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General Assembly condemns denial of Ararat visa a
UNITED NATIONS — The Gen
eral Assembly on Wednesday over
whelmingly deplored the U.S. denial
of a visa for Yasser Arafat, the first
step towards a protest meeting in
Geneva to hear the PLO chairman
next month.
The vote in the 159-mcmber as
sembly was 151-2. The United States
and Israel voted against the resolu
tion. Britain abstained. Other nations
were absent.
Arab diplomats, who sponsored
the resolution, said later that they
planned to move swiftly to introduce
another resolution shifting the Gen
eral Assembly to Geneva in mid
December to hear Arafat speak on the
declaration of an independent Pales
tinian state.
The resolution adopted Wednes
day requested U.N. Secretary-Gen
eral Javier Perez de Cuellar to report
back on the U.S. response on Thurs
day.
But Secretary of Slate George P.
Shultz declared earlier Wednesday
that the United States would not re
verse its decision, that Arafat be
barred because he condones and en
courages terrorism.
U.S. Ambassador Herbert S.
Okun, the acting U.N. representative,
told the assembly that the U.S. gov
ernment “does not agree with the tone
or substance of the resolution and
voted against it...
“The denial of a visa to Mr. Arafat
is fully consistent with the Headquar
ters Agreement between the United
States and the United Nations and this
includes our right to protect our na
tional security,” Okun said.
The 1947 U.S.-U.N. Headquarters
Agreement requires visas to be
granted to U.N. diplomats and people
invited on U.N. business.
The adopted resolution “deplores
the failure by the host country to
approve granting of the requested
entry visa,” and urges the United
States to reconsider and reverse its
decision. . -
The U.S. decision to bar Arafat,
who spoke to the General Assembly
in 1974, caused an international
storm. _ , . .
Undersecretary-General Joseph
Verner Reed said the U.N. Secretariat
was making plans to move to Geneva
in mid-December to hear Arafat ex
plain the Nov. 15 declaration of an
independent Palestinian state and
PLO plans for a Middle East peace
SCIUCMIUlll.
Arafat has said he wants to explain
the new position taken by the Pales
tine National Council, which acts as
the PLO legislature, in implicitly
recognizing Israel by accepting U.N.
resolutions on the Arab-Israeii con
flict.
If the session moves to Geneva, the
world body’s European headquarters,
it would be the first time the assembly
has done so in protest of an action by
the host country. Arab diplomats say
they have the necessary majority to
accomplish it.
~l
Voice of freedom heard in Soviet bloc
WASHINGTON — The Krem
lin has shut down thousands of
broadcast jamming devices, al
lowing Radio Liberty and Radio
Free Europe to be heard “loud and
clear” across the Soviet Union and
mostof Eastern Europe for the first
time in 38 years, government offi
cials said Wednesday.
The Soviet action came so
quickly that radio engineers were
only becoming aware of it as Sec
retary of State George Shultz said
in a broadcast to Europe Wednes
day morning that radio jamming
was one area where progress was
still needed with the Soviets.
Soviet jamming of Germany’s
Deutsche Wclla and KOL Israel
also stopped Tuesday, officials
said.
“It’s another marker in the
Soviet march toward trying to be
an acceptable citizen of the world
community as against the pariah
that they have been,” said Charles
Z. Wick, U.S. Information Agency
director.
Wick said he and other U.S.
officials have raised the issue of
jamming, which is illegal under
international agreements, several
times with the Soviets - most re
cently in a September visit by U.S.
broadcasting officials to Moscow.
He said the move was likely was
timed to coincide with the meeting
of Soviet leader Mikhail Gor
bachev with President Reagan and
President-elect George Bush next
week in New York.
The jamming shutoff means that
millions of Eastern European and
Soviet citizens will hear American
and other Western news and analy
sis in their own languages of events
in the Soviet bloc. Voice of Amer
ica, which has not been jammed
anywhere except in Afghanistan
since May 1987, focuses more
broadly on U.S. and world affairs.
VOA operates independently of
Radio Liberty and Radio Free Eu
rope.
‘‘The cessation of jamming rep
resents a significant step on the part
of the Soviet government toward
the free flow of information,” said
Gene Pell, president of Radio Lib
erty, which is a congrcssionally
funded operation based in Munich,
West Germany. Pell said that it was
a strong signal in support of
Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost, or
openness.
Pell said, however, jamming
was still continuing against Radio
Free Europe broadcasts to Czecho
slovakia and Bulgaria. VOA
broadcasts in the Dari and Pashto
languages into Afghanistan also
were still jammed, but the broad
casts of Radio Afghanistan, affili
ated with Radio Free Europe, into
the war-tom country were clear, he
said.
Some officials suggested the
limited jamming might be the re
sult of a mix-up between the Sovi
ets and allies who operate separate
jamming gear.
“Reports from the Soviet Union
and the Baltic republics confirm
that Radio Liberty and Radio Free
Europe broadcasts are being heard
loud and clear,” said Pell.
He cautioned, however, that
there was no indication whether the
lifting was a permanent decision or
whether it will be expanded to in
clude “an absolute and irrevocable
end to all jamming.”
John Bruce/Daily Nebraskan
FDIC chair proposes $30 billion S&L bailout
W AS HINGTON—The chairman
of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp. on Wednesday called for
spending $30 billion next year to shut
down the “ worst losers” in the savings
and loan industry.
“We need to close the worst First,”
FDIC Chairman L. William Seidman
said in a luncheon speech to the Na
tional Press Club. These institu
tions are losing over a billion dollars
per month.”
Seidman’s agency insures depos
its in commercial banks, not thrift
institutions, but his agency is offering
recommendations for solving the cri
sis in the savings and loan industry.
Some analysts recommend tap
ping Seidman’s fund, a move he
opposes, and estimate that the S&L
cleanup will eventually cost $50 bil
lion to $100 billion.
The Federal Savings & Loan In
surance Corporation, which insuring
deposits in thrift institutions, is tech
nically insolvent. Regulators have
been spending as little cash as pos
Cyclone kills 317 in
. Bangladesh and India
DHAKA, Bangladesh — A
cyclone battered low* lying coastal
areas of southern Bangladesh and
eastern India, killing at least 317
people and razing hundreds of mud
huts, officials and news reports
said Wednesday.
At least 275 fishermen were
reported missing in Bangladesh.
The casualty toll wag f
to rise after reports
hundreds Of tiny ii
mote villages cut off;
nicauon lines
~ Tuesday s storm.
Officials at the
Prepardness Center in
that the cyclone killed ;
in southern Bangl
agency $aid 29 people perished in
eastern India.
Sources at the southern port of
: Chmagong soid that .a:%gapc|g
m
registered vessel, the Pamir, sank
in the cyclone with 16 crew on
board. The fate of the crew mem
bers was not know, but port offi
cials said they were presumed
dead.
On the river Teesta, a boat
caught up in the storm capsized
near Bhairab, 45 miles northeast of
Dhaka, and 20 of the 24 passengers
were swqjt away and killed*
official said.
Food Minister Awjad
said he expected the casualty fig*|;
iutestogoujpnu said timely evacu
ation of thousands of people had
diminished loss of lives. %
Southern Bangladesh is bandy ,
above sea level, and there are bun*
dreds of islands, some little more
than sandbars.
At least 500,000 people died
when a cyclone struck the area in
1970, and at least 10,000 were
swept away in a 1985 cyclone.
sible, putting together rescue pack
ages with promissory notes and guar
antees committing revenue they ex
pect to receive for the next 30 years
from an assessment on healthy S&Ls.
Few analysis believe the industry
can bear such a burden for that long.
Seidman did not call directly for a
taxpayer bailout, saying only, ‘‘It’s up
to the Treasury Department and
Congress to determine which alterna
tive makes the most sense.”
He said that the S&L industry
‘‘certainly can contribute its part” but
added that “beyond that contribution,
the government must find the re
sources to meet this problem.”
Scidman’s recommendation to
quickly close about 90 seriously in
solvent S&Ls differs sharply from the
views of the Federal Home Loan
Bank Board, responsible for regulat
ing the nation’s 3,028 federally in
sured S&Ls.
The bank board’s approach has
been to rescue most failed S&Ls and
keep them open, fearing that massive
Lincoln man kills neighbor
LINCOLN — A 22-ycar-old Lin
coln rnan found walking down a street
with a shotgun and blood on hiscloth
ing was in police custody Wednesday
in connection with the shooting death
of his neighbor.
Lancaster County Attorney Mike
Hcavican said David Morris was ar
rested after he led police to the
victim’s apartment
The victim, whose name was not
released pending the notification of
relatives, was found on the bed of the
apartment. It appeared that he was
killed by a shotgun blast to the head,
Heavican said.
Police received word shortly after
2 p.m. Wednesday that a man with a
shotgun and blood on his c lolhing was
walking down a north Lincoln street,
Heavican said. Police found the man,
Morris, and he led them to the apart
mem, Heavican said.
Morris and the victim lived in the
same apartment building and other
residents said they appeared to be
friends, Heavican said.
An autopsy has been scheduled for
Thursday and it will probably be Fri
day before charges are filed in the
case. Heaviiran caid
Joubert decision in February
fapilliun — A judge said he
probably will decide in February
whether to set aside the death sen
tence of John J. Joubert, who pleaded
guilty to the 1983 killings of two
Nebraska boys.
Sarpy County District Judge
Ronald Reagan said attorneys for
both sides will have seven weeks to
file written arguments on the question
of whether Joubert had sound legal
advice when he pleaded guilty to the
two murders.
Reagan, the same judge who ac
cepted Joubcrt’s guilty pleas five
years ago, said he probably will take
about three weeks to review the case
after he receives the written argu
ments.
Joubert’s post-conviction hearing
came to a close on Tuesday after the
testimony of Michael D. Gooch, an
assistant Lancaster County public
defender.
closings would leave some regions
without service and devastate local
economies by flooding the market
with foreclosed real estate.
Others, including former presi
dents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter,
and Congress’ General Accounting
Office, say it will be cheaper in the
long run to spend heavily now to close
failed S&Ls as soon as possible.
The $9.27 billion in S&L losses
through Sept. 30 already have lopped
last year’s post-Depression record of
$7.8 billion.
NeSrSskan
Editor Curt Wagner
472-1766
Managing Editor Diana Johnson
Assoc. News Editors Jane Hlrt
Lee Rood
Editonal
Page Editor Mike Reilley
Wire Editor Bob Nelson
Copy Desk Editor Chuck Green
Sports Editor Steve Sipple
Arts & Entertain
ment Editor Mlckl Haller
Diversions Editor Joeth Zucco
Graphics Editor Tim Hartmann
Photo Chief Edc Gregory
Ass. Photo Chief David Fahleson
Night News Editor Amy Edwards
Asst. Night News
EdltorA-ibrarian Anne Mohrl
Art Directors John Bruce
Andy Menhart
General Manager Dan Shatill
The Daily Nebraskan^ JSPS 144-080|i is
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1988 DAILY
NEBRASKAN