The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 14, 1999, Image 6

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    Page 6 • Monday, June 14, 1999
News
The!
Keeping the peace
A sampling of Americans serving
as peacekeepers
abroad, either
under U.N.
authorization or
other mandates:
Germany
Japan
South Korea
Saudi Arabia
Bosnia
Southern Turkey
70,000
40,000
37,000
(up to) 25,000
5,900
1,000
Sinai Desert, Egypt
Ecuador-Peru
Western Sahara
900
21
15
East Timor
Macedonia
Western
Europe
East Asia
Kosovo
Panama
Haiti
Cuba
(prospective) 33
587
(being phased out)
(approx.) 100,000
(approx.) 100,000
7,000
(under) 4,000
450
1,000
Peacekeeping troops enter Kosot
Source: AP research
AP
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) — Serb
troops burned houses within sight of
Western troops Sunday and British sol
diers shot dead a Serb police officer as
peacekeepers tried to contain new vio
lence in Kosovo. Russian troops, mean
while, blocked reinforcements for a
small British unit uneasily coexisting
with a Russian force dominating Pristi
na airport.
Overall, NATO’s objectives are being
met. Serb troops are withdrawing on or
ahead of schedule, and peacekeeping
units, including the first American com
bat troops, were fanning out across the
province as planned.
But some Serb forces, not due to de
part for a few days, prevented NATO
soldiers from reaching burning houses
in an ethnic Albanian suburb of Pristi
na, Kosovo’s capital. And in Prizren,
the province’s second-largest city, Ger
man troops had to separate departing
Serbs and ethnic Albanians seekihg re
venge.
In the first reported fatality of the
NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo,
British paratroopers shot and killed a
Yugoslav police reservist Sunday after
the man fired a pistol at a NATO patrol,
the alliance said.
About 100 to 150 U.S. Army troops
in armored vehicles crossed into Koso
vo at Blace, Macedonia in the first sig
nificant U.S. force to join 5,000 NATO
peacekeepers already in the province.
A convoy of about 1,200 Marines
halted on the border late Sunday before
entering Kosovo from Macedonia.
Troops are to enter the southern Yu
goslav province at first light today.
In Pristina, British troops in ar
mored personnel carriers failed after
several attempts to circumvent road
blocks set up by Serbs near the suburb
of Sofali. Reporters following troops
saw seven or eight houses burning in
the predominantly ethnic Albanian
neighborhood.
Even after suspected Serb snipers left
the scene, there was concern about
mines on the road leading to the hous
es.
It was unclear why the structures
were being set ablaze, but there have
been frequent reports of Serb forces set
ting ethnic Albanian houses afire as
they retreat ahead of advancing NATO
troops.
“We have the authority to go in, but
we don’t want to fight our way in,” Lt.
Damien Walker said. “We want to do it
peacefully. ”
Under the agreement reached be
tween Yugoslavia and NATO, Yugoslav
troops and Serb paramilitaries are to
withdraw from Kosovo over a period of
11 days. The alliance said as of late Fri
day, about 10,000 Serb personnel had
left the province.
A NATO statement said the fatal
shooting of the Yugoslav police re
servist occurred about 5 p.m. in Pristi
na. After the shot was fired, troops gave
the man six warnings to drop the pistol
and when he refused, the paratroopers
NATO fights for control ofPrk
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) —
Crouched in knee-high yellow grass, a
NATO soldier peered through field glass
es as Serb troops torched another house
in the valley below, sending plumes of
white smoke skyward.
“Keep down — they’re watching us
too,” he said grimly. “Through their rifle
scopes. ”
On Sunday, the first full day of the
NATO troops’ deployment in Kosovo’s
capital of Pristina, departing Serb troops
remained a menacing presence, burning
ethnic Albanians’ houses or brazenly
looting them, hemming in NATO troops
with roadblocks, jeering and cursing as
British armor fanned out around the city.
The crack of rifle fire was often heard.
NATO is well aware that despite a joy
ous welcome from the city’s ethnic Alba
nians, Pristina — which was one-fifth
Serb before the war — is highly hostile
territory for them.
So alliance troops here — all British,
so far — are taking precautions. Their
light vehicles travel only in^
three or four; one alone wouicpjl
dangerous, they say. NATO ha; 4
begun night patrols for the same; I;
Under the agreement readt
tween Yugoslavia and NATO,:
troops and Serb paramilitarie;
withdraw from Kosovo overap
11 days. The alliance saidasof
day, about 10,000 Serb personne:
the province.
Sunday brought the first
British troops shot dead a Serbia
cial police reservist after he firec
at a patrol, NATO said.
In another tense standoff,
NATY) armored vehicles tried to
fati, a predominantly ethnic
suburb just east of Pristina, to
troops who were burning hou
Serb soldiers turned them bad
roadblock and cut off accessali
road by blocking it crosswise v
cars that the British suspected
booby-trapped.
opened fire, killing him, the NATO
statement said.
The private Yugoslav news agency
Beta, said the man, Veselin Jovovic,
was trying to unlock his car when he
was ordered to stop and raise his hands.
When he refused, NATO troops opened
fire. Beta said.
In Prizren, German peace;:
forces got an early and unsettle
of the city’s ethnic tension;
basking in the welcomingcher
flower-bearing crowd, they:
break up an angry confront;
ethnic Albanian residents and:
ing Serb militiamen.
Starr to continue work
despite 2000 elections
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prose
cutor Kenneth Starr said Sunday he
has no choice but to keep investi
gating the Clintons, a course that
could collide with the 2000 presi
dential election campaign and a
possible Senate run by the first
lady.
Starr said he regards the coming
criminal trial of Clinton friend Web
ster Hubbell — based on an indict
ment which refers 36 times to
Hillary Rodham Clinton — as an
important step in the investigation.
“We’re looking forward to a tri
al this summer, that’s what we’re
preparing for right now,” Starr said
on “Fox News Sunday.”
Also Sunday, The Washington
Post reported in a book excerpt that
President Clinton’s lawyer, Robert
Bennett, was suspicious of Clin
ton’s denials of extramarital rela
tionships and warned him bluntly
to tell the truth in the Paula Jones
case or “your political enemies will
eat you alive. ”
Starr said his investigation un
avoidably has been prolonged be
cause he has run into incomplete
cooperation in many instances.
“For my part, I just wish we had
had full cooperation from the out
set” Starr said.
The Clinton White House has
gone to court to challenge Starr on
many aspects of his nearly five-
year investigation. In addition,
Hubbell and other witnesses have
not provided Starr with answers to
key questions he is investigating,
such as the role of the First Lady.
“We recognize
that we need to
move forward
promptly, [but]
some things are
entirely out of
my control.”
KENNETH
STARR
Also, witnesses such as Clinton
Whitewater partner Susan McDou-
gal refused to testify to a grand jury
in 1996 and 1998. Jurors dead
locked at McDougal’s recent ob
struction and contempt trial, and
Starr has abandoned the case
against her.
“We recognize that we need to
move forward promptly,” Starr
said, but “some things are entirely
out of my control.”
Asked whether Mrs. Clinton’s
possible Senate bid from New York
was affecting his office’s decision
making, Starr said, “We strive
mightily while providing public in
formation, public education, to di
vorce our decisions from politics
whatsoever. ”
Starr said he ultimately will file a
final report on his investigation, as
mandated by the independent coun
sel statute expiring this month.
“We have made no decisions
with respect to the specific contents
of the report,” he said.
Starr’s office will prosecute
Hubbell in federal court starting
Aug. 9 on charges of concealing his
and Mrs. Clinton’s legal work on a
fraudulent Arkansas land deal. The
1,050-acre development called Cas
tle Grande contributed to the fi
nancial collapse of the S&L owned
by the Clintons’ Whitewater part
ners.
The work Hubbell and Hillary
Clinton did on the project was not
revealed until Clinton’s billing
records turned up in the White
House family residence in 1996
under still-unexplained circum
stances. Prosecutors had been
looking for the documents since
1994.
The case could be postponed
further if Hubbell seeks court ap
peals on legal issues.
TWA, union reach agreema
NEW YORK (AP) — TVans World Airlines reached
a tentative agreement Sunday on new contract pro
posals with the union representing its flight attendants,
mechanics and other workers after the airline’s previ
ous “last, best” offer appeared doomed to fail.
The International Association of Machinists (IAM)
said it would cancel the rank-and-file voting which be
gan last week and present the new contract offer to its
16,000 TWA members. It agreed there would be no work
stoppages during the monthlong ratification process.
“The IAM will recommend to our members that
they vote ‘yes’ on ratification of these revised propos
als, which represent a significant improvement over
previous contract offers from TWA,” union official
William O’Driscoll said in a statement.
TWA chief executive Bill Compton said employees
“deserve the increases in this contract,” calling the deal
fair and one the company can afford.
Details of the new pact will be released TUesday in
Kansas City, where the union is based. Workers will
begin voting on it on Wednesday.
On May 28, TWA presented what it desafe
“last, best offer,” and the rank-and-filehadK
ing on it even though it did not have the ap?'
union leaders. The new deal nullifies the pre,
and those earlier votes.
The airline’s previous offer received little:
Union members had also cast ballots on vvhett:
prove limited strikes targeting key flightsd;
Fourth of July weekend, typically one of tfr
busiest weekends for airlines.
TWA suffered last year when baggagehaa 1
chanics and ramp workers briefly walkedcii.
effectively shutting down the airline’s
Airport in St. Louis.
The union is seeking payback for years:*
airline acknowledges were subpar wagess*
benefits and retirement plans.
TWA hasn’t turned a profit in 10years.In
airline lost almost $5 per paying passenger.::
1,000 miles. Since 1989, St. Louis-basedTve
more than $2 billion.
Experts brace for virus mu
11
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NEW YORK (AP) — After a
weekend of scouring their comput
ers for the latest e-mail virus to bom
bard the Internet, systems managers
were preparing for a new work week
and the threat of new infections
when workers log on.
The Worm.Explore.Zip virus,
which is transmitted via e-mail and
destroys files on infected computers,
has Struck tens of thousands of ma
chines, but so far has not spread as
widely as the Melissa virus that hit
in late March.
Worm.Explore.Zip targets com
puters using Microsoft Windows op
erating systems. The virus arrives in
a person’s e-mail box as a timely re
ply from an acquaintance, inviting
the recipient to open an attached file
that will unleash a two-pronged at
tack: It spreads by sending a copy of
itself to the address of any arriving
e-mail and destroys files stored on a
person’s machine, including those
created by the popular programs Mi
crosoft Word and Excel.
But fears remained Sunday that
the outbreak may have fallen dor
mant over the weekend with most
people not working, and could start
spreading again when employees re
turn Monday morning and turn on
their computers.
Another concern, anti-virus ex
perts said, has been scattered reports
of new symptoms being detected
among infected machines, a sign the
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The Federal Bureau oft
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spring for authorities to Science
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Tickets available at the
Box Office 84’
Adults $10.00 Sea;
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Students $5 Si
The Arts Council of the Brazos Valley * Texas Commis
Brazos Business Arts Alliance • University 1
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