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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1989)
News Digest Krenz, East German government resign I EAST BERLIN -- Communist Party leader Egon Krenz and his entire government re signed on Sunday, and a 25-mcmber panel of reformers took over temporary' leadership in a desperate effort to rescue the Communist Party. The dramatic, unprecedented action, an nounced by megaphone to a cheering crowd, stripped Krenz of power less than six weeks after he replaced hard-liner Erich Honccker. Krenz was not named to the new panel, which will lead the country until a party congress later this month. It was the shortest reign of any East German leader in the country’s history. However, Krenz retains the largely ceremonial position of president. Krenz opened the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9 and had promised democratic reforms including free elections, but there were increased calls for his ouster even within the party because of his past links to Honeckcr’s rule. At least 10,000 people standing outside the Central Committee building cheered wildly when they heard the Politburo and Central Committee had quit. During a special meeting of the party Cen tral Committee, leaders also expelled Honecker from the party along w ith 11 other disgraced officials following diclosures of massive corruption among top party ranks. The 12 arc suspected of “serious violations of party statutes,” said Guenter Schabowski, who announced the resignations and party ousters by megaphone. Schabowski was one of those who resigned from the Politburo. He was considered a re former, but like all of the ousted officials, he was not named to the new committee. Others thrown out of the party included former Premier Willi Stoph, cx-sccurity chief Erich Miclkc and former Parliament speaker Horst Sindermann. The moves come amid widening investiga tions of corruption within the party, the arrests of three former Politburo members, and the escape of a high-ranking official suspected of embezzlement and illegal arms sales. Hundreds of thousands of East Germans linked hands across the country at about noon to form a human chain intended to step up pressure for quicker democratic reforms and to protest corruption in Communist Party ranks. Officials made it clear the Central Commit tee actions were meant to persuade the popu lace the party is truly intent on jettisoning its tainted image and fulfilling demands for politi cal and economic reforms. “We want to form a modem Socialist party guided by the rank and file. We want to save this country. We want to save socialism,” said Gregor Gysi, a prominent East Berlin lawyer and spokesman for the new 25-member leader ship committee. Gysi said the new panel’s first act was to set up a commission to examine “violations of the party’s statutes and laws by former and current functionaries of the party.” The committee will prepare for a special party congress slated for Dec. 15-17. It will in effect govern the country until a new party leadership is chosen by the congress. Many Czechs dissatified with new government PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia — Communist leaders named a new government Sunday that includes non-Communists for the first time in 21 years, but it was immediately denounced because of the large number of holdovers from the last Cabinet. Opposition leaders called for a renewal of mass street protests, and hundreds of people gathered on Pra gue’s Wcnceslas Square in the night and urged people to show up for a rally Monday, chanting “Everybody here tomorrow! ’ ’ i lie new guveiiiineni ineiuue> five non-Communists, bul ihe other 16 members are Communists, and 13 served on ihe previous Cabinet, ll failed to meet opposition demands for a non-Communisi interior minis ter, who is in charge of police, and a civilian defense minister. President Gustav Husak swore in the Cabinet and indicated he may be ready to step down, as the opposition has demanded. Husak was one of the leaders installed here after the crush ing of reforms in 1968, and he is the last still in power. One of the government’s first acts was to propose talks with Moscow on the future of the 80,(XX) Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia since the Warsaw Pact invasion that crushed the re forms 21 years ago. Soviet President Mikhail S. Gor bachev, the architect of the reforms sweeping Eastern Europe, recently I criticized the invasion. The Cabinet holdovers include Foreign Minister Jaromir Hohanes, criticized for defending past harsh stands on human rights, and Antonin Krumnikl, whose energy policies have been blamed for serious pollu tion problems. First Deputy Premier Bohumil Urban, announcing the appointments at a news conference, said it was not possible to meet every demand of the opposition Civic Forum group. “But this is what life is like. You can’t take into account everybody’s demands immediately,” he said. rii Uz> uiUft i o I .-..'ill1 I Hi HIM Ml Andy Manhart/Daily Nebraskan American furriers feel the heat BOSTON — American furriers arc feeling the heal -- and it’s not from their mink coals. Increased pressure from animal rights advocates picketing fur stores, holding annual “Fur-Free Fridays’ ’ and chanting slogans like “ Buy a fur and slip into something dead’’ have taken a loll. Now the fur industry is Fighting back. Fur manufacturers, some facing financial losses, recently hired one of the world’s largest public rela tions agencies to represent them and have paid for dramatic news paper ads claiming activists will soon tell people not to cat meal. “If those people really want to be socially conscious, they shouldn’t wear gold jewelry or diamonds from South Africa or leather shoes,” said Gary Lennad, owner of Jay Lennad Furs, one of the largest fur stores in the Boston area. «Lasl month, the New York firm of Burson-Marslcller sent out kits to fur retailers that included guide lines for handling the media and dealing with anti-fur demonstra tions. The kit also included a hot line number for furriers faced with questions about the fur trade and provided form letters for use in writing letters to the editor. The fur industry also took out ads twice last month in The New York Times Sunday editions that read, in part, “Today fur. Tomor row leather, then wool. Then meat.” Fur farmers have also joined the effort. Marsha Kelly, associate executive director of the Fur Farm Animal Welfare Coalition in St. Paul, Minn., said the coalition is “redoubling efforts to re-educate the public about the industry.” Fur farmers arc being briefed on issues, educational materials about the fur industry arc being sent to schools, and a communications network has been established link ing fur farmers around the country, Kelly said. The public relations effort faces an uphill battle. Magazine and bill board advertisements paid for by animal righLs groups have become increasingly more common - and graphic. A full-page ad in this month’s Spy magazine contains photo graphs of a trapper approaching a fox whose leg is caught in a trap, then standing on the animal and suffocating him. The fourth annual “Fur-Free Friday” last month drew 2,5(X) animal rights activists in a march in New York City. Protesters also targeted a dozen other cities. More than 140 celebrities, in cluding Paul and Linda McCart ney, Kim Basinger,Carol Burnett, Ait Linklcttcr and Christie Brin kley, have signed anti-fur state ments circulated by the animal rights group Beauty Without Cru elty. Animal rights activists claim fur farming is inhumane and caters to vanity. The furriers maintain that the protesters are infringing on freedom of choice. They also claim that the fur industry is strictly regulated and that animals receive excellent care. “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy,” said Robert Mellzer, president of Evans Inc. of Chicago, the nation’s largest retailer of fur. "This is just the beginning for them. This is all about freedom of choice. They’re trying to take away First Amend ment rights. “The impetus (for the newspa per ads) was a feeling among the furriers that the public was ready to hear from the fur industry. Our customers were asking, what’s the story?” Government forces drive back assault by Filipino rebels MANILA, Philippines -- Govern ment forces battled rebel holdouts Sunday after driving off an assault on military headquarters by mutineers seeking to oust President Cora/on Aquino. More than 600 rebels surren dered. Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos said the government had crushed the attempted coup. Aquino ruled out a cease-fire and vowed: “What they st ned, we will finish.” Junior and middle-grade officers in several provincial commands de clared their support for the rebellion, which began Friday. About 400 reb els maintained control of Mactan Air Base in Cebu, 350 miles south of Manila. Aquino, lacing ncr sixtn coup at- \ tempi since coming to power four years ago, rejected suggestions by Cabinet members that she declare a “state of siege,” according to assis tant Press Secretary Lourdes Sylangco. That would be tantamount to martial law. At least 56 people have been killed and more than 500 wounded since priday, according to hospital and Red Cross figures. More than 10,(XX) people fled their homes to escape the fighting and were housed in schools, churches and other refugee centers. Many shops were closed, and garbage piled high in the streets. Schools were closed indefinitely, but officials planned to reopen the international airport Monday. Pro-government forces contained hundreds of rebels in an 11-building area in the financial district of ; Makati, where numerous foreign embassies arc and where many for eign diplomats and businessmen live, said military Chief of Staff Gen. Rcnato dc Villa. Government troops blocked off avenues leading to Makati. Rebels fired volleys of machine-gun fire from skyscrapers and snipers shot at vehicles. Among the buildings rebels occupied was the Intercontinental Hotel. Bush, Gorbachev stride to peaceful era MARSAXLOKK BAY, Malta - President George Bush and Soviet Leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev wrapped up two days of superpower summitry on Sunday, claiming strides toward a new era of East-West peace but underscoring differences that linger at the end of a 45-year Cold War. Both men said they would meet again next year in the United Slates, and expressed the hope -- but not the certainty - they would be able to sign historic agreements in 1990 to cut long-range nuclear weapons and con ventional forces in Europe and make progress toward a chemical weapons ban. “We slated, both of us, that the world leaves one epoch of Cold War and enters another epoch,” Gor bachev said at an unprecedented joint news conference that marked the end of two days of storm -tossed talks held aboard a Soviet luxury liner. “We arc just at the very beginning of our long road to a long-lasting peaceful pe riod.” Said Bush after his first summit as president: “lam optimistic that as the West works patiently together and increasingly cooperates with the Soviet Union, we can realize a lasting peace and transform the East-West relationship into one of enduring cooperation.” Even so, neither man sought to gloss over differences on two topics, the Soviets’ call for cuts in naval forces and American anger at the continued flow of Soviet weapons to leftist rebels in El Salvador. Gorbachev departed Malta tor Moscow, where he was convening a mectiag of virtually an entirely new lineup of Warsaw Pact leaders to discuss the summit. Bush went immediately to Bel gium to meet with NATO leaders on Monday. Arriving in Brussels, he noted the “thunderous events” tak ing place in the Eastern bloc, and said, “Tonight we stand at the cross roads of history on a way to Europe, whole and free . . . And that simple truth brought Mikhail Gorbachev and me together in a windswept harbor off Malta.” Nel?ra&kan I Editor Amy Edward* 472-1766 Managing Editor Jan* Hid Assoc News Editors Brandon Loomis _ Ryan St**v*s Editorial Page Editor Ls* Rood Wire Editor Victoria Ayott* Copy Desk Editor Deanna Nelson Sports Editor Jsff Apsl Arts & Entertainment Editor Lisa Donovan Diversions Editor Josth Zucco Sower Editor Ls* Rood Supplements Editor Chris Carroll Graphics Editor John Bruc* Photo Chief Eric Gregory f Night News Editors Eric Planner 1 Oarcle Wlegert Librarian Victoria Ayotta Art Director Andy Manhart General Manager Dan Shattll Production Manager Katherine Pollcky Advertising Manager Jon Daehnka Sales Manager Kerry Jeffries Publications Board J Chairman p«m Hein 472- 2588 Professional Adviser Don Walton 473- 7301 braakaUnmnoA ,Sc,S,S u?oa°) it published by the UNL Publications Board. Ne weekly durmg summer session? 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