TSJpWS Dl ffPSt Aswdated Press •A. ^1 YY LJ A.CbVL/ V Edited by Jana Pedersen U. N. Secretary-general optimistic, cautious The Associated Press Freedom proved elusive Thursday for thousands of foreign women and children promised safe passage out of Iraq, and diplomacy took center stage as the U.N. secretary-general arrived in Jordan to try to mediate the Persian Gulf crisis. The crisis was entering its fifth week today, and the world seemed wary of false hopes for a peaceful settlement. The U.N. chief, Javier Perez de Cuellar, expressed optimism - but also warned that the situation in the region was “explosive.” The United Stales, meanwhile, was looking for help in bearing the finan cial burden of its SI billion-a-month military buildup in the Persian Gulf. President Bush said he was soliciting funds from several countries to help defray the cost of the deployment. In Baghdad, more than 200 for eign women and children gathered at a hotel Thursday, hoping to leave the country. Some had been held by the Iraqis at military and other installa tions, serving as “human shields” against attack. One British woman, Karen Tay lor, said she was held with other Brit ons at a site 300 miles from Baghdad. “We were treated well but some children were sick,” she said. Iraq had said foreign women and children would be allowed to leave beginning Wednesday. But State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said no exit perm its had been issued to Americans as of Thursday. Tutwiler said Iraqi authorities were insisting on a variety of arcane paper work, including a letter requesting permission to go, translated into Arabic and affixed with a stamp from au thorities certifying that all local taxes had been paid. “This emotional roller coaster is inhumane and disgraceful,” the spokeswoman said. The Suite Department has said about one-third of the 3.(XX) Americans who have been barred from leaving Iraq and Kuwait are women or children age 18 and under. The Americans arc among about 21.0(H) Westerners trapped since Iraq took over Kuwait on Aug. 2. Iraq's ambassador to the United States denied reports from diplomats in Baghdad that Iraq had demanded that any planes arriving to pick up hostages bring in food and medicine. Iraq’s supplies have been all but cut off by the global embargo imposed since the invasion. While the families and friends of hostages hoped for a homecoming, U.S. soldiers’ loved ones were saying their good-byes. In rural Allendale, S.C., a town of 4,500 about 80 miles south of Columbia, lina Jean Rooker fought tears as she prepared to see off her son James, an Army guardsman who turned 20 this month. “I just wish that it didn’t have to happen like this, that things could have been settled through negotia lions,” she said. Talks were under way on several fronts. . Perez clc Cuellar, arriving in the Jordanian capital of Amman for talks today with Iraq’s foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, told reporters: ”1 believe that the government of Iraq is as eager as we all arc to f inti a just and lasting solution of the problem.” The U.N. chief said the discus sions would be within the framework of a series of U.N. resolutions passed since the invasion. Those resolutions included demands for an Iraqi w ith drawal from Kuwait and the imposi tion of economic sanctions against Baghdad. In Cairo, the Arab League con vened an emergency meeting 1 hurs day. But only 13 of its 21 member suites were represented, reflecting the Arab world’s deep divisions over the crisis. , ,. At that summit, the 12 nations condemned the invasion of Kuwait; said they viewed the Kuwaiti royal family as the emirate’s legitimate rulers; and -- in their most controver sial move -- agreed to send troops to Saudi Arabia. Egypt, Syria and Morocco have since sent contingents to Saudi Ara bia, where tens of thousands of u.S troops are deployed. Moscow, meanwhile, indicated it considered Arab action the key to resolving the crisis. Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sent an urgent message to his Arab counter parts urging them to work together “at a critical moment” to prevent war, Tass reported Thursday. Jordan ’s King Hussein, in Madrid, said he believed there had been a slight easing of tensions in the region. “I believe that we’ve halted .. this very dangerous rapid escalation. I hope that is the case,” the monarch said. But he said war was still a looming threat. Former hostage calls for talks Authorities right rumor mill over Gainesville murders DUBLIN, Ireland - Former hos tage Brian Keenan on Thursday urged negotiations for the release of remaining captives in Lebanon, with whom he formed an “endur ing and unbreakable bond” during years in tiny basement cells. Keenan, a teacher released last week after being held 4 1/2 years, said he often spent weeks in dark chambers, suffered repeated beat ings and rarely spoke above a whisper. “It's time to talk. It’s obviously time to talk. There is a willingness. Why not talk?” Keenan said dur ing a 75-minutc news conference. Keenan, 39, said he saw two til the six remaining American hos tages, Associated Press journalist Terty Anderson and university professor Thomas Sutherland, about 11 months ago. At the lime, both were well, he said. Extremist groups believed linked to Iran still hold 13 Western hos tages - six Americans, four Brit ons, two West Germans and an Italian. Keenan, a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, w ho holds dual Irish-British citizenship, was handed over to Irish authorities in Syria on Saturday. He was released from Mater hospital in Dublin on Thurs day. He was teaching English in Beirut at the lime of his capture on April II* im. Appearing pale and thin, Keenan periodically fought back tears while describing his captivity. “‘Hostage’ is crucifying alone ness. There’s a silent screaming slide into the bowels of ultimate despair,” Keenan said, reading from a handwritten statement. ‘ * ‘ Hostage’ is a man hanging by his fingernails over the edge of chaos and feeling his fingers slow ly straightening.” Keenan described 42-year-old Anderson, the AP’s chief Middle East correspondent, as pacing the floor in tattered socks with a “voracious appetite lor intellec tual conversation. ' He said Anderson sometimes kept him awake for hours with con versation. “Terry and myself would sit through those long nights and speak with great pain and remorse and longing for his first daughter, Gabnclle. With many tears he would elaborate his plans w hen he was fi nally back in the states to help her to shape and discover her future. GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Authori ties struggled to keep up with the rumor mill Thursday in this college town panicked by five murders, while police searched for a “lust killer' who reportedly stole body parts of some victims. University of Florida President John Lombardi said the school was operat ing normally and would not be “held hostage to lunacy.” But flags on campus Hew at half-staff,and the city was being combed by an army of 600 local police, state investigators and FBI agents. “We're trying to pul a security blanket over this city,” said Police Chief Wayland Clifton. Despite efforts by police and school officials to provide a safe and sane environment in the opening week of classes, the discovery of five mur dered students on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday released a virus ol lear. The fear was fed by published reports that the killer stole flesh from some of the mutilated victims and left the head of a decapitated victim sit ting on a shelf. Police have given few details about the mutilations. But the St. Peters burg Times reported that pieces of flesh from the first three victims were missing. The Orlando Sentinel re ported that the nipples of the first two victims had been removed and had not been found. Clifton said it was the work of a ‘‘lust killer.” Fear affected at least one school assignment. Anne G. Jones, an Fng lish professor, said a class chose to put off reading' Paris Trout,’ ’ a novel by Pete Dexter about a psychotic murderer stalking a small town. "They decided they didn 't want to See GAINESVILLE on 3 BACK TO SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PRICING! S. African violence continues Lotus 1-2-3 R3 The advanced spreadsheet for organizing, analyzing, managing and presenting data, i for today's 286 and 386 users in | DOS or OS/2. EDUCATIONAL RETAIL $129.00 \ Lotus 1-2-3 R2.2 \ For prospective users in any size r business who need a fully functional, i high performance spreadsheet to run within the 640K DOS environment. EDUCATIONAL RETAIL $99.00 JOHANNESBURG. South Africa - Police clashed for a second day Thursday with students protesting black factional fighting, and the govern ment said the conflict was forcing it to spend money on security instead of social services. Witnesses in Cape Town said stu dents hurled stones at police, who fired birdshot in return and injured at least two protesters. The students were demanding an end to battles between Xhosas. who mostly support the Afri can National Congress, and Zulus, w'ho back the conservative lnkatha movement. Officials of the Transkci home land, where many Xhosas arc from, complained Thursday that South African authorities had left bodies of victims of the fighting to rot outside Johannesburg area mortuaries. They said people who traveled to the city to identity the dead were unable to recognize their relatives because the bodies had decomposed. “One is bound to ask w hy are the corpses of the people who died in such a violent manner further dese crated in this way,” the Transkei statement said. “Is it because they are black?” lnkatha and the ANC' both oppose apartheid but differ on the shape ol a future South Africa, lnkatha has ac cused the ANC of terrorizing other black groups in a bid to consolidate power. Zulu and Xhosa tribal leaders met Thursday and agreed to make a joint plea for an end to the fighting At least 5(H) people have died since the factional lighting broke out on Aug. 12 in the townships around Johan nesburg. 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