News i Soviet says Red Army convoy heads for home KABUL, Afghanistan - Convoys of Red Army soldiers and equipment moved slowly toward home through the rugged Hindu Kush mountain range Tuesday, ready to fight their way past Moslem guerrillas if neces sary, their commander said. Li. Gen. Boris T. Gromov, Soviet commander in Afghanistan, denied U.S. allegations that the Soviets were conducting a “scorched earth” pol icy as their last units left Afghanistan before a Feb. 15 deadline. “That does not correspond with reality,” he said of the accusation made Monday in Washington by Charles E. Redman, spokesman for the State Department. In Islamabad, Pakistan, Western diplomats said privately that all So viet forces were expected to be out of i .‘ 111 I the Kabul area by Feb. 6, nine days before the deadline set by a U.N. mediated withdrawal agreement. Spokesmen in Islamabad for the guerrillas, who began fighting after a communist coup 11 years ago, said four long-range Soviet missiles killed 70 people in villages near the Salang Highway north of Kabul, the main Soviet withdrawal route. According to the diplomats, an increase in attacks by Soviet and government forces in the past week appeared aimed at pressuring the insurgents toward a political settle ment. The guerrillas have refused offers of such a settlement from both the Kremlin and its client govern ment in Kabul. The last 11 staff members of the U.S. Embassy, which was closed Monday, left Kabul on i ucsuay auu a Soviet airlift of food and fuel re sumed. The capital’s airport was closed Monday by heavy snow. Six Ilyushin 76 transport planes dropped flares to deflect missiles as they landed in the space of 90 minutes at midday. Each was followed by a camouflaged military _ helicopter dropping flares. Guerrillas supported by the United Stated and Pakistan control the hills and mountains around Kabul and often fire heat-seeking missiles at aircraft near the airport They also have attacked supply convoys bound for Kabul on the Sal ang, which connects the capital to the Soviet border 250 miles away, caus ing severe food and fuel shortages that made the Soviet airlift necessary. Gromov told a news comcrcnce in an unhealed Foreign Ministry build ing the Red Army convoys were on their way to the U.S.S.R.” He would not say how many there would be or when the last would leave. He said the number of Soviet sol diers still in Afghanistan was a secret, but Soviet and Western diplomat^ estimate the figure at 15,000-20,000. Red Army soldiers arrived in Af ghanistan in December 1979 and an estimated 115.000 were here when the pullout began May 15. Some military advisers will re main in Afghanistan in keeping with a Soviet-Afghan agreement,Gromov said. The United States contends such a presence would violate the Geneva agreements of April 14, 1988, under which the w ithdrawal is being con • UUCUXJ. The Salang has been cut by insur gents several times in recent weeks and Gromov said: ‘ ‘ Wc arc ready for combat operations during the with drawal.” Heavy fighting has occurred be tween Soviet and Afghan troops and the guerrillas of Ahmed Shah Ma soud along the mute. Masoud, one of the best insurgent field commanders, controls the Panjshir Valley through which the highway runs. , Gromov said the Afghan govern ment had negotiated with Masoud to make the Salang Highway safe, but he rejected the offer.and began at tacking Afghan army outposts Jan. 23. ' . / . . “I think be is sorry now,” the general said. • A • Net?ra&kan Editor Curt Wagner 472-176# Managing Editor Jane Hirl Assoc. News Editors Lee Rood Bob Netaon Editorial Page Editor Amy Edwards Wire Editor Diana Johnson Copy Desk Editor Chuck Green Sports Editor Jeff Apel Arts & Entertain ment Editor Micki Haller Diversions Editor Joeth Zucco Graphics Editor Tim Hartmann Photo Chief Connie Sheehan The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144 080} is published by the UNL Publications Board, ole braska Union 34 1400 R St , Lincoln, NE. Monday through Friday during the academic year, weekly during summer sessions. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a m and 5 p m Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Tom Macy, 475 9868 Subscription price is $45 for one year Postmaster Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan. Nebraska Union 34.1400 R St .Lincoln. NE 68588 0448 Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1989 DAILY NEBRASKA Curfew eased but tensions remain in /\rmenia YEREVAN, U S S R. -- Authori ties cased a curfew here Wednesday, but ethnic tensions remain high in this republic that was the site of mass demonstrations before being hit by a devastating earthquake in December. The military commander in Yere van, in an announcement published in the daily newspaper Kommunist, said the midmght-to-6 a.m. curfew would be reduced further to 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. The decision was made “consid ering the stabilization of the situation in the capital and regions of the re public during the past month, the participation of citizens in supporting public order and requests of resi dents,” the newspaper said. A government commission called for speeding up construction to clear the debris and build new housing in northwestern regions of the republic stricken by the Dec. 7 earthquake, which killed an estimated 25,000 people and left a half million home less. The commission complained the organizations involved in reconstruc tion are bickering among themselves and making little progress. Also on Wednesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson visited Armenian lead ers in a tour he said would help him determine what further aid can be provided. The curfew iri Yerevan was im posed in November after at least 30 people were killed in ethnic rioting in Armenia and the neighboring repub lic of Azerbaijan. The streets of the Armenian capi tal, which a few weeks ago were dotted with tanks, armored personnel carriers and Interior Ministry troops, were comparatively demilitarized this week. Only a handful of soldiers and one armored personnel carrier were vis iblc on Opera Square, the sue ol street protests Iasi year. In the most recent violence, the square was surrounded by troops and military vehicles. On Lenin Square, there were no tanks, although six armored person nel carriers and a handful of troops were deployed at main government buildings. Armenian refugees from the vio lence in Azerbaijan gathered Wednesday, as they have for several weeks, outside the Agriculture Com mittee offices to discuss their fate. Soviet authorities say about 300,000 people - Armenians who were living in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis from Armenia - have fled to their ancestral republics. Since February 1988, residents of the predominantly Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan have been agitating to be made part of the republic of Armenia. Armenians are predominantly ^nristian, whHe Azerbaijanis arc predominantly Moslem. People in a crowd of about 100 refugees said the government is re fusing to give them jobs or homes. They said they were afraid their lives would be in danger if they returned to Azerbaijan. ‘‘I consider that it’s better to die here in Yerevan than to try to live there,” said Gena Agabekyan, an ethnic Armenian who fled the Azer baijan capital of Baku two months ago. Authorities have been trying to persuade the refugees to return to their homes, but have met with only limited success. Yuri Khod/hamiryan, a deputy premier of Armenia, told Soviet and foreign journalists the government was not forcing any of the refugees to return. -—... .....r-.... .' .. : . 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