The Battalion trt Bt ■ f % Wmf %a0 mm Im mm? Wednesday * April fa Russian official admits lying last fall about decrease of crime MOSCOW (AP) — Last fall, Boris Yeltsin beamed at his Interi or Minister, the country’s top cop, and thanked him for a sharp downturn in crime. “One can say with confidence that people feel safer now than they did two or three years ago,” the president said then. On Tuesday, in an extraordinary admission, Yeltsin’s prime minis ter-designate conceded there was no drop in crime. Sergei Kiriyenko accused police of telling “shame less lies” to mask their failure to stem Russia’s headlong dive into lawlessness. It was a remarkable moment in more ways than one. Mostly, it was a concession that Russia may be losing the battle against crime — something the government’s op ponents and foreign observers have been warning about for a long time. It also seemed to give Kiriyenko, a 35-year-old banker and martial arts buff, a chance to act tough before a Russian public scared and angered by growing crime. The opposition has been por traying Kiriyenko as an inexperi enced lightweight who lacks the mettle to run a government. Russian crime statistics have al ways been suspect, but over the past five years they have showed a sharp increase in crime, something obvi ous to any Russian newspaper read er or television viewer. A wave of contract hits, kidnap pings and other gangland violence has hinted at the breadth of mob influence in Russian society. And lower-level crimes — robberies, muggings, break-ins — seemed to have reached even the smallest communities. When Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov said last year that crime was subsiding, few people ques tioned the news and Yeltsin proud ly congratulated him. Kulikov was among those sacked in Yeltsin’s mass purge of his Cabinet last month, and is not expected to return. Last week, a prosecutor told a presidential commission on hu man rights that the police had vastly under-reported crimes, es pecially serious ones, and that po lice officers themselves were fre quently running afoul of the law. He recounted cases of torture, co ercion and rape by police. Against that backdrop, Kiriyenko held a teleconference Tuesday with top law enforcement officials. He said police officials were trying to “whitewash statistics” to conceal how crime was rising and accused police of “shameless lies, especially in the sphere of crime solving.” Clinton visit to Ireland question BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Northern Ire land’s two major Protestant parties bitterly disagree about the landmark peace accord, but they agreed on one thing Tuesday: President Clinton should not try to sell it to people here. The government of the Irish Republic, mean while, freed nine Irish Republican Army prisoners in a bid to boost support for the accord among the out lawed group’s supporters. The Ulster Unionist Party, already split over its leaders’ decision to accept the deal, said a possible Clinton visit the week before a May 22 referendum might be “misunderstood” by Protestants resentful of foreign pressure to compromise, making rejection more likely. “I think it might be misunderstood if he was to di rectly involve himself in an electoral process here in the province,” said a senior Ulster Unionist nego tiator, Reg Empey, arguing that Protestants “want to make up their own minds.” Leaders of the IRA-allied Sinn Fein party spent Tues day at a secret location considering how to sell to their hard-line supporters an accord that the party’s negotia tors accepted, but falls far short of a united Ireland. The deal will be the focus of debate this weekend at Sinn Fein’s annual conference in Dublin, but lead ers are hoping to delay a vote over whether to accept it until later this month. The peace agreement, arrived at after?; peace talks, would create a new Norther, sembly that Protestants and Catholics op®; — and cooperate formally with the Irish Rep. The deal keeps Northern Irelandfirmli Britain and its troops based here for thefn fu t u re. The British and Irish governments art; of a majority “no” vote in the referendur do worry that a large minority "no” woui; deal the overwhelming public endorse- feel it will require. The nine IRA inmates walked freeftot Republic’s top-s< and issued a stat port for the IRA a All had been arms and explosh to remain behind While the non Clinton to encou urity Portlaoiseprise nent pledging lOOpe i its allied Sinn Feinp rving sentences forp > — and all but onehai ars until the 21stcen: s Catholic leaders see ge the plan's accepta Protestant leaders iewed as foreign intt i it of Mr. Clinton'swhe a part of the United! nent would haveit-u tohinson, deputy leadt Th (HA ight i Food ood COFFEE STATION 907-A Harvey Rd. College Station '694-2844 T "TTCaeAct T *datte T eutel "TfCcte^l ‘77C minimum / drink purchase Wednesday Ladies Free Pool 6 p.m. to close Drink Specials $1.00 Well St $2.00 Call Drinks every night tit 9:00 mi Yrp Mk 9 i J, Applications for Summer and Fall Staff, Section Editors and Managing Editors arend available in Room 013 Reed McDonald Builm There will be two informational meetings^ r ! Thursday, April 16 at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m, Room 003 Reed McDonald. 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