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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 1999)
Umoja(Unity) Kujichagalia (Self-Determination) Ujima (Collective work & responsibility) MSC Black A warness Committee Presents... PRE-KWANZAA JJL CELEBRATION c cu' Page 14 • Wednesday, November 17, 1999 QJ QJ ORLD "The Culmination of Excellence Through Heritage" r\ o o n> Troops tighten around two Chechen toi Human rights advocates condemn settlement attacks -.ursday • No Noose tightens around Chechen capj QJ rt < n> a> o o Z3 O r> co NOV. 18, 1999 MSC 201 QJ -o ck 7 PM (Reception will follow) TD O CO Pcr?«M»s with disabtiiSiihs pleaw call 845-151$ in form a*> of y*Hir ^pediti mwls. We thrt p working tlays prior fa th<e i'vciit i<» rnabk us to a.vswt you to t hr Ih-s J of our abuo k'S, Kuumba (Creativity) Imani (Faith) ‘^OJVE 0 TONIGHT IS $ 1 .OO BIG BEER REFILLS $ 1.00 BAR DRINKS ALL NIGHT GROZNY, Russia (AP) — Russian troops tight ened the circle around two large Chechen towns yesterday, sending civilians fleeing, and human rights advocates condemned what they said were indiscriminate attacks against settlements. Troops were just over a mile from the town of Achkhoi-Martan, 15 miles southwest of the capi tal Grozny; surrounded Argun, nine miles east of the capital, and pressed in on Grozny itself from strategic heights to the east. They appeared intent on repeating the strate gy used last week to conquer Gudermes, Chech nya’s second-largest city: shelling it into submis sion and then sending in ground troops. The Russian military demanded yesterday that the inhabitants of Argun force out the militants or face shelling, Khasan Gapu- rayev, press secretary of the Chechen parlia ment, said. He said residents of Argun were fleeing south toward the mountains. Maj. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, a top Russian commander, denied that any ultimatum was made. He said his men would conduct negotia tions with elders in the town, “so they can drive the rebels out of their villages themselves.” Another top military official, Maj. Gen. Vadim Timchenko, said of Achkhoi-Martan: “We have not attempted to storm the city and are not planning to. ” Russian troop movements along the main highway leading from Grozny to the west slowed the flow of refugees into the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia. Some 1,000 people crossed into Ingushetia yesterday, about one-quarter of the number who have been crossing each day recently. Nearly 210,000 Chechens have fled to neigh boring regions, the Federal Migration Service said. Russian airstrikes were slowed yesterday by poor weather, as well as by increased resistance from rebels, the Interfax news agency reported. It said that militant bands had attacked Russ ian forces with small arms-fire and mortars along the heights to the north and east of Grozny, as well as in the Urus-Martan area, 12 miles south west of the capital. Chechen officials have said more than 4,000 civilians have been killed since Russia launched its offensive in September. In Moscow, the Russian human rights group Memorial issued a statement protesting “indis criminate aviation, rocket and artillery strikes against populated areas of Chechnya.” Oleg Orlov, the president of Memorial, said the Russian army has closed many escape routes for refugees. “Roads in general are being shot up. There are no humanitarian corridors. Any road is danger ous,” he said. He added that Chechen refugees had reported that Russian planes dropped leaflets warning people not to use the roads in Chechnya’s moun tainous south. When refugees manage to cross into neigh boring Russian regions, troops and police screen them to try to determine if they have been fight ing or if they are connected with the Wahhabis, an Islamic sect, Orlov said. Russia vows it will not back off its ground assaultsr rebel fighters are wiped out. On Wednesday, Russia- territory in the east and west, tightening their hoWr Russian airstnke or artillery shelling Movement of Russian forces Chechen fortifications Russian fortifications Population center Approximate (root line Trt Russarvocap#: j Chechnya During the 1994-96 Chechen 1 rights advocates claim thousands! were tortured and beaten at suchc Criticism came from other quaitai The World Council of Churchesyestd letter to Russian Orthodox Patriatdiil condemn “the disproportionateandi use of force employed by the Rus forces, which is contributing to at crisis of the utmost seriousness.” \m §§ Turkey turns attention to oncoming winter Cory Morrow Friday Night DUZCE, Turkey (AP) — With some rescue teams already gone and others leaving soon, hopes of finding more survivors from Turkey’s latest earthquake are fading and thoughts are turning to helping the newly homeless face winter’s bitter chill. The 72-hour window after which people usually cannot survive be neath rubble lapsed at 7 p.m. Some rescuers said there was no point in staying. “It’s finished. You can’t find live people after 72 hours,” Bel gian fireman Jean Paul Dezutter said, who stopped by the Ameri can rescuers’ camp for a ritual ex change of T-shirts and caps before leaving Monday afternoon. Friday night’s 7.2-magnitude quake killed at least 547 people, the government said yesterday. Thousands have been left home less in temperatures that have plunged to below freezing each evening. Jean-Phillipe Jutzi, a Swiss res cuer, said there was little chance of anyone surviving in the rubble after the freezing temperatures of the last three nights. Many must have died of hy pothermia, he said. A rescue team from Fairfax, Va., came equipped with 100,000 pounds of equipment. The team had planned a week’s stay. “Some people have started asking preliminary questions about leav ing,” Rekha Chalasani, the team’s spokesperson said. She said the team would consult with the U.N. rescue coordinators about what to do. A total of 23 international teams arrived in TUrkey after the temblor, anticipating devastation like that of an August quake that killed over 17,000 people. The significantly lower numbers of casualties this time has left some rescuers with little work. Some teams are switching their efforts from rescue to relief, reaching out to homeless people who spend cold nights in tents. Nusret Miroglu, the governor of Bolu province said about 300 build ings had collapsed and about 80,000 people were sleeping in the streets. He said the death toll could still rise. His estimate of the homeless was based only on city counts, he noted — “we have no information from Assessing the damage in Turkey the villages.” He appealed to inter national charities for assistance, say ing there were not enough tents to go round. Bus stations were flooded with residents fleeing the zone to other re gions of Tli r key. Among those who stayed, men shored earth up against improvised shelters to keep the rain waters out. The Israeli team is set to distrib ute 2,000 sleeping bags in Duzce. An Israeli field hospital also is in place, relieving staff at the munici pal hospital in Duzce, which was forced to move patients into its yard after the quake made the wards unsafe. Q: What should I wear today? A : Clothes that make life easier! Casual Corner and Petite Sophisticate collectibles... wardrobe classics that suit up or go their separate ways. Available now in black and navy or the season's standout color. Missy and Petite sizes 0-16. Bring in this ad and receive a complimentary pair of pantyhose. Offer expires 1 2/15/99 |jjj^ CASUAL CORNER, • PETITE SOPHISTICATE, Post Oak Mall, Across from American Eagle, Telephone 409-764-0452 .y : La\v)'ersforl laborers thmti walk out onto mm. 1 of iki BONN, Germany I .nwt'is for Nazi-eraU borers were threaten! out of talks on a conn* settlement yesterdayu many raised its offer/ attorneys said. There were signs I would boost the$3.71) offered with somei largest companies, one of 12 lawyers rep people forced to workfaj many iluring World Wi A settlement figurj $5.3 billion was pro even that would not sail torneys’ demands, porters, but he ddnot ehW gy “ The majority oi the 1« is ready to walk j edst f 0 talks, he said. lied early f fiis sixth round oitall®fj re tablishingafundtopayioT bor victims has stalled ol much money survivorsshl A German envoy J thought there was little two-day talks, whichbegam at erous he ogs. bout 2:2C a log hit t cr ba day, would result In a seiu®| ie f e “1 am certainly not piti| r ], er g ( ' )n ani timistic, ” German go\ cr “ h j le a r( | , gotiator Otto Lambsdortf ked ‘ anc i don’t know what will coiri,,.. 1 the end, how we can W ” sa jd whether we can proceeti fcj 1( ’ mo ‘ re Lambsdotff, speakiiiy^jQj- ^yho w German Radio, calledon|I kers . re j r to compromise. But nex t lawyers said they wou!*^ ere in their demands for replA h n( fjC Q , even higher. PolTee co,' Meanwhile, Germanic) en t s we and the government l% t f our we ered over who shouldo% fallen log money. A College German companies;«nter spokt the compensation fund idents we ary under the pressureof® e 0 f whic tion lawsuits in the Unit ndition. The companies wante Officials re dement to protect themfl,Cadets C< sible lawsuits in tbOrking on t brought on behalf of It Bonfire, slave and forced laborer; Other Cor] But as the negotiat/nce halls dragged on, lawyers stf;re the might be better just toil cases in court. Fagan yesterday br; many’s settlement pro| posterous,” even after eminent said Mondayi 1 ] raise its part of the offer cent, to $1.6 billion. The companies halt $2.1 billion but said tit* have trouble raising amount. Lawyers unveiled aiij dent study Monday shu* German industry ma sent-day equivalent $100 billion using M and forced labor. Lambsdorff dismii study, saying it was “in and doesn’t get us any* The fund, so farind 1 German firms, aims sate about 235,000slav( or people whom the tended to work to dea centration camps burst!] Also eligible forcotnl' would he the hundreds sands of forced labor/] non-Jews from EasternB though those numbers dispute. From 1.5 million toi people ultimately for payment.