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
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Readers are encouraged to submit story
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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.
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Computer system to be put in
By Natalie Weinstein
Staff Reporter
After nearly a four-month delay, IBM tech
nicians will install $ 1.7 million worih of com
puter equipment in Nebraska Hall this week
end.
The IBM 3084/QX mainframe computer
system will be used for administrative needs on
all three campuses, said Joe Rowson, director
of public affairs for the University of Nebraska.
This includes daily business operations, pay
roll, accounting and student registration, and
does not serve academic needs, he said.
Rowson said the computer, a used model
which will need to be replaced in two years, is
only a “temporary solution” to the capacity
problems the university has faced.
The current mainframe computer system,
an IBM 3081D, had been running close to
capacity since student registration in August,
he said.
"In two years we will have to re-address the
problem,” he said.
NU is using a lease-purchase arrangement,
Rowson said. The university will make peri
odic payments during the next two years. At the
end of the two years, the university will own
the system and resell it, Rowson said.
w • A — —
The 3084/QX, which is being purchased
from Comdisco, Inc. of Rosemoni, III., will
increase capacity by three times over the cur
rent system, Rowson said.
The computer itself costs SI,238,400. NU
also is purchasing two IBM disk controllers
and an IBM disk storage unit for $438,200. The
NU Board of Regents approved the request at
its Jan. 14 meeting.
On Oct. 14, the regents rejected a request lor
a new $5 million computer. The board decided
to reconsider the proposal and had a teleconfer
ence Oct. 19. At this meeting, the regents once
again rejected the plan. The board instead
requested additional analysis of the univer
sity’s needs before purchasing a unit, Rowson
said.
Alter that request, the regents discovered
that the computer had been stored in Nebraska
Hall since Oct. 8 in order to receive a $ 100,000
discount from IBM. The computer later was
relumed.
The current university computer system,
which is about four years old, will be offered to
other state agencies, Rowson said. If no agency
takes it, he said, it will be offered for public bid.
IBM technicians arc scheduled to begin
assembling the 3084/QX Friday. Installation is
scheduled to be finished Sunday.
Director s goal is reasonable system
1UPC From Paoe 1__
Additional staff members, fewer computer
problems and fewer changes from Congress
will allow the process to run smoother, he said.
Beacon said second semester loan checks
will no longer be available to students in No
vember. Instead, checks will be available at the
beginning of second semester, he said.
“We want to go back to a situation that is
more reasonable,” he said. Students should
spend their loan money on school, not Christ
mas presents, he said.
Beacon advised students to mail their finan
cial aid forms in mid-February. Students
should not wail until March 1 to mail them, he
said.
Beacon also said that this spring the finan
cial aid office will physically merge with the
Admissions Office after the staff members
have an opportunity for input.
Beacon said the wall between the offices
will be torn down. He said the offices will still
function separately “for the most part’ but
will bo able to help each other when necessary.
The financial aid office has set up an assis
tance booth in the north entrance of the Union.
Office personnel will be available to help stu
dents with their forms from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Feb. 6 through 8,1 3 through 15 and 20 through
22.
Next Wednesday, faculty salaries will tx
the topic of the UPU forum. Jennie Johnson,
chairperson of ihccoinmitlee, said the commit
tee is asking stale senators administrators anu
Robert Dilfcndal, Faculty Senate president, to
attend.
