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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1988)
News Digest SfeiK— Democrats seek alternatives for Contras WASHINGTON — Congres sional Democrats who dealt a severe blow to President Reagan’s Central America policy set out Thursday to produce an alternative that will sus tain the Nicaraguan Contra rebels while stimulating regional peace efforts. “We will make sure those we lured into this battle arc not left high and dry,” said House Speaker Jim Wright, D-Tcxas. He promised to bring a new' package of purely hu manitarian aid for the Contras up for action within three weeks. The House, with only a dozen Republicans in the majority, voted 219-211 Wednesday night to kill Reagan’s request for S36.2 million in new aid for the rebels fighting Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista gov ernment. The package included arms, ra dios and other logistical military support as well as food, clothing and medicine. Weapons and ammunition accounted for only S3.6 m i 11 ion of the total hut w ere at the root of the oppo sition. Despite the death of the president’s package, the Senate went through the motions of a debate Thursday that gave senators an op portunity to speak and vote on the issue. Vice President George Bush, the Senate’s presiding officer, and Mi nority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., interrupted presidential campaign swings m Iowa to attend the session, which Contra backers apparently believed could serve as a forum for their views. “After last night's vote in the house. Contra aid is dead in Con gross, and the Senate should not waste its time trying to bring Contra aid back from the grave,” Sen. Ed ward Kennedy, D-Mass., said in arguing against holding the debate. The outlines of the new Demo cratic aid package remained vague. House Majority Whip Tony Coelho, D-Calif'., said, however, it is likely to reach beyond the short-term needs ol the rebels, whose U.S. aid ends Feb. 2d, to encompass a long-term eco nomic development package lor the region. In addition, Cochlo said the legis lation may address the issue ol whether private American citizens should be permitted to raise third party contributions as a way ol keep ing military aid flowing to the rebels — an action seen by anti-Contra forces as potentially undermining the peace process. 13 people injured, authorities say Omaha train collision injures 13 OMAHA — An Anurak passen ger train ran a red signal and collided with a Burlington Northern freight train Thursday, slightly injuring 13 people, authorities said. Angela Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the Federal Railroad Administra tion in Washington, said an Anurak crew member told investigators that the passenger train ran the red signal. W itnesscs con firmed the account, according to Gary Tclfcr, manager of public affairs for Burlington Northern’s Chicago region. Interviews with crew members indicated the passenger train reduced its speed before the collision, but rates of speed are not known, said Bill Loftus, executive director of the federal railroad agency. About 12 people involved in the accident, including train engineers and the dispatcher, w ill be tested for alcohol and drugs, Loftus said. The test results w ill be available in about 10 days, he said. It w as the second Amtrak accident in less than a week. An Amtrak train carrying 160 people slammed into a w-ork vehicle on tracks outside Phila delphia Jan. 29, injuring 25. The train that derailed Thursday had about 190 passengers on board and originated in Oakland, Calif. It left the Omaha station at 7:23 a.m. cn route to Chicago and the accident occurred about 15 minutes later, said ticket agent Jerry Butcher. There w'erc 123 cars on the freight train, which was struck near the ca boose. Assistant Fire Chief Bob War sock i said about 2,(XX) gallons of diesel fuel spilled from the Amtrak train, but that there was no danger of fire and that the spill was contained. Officials also said there was no environmental danger from anything on the freight train. A section of track about 20-feet long was tom from the ground. Five empty cars on the freight train de railed, including the boxcar that was struck by the Amlrak train. The side of that boxcar had been ripped away. One of the freight cars was lying on its side on top of two utility sheds. Both the Amtrakenginesderailed, but remained upright, Butcher said. Four other cars derailed, includ ing a mail car and three baggage cars. One car was resting against an em bankment, but the other cars were standing upright. There were 10 other cars on the train. Ortega says Nicaraguan war to continue despite vote MANAGUA, Nicaragua—Presi dent Daniel Ortega said Thursday the rejection of further aid for the Contra rebels by the U.S. Congress will strengthen peace efforts, “but it does not make the war disappear.” “President Reagan is meeting with the National Security Council, studying ways to continue the war against Nicaragua,” Ortega said in a news conference the day after Con gress turned down the Reagan administration’s request for S36.2 million for the anti-Sandinista rebels. “If the president of the United States . .. tells the North American people and the international commu nity that he has decided to cut off all kind of military aid and financing to the mercenary forces and begin a direct dialogue with the government of Nicaragua on security matters and direct the Contras to cease fire, then, yes, we w ould be able to say we are on the road to peace,” he said. 1 he leftist Sandinista government generally refers to the U.S. -funded and -trained Contras, who have been waging a guerrilla campaign against the Sandinislas since late 1981, as “mercenaries.” State-run radio on Thursday called on the rebels to lay down their aims and take advantage of political amnesty. The rebels, in a clandestine Radio Liberation broadcast, said. “The Nicaraguan Resistance will con tinue. The people’s desire lor liberty will not be stopped.” The station reportedly broadcasts front El Salva dor and is jammed in Managua. Ortega lobbied hard to end the funding. His campaign included re storing many lost rights in the last five months, courting visiting Demo cratic Congress members, and re cently completing a European trip that included an audience with Pope John Paul II. Military analysis speculated the Contras could not survive more than a year without the food and wcaponr> airdropped to isolated, rugged re gions by CIA-operated planes. The Contras have been most active lately in central Chontalcs and northern Zclaya provinces. They say they have up to 18,0(X) men under arms, although the Sandinistas put thetr strength at 6,(XX). Late notice shows limit of glasnost MOSCOW — Cicorgi M. Malenkov died more than two weeks ago but the death of one of Josef V. Stalin’s main lieutenants has gone unreported in the Soviet press. Such official silence illustrates the Kremlin’s hesitancc locmbracc fully its policy of greater openness and acknowledge the darker pages of its past. Malenkov died Jan. 14 and was buried in Kuntscvskoyc Cemetery in western Moscow five days later. But no Soviet newspaper or state run broadcast reported this infor mation, keeping silent about a man who helped shape the world’s first socialist state before being con signed to the oblivion of a power plant in east Kazakhstan. On Tuesday, the official news agency Tass issued the first report of Malenkov’s death but no papers or radio stations carried it. The government’s failure to report Malenkov’s death, however, reflects a continuing uncertainty among the current Kremlin leader Andy Manhart/Daily Nebraskan ship over how to present past errors and excesses to the Soviet people. It also demonstrates that Com munist Party chief Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s policy of “glasnost,” or openness, is easily sacrificed in matters concerning the party and its reputation. The only official note of his passing came Tuesday when For eign Ministry spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov gave the date of his death, in answer to a reporter’s question, and Tass ran it as brief comment. Roy A. Medvcdc>,an unofficial Soviet historian who has written several books on Stalin and his supporters, observed that parly protocol would forbid such an offi cial burial for Malenkov because he was ousted from the party in 1%|. Malenkov, the round-faced communist who lost out to Nikita S. Khrushchev in a power struggle alter Stalin died, had been living in obscurity since 1^57. Ironically, those very changes such as a greater emphasis on consumer goods and a de-emphasis on agriculture collectivization — are being pushed today by Gor bachev and his followers. Nebrayskan Editor Mike Reitley 472-1766 Managing Editor Jen Deselms Assoc News Editors Curt Wagner Chris Anderson Ed lorial Page Editor Diana Johnson Wire Editor Bob Nelson Copy Desk Chief Joan hezac Sports Editor Jett Apel Arts & Entertain ment Editor Charles Lieurance Asst Arts & Entertainment Editor Geoll McMurtry Graphics Editor Tom Lauder Asst Graphics Editor Jody Beem Photo Chief Mark Davis Night News Editors Joeth Zucco Scott Harrah Art Director Brian Barber General Manager Oaniel Shaltil Production Manager Katherine Policky Advertising Manager Marcia Miller Asst Advertising Manager Bob Bates Publications doard Chaiiman Don Johnson. 472 3611 Professional Adviser Dnn Walton. 473 7301 The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board. Nebiaska Union 34, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb 68588-0448, weekdays during academic yeai (except holidays), weekly during the summer session. Subscription price is S35 for one year Postmaster bend addiess changes to the Daily Nebraskan. Nebraska Union 34. '400 R St.. Lincoln, Neb 68588 0448 Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1988 DAILY NEBRASKAN Israeli civilian shoots Arab stone-thrower JERUSALEM — Palestinian protesters set fire to a bus and an Israeli civilian shot and wounded an Arab stone-thrower in clashes in the West Two Israeli soldiers and a Palestinian guerrilla died in a foggy, pre dawn skirmish on the Lebanon border. In the West Bank, Arab reports said seven Palestinians suffered gunshot wounds in clashes with Israeli soldiers. The army said two Arabs were wounded, and soldiers shot three others, including a 10 year-old boy who was in serious condition, in an overnight clash near the village of Burka. On Israel’s northern border, Israeli paratroopers battled with a three man guerrilla squad that cut through a fence and planned to attack a civilian settlement, army officials said. A guerrilla and two Israeli soldiers were killed, one guerrilla was captured and another one escaped back to Lebanon. Panamanian general indicted on drug charges MIAMI — Panama’s military strongman, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury here on charges ! of aiding international cocaine traffickers, sources said. The 30-page indictment includes racketeering and other drug-related charges, the sources said on condition of anonymity. The indictment was presented Thursday to Chief U.S. Magistrate Peter Palermo, uho immediately ordered it sealed at the request of Assistant U.S. Attorney William Junge. U.S. Attorney Leon Kclner of Miami scheduled a news conference ; for Friday at which he was expected to announce the indictment. Noriega, who leads Panama’s national guard, is considered the I power behind the civilian government. Noriega has been accused of protecting drug shipments of Colombia’s Medellin Cartel in return for expensive bribes, and of providing facilities for smugglers. Effort to draft surrogate-motherhood law stalls PHILADELPHIA—Efforts by legal and medical experts hoping to shape ihe future of surrogate motherhood on the heels of a New Jersey court’s groundbreaking decision got bogged down quickly Thursday. Twenty-six participants in an American Bar Association conference aimed at drafting a model state law found they could not agree easily on j an all-inclusive definition of surrogacy or on just what constitutes a j “commercial” surrogate agreement. “We have two days to come up with something,” said moderator Robert Arcnstcin, a New York city lawyer. “It’s a big task.” If the two-day conference can reach agreement, its proposal probably will be sent to the ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates in August. If approved, the proposal would spark ABA lobbying efforts in stale legislatures. Much of Thursday’s discussion focused on the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling a day earlier in the widely publicized Baby M case. -