Wednesday*
Air Force plane crashes
Senator faces conflict of inters
Three dead, seven injured in firey
landing on busy Honduras street
1 mile
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras
(AP) — A U.S. Air Force cargo
plane overshot a runway,
crashed into a busy street and
burst into flames Tuesday,
killing three of those aboard.
After touching down on the
runway of Tocontin International
Airport in the Honduran capital,
the plane rose into the air again.
But it dropped down again,
went off the end of the runway
and slid 200 yards into the road,
said Col. Fernando Soto, chief of
the government civil aeronautics
office at the airport.
The plane caught fire as it
came to a stop on a major artery,
often crowded with cars and
pedestrians and lined with offices,
stores and fast-food restaurants. It
wound up about 100 yards from
two gasoline stations.
“I had just gotten off of a bus
when I saw the plane was com
ing right at me,” said Luis
Armando Montoya. “I ran des
perately for the other side of the
street. It is a miracle I am safe,
but I am still frightened.”
The spokeswoman for the U.S.
Embassy, Marti Estell, said three
people aboard the C-130 died
and all seven others were injured.
Their names were withheld
pending notification of relatives.
No one on the ground was
reported injured.
Soto said it was not clear what
caused the crash. The Air Force
was investigating.
The plane was part of the 440th
Airlift Wing based at General
Mitchell International Airport in
Wisconsin and was flying out of
Howard Air Force Base in Panama.
U.S. officials said it was carrying
food and electronic goods for U.S.
servicemen based in Honduras.
The United States has at least
800 personnel based at
Palmerola air base, 40 miles
north of the capital. The three
most seriously injured were
taken there for treatment, Capt.
Jerry Warner said at the base.
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► Fred Thompson
could alienate certain
groups by trying to
evaluate congression
al finances.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fred
Thompson, head of the Senate
investigation into campaign
finances, faces some tough choic
es. He must resolve whether
Democrats on his panel can sub
poena 11 tax-exempt groups with
ties to Republicans.
The National Right to Life
Committee spent $14,970 on
Thompson’s behalf during the 1994
and 1996 elections. Another tax-
exempt group featured the
Tennessee Republican in TV ads,
while a third took over a project that
featured him in a TV broadcast.
The Democratic request
demonstrates one of the thorny
issues that Thompson must soon
resolve as his Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee
prepares for hearings.
And his decisions may have an
impact beyond the investigation
since he has been mentioned as a
potential presidential contender
in 2000.
“The committee assignment is
a double-edged sword,” said John
Geer, professor of political science
at Vanderbilt University in
Thompson’s home state. "If he
plays it right, he could have
increased clout with the
Republican Party and appeal to
the public at large.”
The Democrats have been
negotiating the subpoenas with
Thompson, who does not need
full committee approval to issue
them. Controversial subpoenas
can go to the full Governmental
Affairs Committee.
Paul Clark, spokesman for
Thompson, said the senator will
base his decisions "on the merits”
in consultation with other com
mittee members.
Among the tough decisions
awaiting Thompson:
—Whether the committee’s
probe of prohibited political activity
by tax-exempt organizations should
include the Christian Coalition in
addition to the National Right to Life
Committee, two groups frequently
aligned with Republicans. Both
groups are at the top of the
1 Democrats’ subpoena list.
—Whether to investigai
gations that Republican
used heavy-handed app
to donors, telling contii
their access to lawmakers)
be threatened by continusi
tributions to Democrats.
In one incident, S
Majority Leader Trent Itr
cjnoted by The ConurJ
Appeal in Memphis, Tem
December as saying corJ
political committees I
"squirm considerably "KtliJ
sisted in giving to Democra I
Lott specifically corapj
in the interview aboil
Federal Express PAG, thtj
active political action coJ
tee in Thompson’s homesiB
Tennessee. The PACK
$19,000 to Thompson oip,
last four years. !
—Whether to gnJ
1 Democratic-sought subpoel
the tax-exempt Coalitionft|
Children’s Future. Thomps:
a 1995 TV spot for thegrou;
moling a balanced budget.
Thompson’s 30-second a
sion ad “was a straight^
spot on balancing the bud«|
November 1995, Clark said
Attempt to destroy school buses in Gaza Strip leaves four dean
NETZARIM, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli
troops shot and killed two Palestinians and
two others blew themselves up in bungled
suicide bombings Tuesday, one of the
deadliest days yet in a growing crisis in
Middle East peacemaking.
The bombers apparently had meant to
destroy Israeli school buses outside
Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip,
Israelis said.
The attacks come during a deadlock in
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which broke
down last month over new Israeli construc
tion in disputed east Jerusalem, and trig
gered new accusations from both sides.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu insisted that the suicide
bombings showed that Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat has sanctioned
attacks by Islamic militants.
“Today’s twin attacks (are) proof that
the terror campaign continues,”
Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu later decided to make a 12-
hour visit Monday to the United States to
talk with President Clinton on the crisis,
the prime minister’s spokesman said.
Netanyahu also will address the pro-
Isfaeli lobby AIPAC and Christian organi
zations that support Israel and will meet
with U.S. Jewish leaders, spokesman Shai
Bazak said in a statement.
Israel’s Channel 2 television said Clinton
intended to propose a compromise to
Netanyahu.
Arafat said it was Israel’s prolonged
security closure of Palestinian areas that
created a climate of violence. “We are all
doing our best ... to control the situa
tion,” Arafat said.
Both sides refuse to resume peace talks
unless the other makes key compromises.
The Palestinians demand that Israel
stop construction of a Jewish neighbor
hood in east Jerusalem, the sector they
claim as a future capital.
Until the work stops, Palestinians say
they will refuse to help Israel on securi
ty, such as detecting Islamic militants
plotting attacks on Israelis.
Netanyahu insists that Arafat restore
order and peace before negotiations resume.
He refuses to halt the construction.
In Washington, President Clinton dis
cussed the growing crisis with King
Hussein of Jordan, who recently and dra
matically blamed Netanyahu for the break
down in relations. Clinton declared Middle
East leaders should show “zero tolerance”
for terrorism.
Clinton said he would send Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright to the region once
he decides on a strategy to end the negoti
ating impasse.
Tuesday’s first explosion went off about
a mile from the Jewish settlement of
Netzarim, south of Gaza City. A Netzarim
school bus was running late, which meant
it was away from the site when the bomb
exploded.
Palestinian police disputed Israeli allega
tions that the other explosion, at Kfar
Darom, was a suicide bombing. They said
Israeli troops threw explosives at a taxi and a
donkey cart, killing a Palestinian bystander
and wounding seven taxi passengers.
But Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen.
Amnon Shahak, said Islamic militants set
off both blasts. He said the suicide
bombers wore Palestinian police uniforms
and were Islamic militants belonging to
either the Hamas or Islamic Jihad groups.
Israel TV said the explosive kits were
similar to one used by a Hamas-affiliated
suicide bomber who killed three Israeli
women in a Tel Aviv cafe on March 21.
A caller to Israel Radio claimed responsi
bility in the name of Hamas, but 1 lamas polit
ical leaders and the Izzedine al-Qassem mili
tary wing of the group denied involvement.
Two other callers to Israel TV and Israel
Radio’s Arabic service claimed the attacks on
behalf of other, previously unknown groups.
North of the West Bank city of Nablus,
about 1,000 Palestinians clashed with troops
at an Israeli army checkpoint.
Israeli troops there shot and killed a
plainclothes Palestinian policeman,
Haitham Mansour, Palestinians said.
Hospitals treated 32 protesters for
wounds from rubber bullets and for tear
gas inhalation.
Mansour had been sent to the scene to
try and subdue the protesters, said a col
league, Mohammed Abu Sanfa.
He was buried within hours of his
killing. Palestinian police fired 21 shots into
the air in salute.
Two suicide
bombings in Gaz
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