “We’re here not because we want to be, but because of the repression,” she said. “I couldn’t see any use to continue battling a political asylum claim that didn’t have any validity.” The INS rules on political asylum, in large part, are based on State Department advisory opinions for each individual. Most denials occur because analysts rule ap plicants are economic, rather than political, refugees. The State Department cautions it is too early to be as sured that democracy will stick in Nicaragua, but a spokesman says its asylum policy will be reviewed. Nat Kingsley, of the State Department’s Human Rights Bureau, emphasizes that under U.S. law, each application is treated individually, whether it comes from England or Albania. Although the asylum evaluations are individual, INS officials say in reality the changes are reflected widely. buttle completes military mission EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — pace shuttle Atlantis landed safely on a Califor- ia desert runway Sunday, completing a secret lilitarv mission that included the launch of a 500 million spy satellite. "Congratulations on a great flight, guys, and (elcome back,” Mission Control communicator teveOswald said. Atlantis, carrying a crew of five military men, lunged through the Earth’s atmosphere in a ung fiery dive, flashed over the California coast- ne north of Los Angeles and touched down at dwards Air Force base at 12:08 p.m. GST. With mission commander John O. Creighton t the controls, Atlantis landed smoothly on a dry tkebed runway. It rolled to a stop a minute and 5 seconds later on the center line, ending a 4.5- iy mission. Fifty-one minutes after the landing, the astro- lauts stepped out of the shuttle into brilliant Mo- ive Desert sunshine, shook hands with NASA fficials and posed for NASA photographers. A light surgeon examined them briefly before hey disembarked. “You can probably tell by the smiles on our aces we had a great time,” Creighton, a Navy aptain. told a crowd of 100 NASA workers and fiends, going on to refer to the many delays be- ore takeoff. “It was terrific flight when we fi- allygotoff the ground. I think we accomplished amething that was important for the country. Creighton, Casper and the other crew mem bers, Air Force Col. Richard Mullane, Marine Lt. Col. David Hilmers and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Pierre Thuot, then boarded two jets for the flight back home to Houston. They arrived at Ellington Field, an Air Force base in Houston, about 7:45 p.m. CST. As 40 mph winds kicked up dust, NASA crews v ¥ ou can probably tell by the smiles on our faces we had a great time. It was terrific flight when we finally got off the ground. I think we accomplished something that was important for the country.” — John O. Creighton, mission commander towed Atlantis off the unpaved landing strip to prepare it for a piggyback jet ride to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Saturday. The spacecraft as it returned to Earth experi enced a pressure dip in a hydraulic system that controls flaps and steering. The astronauts switched to backup systems. Later, Mission Con trol said pressure was restored in the primary system. A Pentagon-imposed blackout blocked public announcement of the mission activities, and be cause of the secret nature of the mission, the landing was closed to public spectators. A few hundred invited guests, however, watched as the shuttle landed. NASA spokeswoman Lise Malone said a pre liminary inspection showed about 62 of Atlantis’ heat-shield tiles suffered “dings,” but that the count likely would change Monday. Atlantis was launched Wednesday from Ken nedy Space Center in Florida after five delays, four caused by weather. NASA sources, who spoke on agreement of anonymity, said the Atlantis astronauts deployed the spy satellite Thursday. The satellite, sources said, is capable of taking high resolution photo graphs and listening in on electronic communica tions all over the world. Atlantis was launched on a path that carries it over points on Earth farther north and south than any previous space shuttle. This enabled the astronauts to place the satellite in an orbit that will cover parts of the Soviet Union never before photographed by a shuttle-launched spy satellite. A network of amateur observers, which in cludes posts in Canada, Alaska and Scotland, re ported Saturday they had sighted Atlantis and a satellite in separate oribts. Atlantis’ flight was the 34th shuttle mission and the sixth dedicated solely to the military. For std. daily wear, extended .r\\N . C- wear or tinted soft lenses About Our New Bifocal Soft Lenses SAME DAY DELIVERY ON MOST LENSES Sale Ends March 30, 1990 Call 696-3754 For Appointment CHARLES C. SCHROEPPEL, O.D., P.C. DOCTOR OF OPTOMETRY *Eye exam not included. 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