News Digest Edited by Jana Pedersen
Talks will focus on Persian Gulf crisis #
Bush takes Middle East, European trip
WASHINGTON - President Bush leaves
today on an eight-day trip to the Middle East
and Europe, becoming the first U.S. president
to visit front-line troops since Lyndon Johnson
went to Vietnam. Before his Thanksgiving stop
in Saudi Arabia, Bush will sign a historic East
West arms control agreement in Paris.
The Persian Gulf crisis will dominate the
tour, even while the president is in Paris attend
ing a 34-nation European summit.
Aides said Bush would seek to coordinate
his Gulf policies when he meets with leaders of
the Soviet Union, Britain and France at the
three-day Paris gathering.
In particular, U.S. officials said, Bush plans
to sound out these and other members of the 15 -
member U.N. Security Council on wording of
a proposed resolution to authorize force to
drive Iraq from Kuwait.
Although the European sumrmi is largely a
celebration of the end of the cold war, Bush is
“more than a one-topic president,” said a senior
administration official.
“He understands the significance of what is
going to go on in Paris — By ihe same token,
I am sure he will use opportunities as they come
along to discuss the uulf with others who arc
attending,” said the official, briefing reporters
at the White House on the condition of ano
nymity.
Secretary of State James A. Baker III flew to
Europe ahead of Bush on Thursday to help lay
groundwork on Gulf policy. He was meeting
with foreign ministers of Security Council
members, including three African countries —
Ethiopia, Zaire and the Ivory Coast.
Before leaving Washington, Baker said that
while economic sanctions against Iraq’s Sad
dam Hussein seem to be working, “the real
question is, arc they working to achieve the
goal” of Saddam’s unconditional withdrawal
from Kuwait.
Baker and Bush will link up again on Mon
day in Paris at the beginning of the European
summit.
The centerpiece of the Pans session is a
treaty sharply reducing non-nuclear forces that
both NATO and the Warsaw Pact maintain m
central and eastern Europe.
Jl is the first major East-West agreement on
conventional arms since the end of World War
II.
In his session with Gorbachev early next
week, Bush is likely to discuss the condition of
the troubled Soviet economy. The administra
tion is developing contingency plans to pro
vide emergency food and medicine to the Soviet
Union to help it get through the winter, offi
cials said.
The planning is based more on concern that
disorders may escalate than on food shortages,
although they are severe, said the officials,
who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Bush was to leave Washington this evening
for the trip, which will begin with a one-day
state visit to Prague, Czechoslovakia.
On .Sunday, on his way to Paris, Bush will
pay a five-hour visit to recently reunified Ger
many. He will meet with Chancellor Helmut
Kohl at Kohl’s home in a suburb of
Ludwigshafcn.
After three days in Paris, Bush will begin the
Middle East segment of his trip. He will visit
U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf on Thanksgiv
ing Day.
The White House will not discuss specific
sites for security reasons, but Bush is expected
to visit forces both on a naval vessel and in
desert encampments in Saudi Arabia.
Bush will wind up the eight-day trip with a
stop in Cairo, Egypt, today where he will meet
with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Clean Air Act signed into law
WASHINGTON - President Bush,
saying every American “deserves to
breathe clean air,” on Thursday signed
an extensive overhaul of the nation’s
anti-pollution law to curb acid rain,
urban smog and toxic chemicals.
Susan Mcrrow, president of the
Sierra Club, described the Clean Air
Act of 1990 as “a breath of fresh air
after a 10-year smog alert.”
Bush said the bill, which updates
and tightens federal air pollution stan
dards for the first time since 1977,
was “simply the most significant air
pollution legislation in our nation’s
history.”
“This bill means cleaner cars,
cleaner power plants, cleaner facto
ries and cleaner fuels. And it means a
cleaner America,” Bush said at a
packed White House ceremony.
The goal of the legislation is to cut
acid rain pollutants by half, sharply
reduce urban smog and eliminate most
of the toxic chemical emissions from
industrial plants by the turn of the
century.
The cost of adhering to the regula
tions is expected to be as much as $25
billion a year.
Environmental groups temporar
ily put aside their differences with the
president on other issues to praise his
effort on clean air. But they said the
effectiveness of the legislation would
require aggressive implementation and
i .— i
enforcement by the federal govern
ment.
Richard Ayers, chairman of the
National Clean Air Coalition, called
the legislation “cause for celebration
and hope.”
But Ruth Caplan, executive direc
tor of Environmental Action, said
Bush’s signature marked “only the
first step toward cleaning up our air.
There arc dozens of provisions that
must be implemented through regu
lation.”
“While business supports the act’s
clean air objectives, its costs to
American consumers and workers
cannot be sugarcoatcd,” said William
D. Fay, administrator of the Clean
Air Working Group, a coalition of
2,000 businesses and trade associa
tions.
Bush’s signature capped a decade
long debate over anti-pollution rules.
The legislation was the product of 16
monthsof intensive wrangl ing among
administration and congressional
negotiators over myriad technical
provisions.
The new law requires tougner
emission controls on cars, and re
quires service stations to sell cleaner
burning gas. It mandates new equip
ment in thousands of businesses and
factories to capture smog-causing
pollutants and toxic chemicals.
It also requires coal-burning power
plants to cut in half sulfur dioxide
emissions, which cause acid rain.
Somcof the new requirements will
begin to be phased in within a few
years, but most won’t be fully in
place until the end of the decade.
Some cities with the worst smog
problems have as long as 15 to 20
years to meet federal air requirements.
Bush, fulfilling a campaign prom
ise, proposed in July 1989 a broad
rewrite of the clean air laws. Earlier
efforts to revamp the laws had been
blocked by strong opposition from
economic and regional interests and
the Reagan administration.
“No American should have to drive
out of town to breathe clean air,”
Bush said. “Every city in America
should have clean air. With this legis
lation I firmly believe we will. Every
American expects and deserves to
breathe clean air.”
But while some environmentalists
praised the president for the clean air
legislation, others were harshly criti
cal of his opposition to designating
Antarctica a wilderness preserve. Such
action would bar mineral and oil
explorations.
The Alliance for Antarctica urged
the United Slates to change its posi
tion as a mullinalion conference be
gan in Antarctica.
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Saddam says hostage release
could be secured by promise
Saddam Hussein said in an interview with ABC-TV on Thursday
that he would release the foreign hostages he is holding as “human
shields” in Iraq and occupied Kuwait only if President Bush promises
not to attack his country.
“Such an open pledge of this nature — a declared statement of this
' nature — would be sufficient for us to allow all foreigners to leave
Iraq,” the Iraqi president said.
Saddam, interviewed in a government guest house in Baghdad, the
Iraqi capital, said he regrets holding the hostages.
“This is the only decision which we have taken which rather chokes
us up," he said.
I “The only justification for this situation is that the presence of these
people may help distract anybody who may opt for war. It may make
them hesitate a little before jumping into a decision of this nature,” he
said.
As for dialogue with the United States, Saddam said he was unwill
ing to meet Bush’s demand that Iraq unconditionally withdraw from
Kuwait.
1 “This is not dialogue. These are preconditions imposed to insure our
capitulation,” he said. “Wc reject such preconditions.”
Despite Iraqi protests, U.S. and Saudi Arabian troops also launched
a six-day amphibious exercise near Kuwait on Thursday called “Imminent
Thunder.” While the exact location of the exercise was not revealed and
a news blackout was imposed for the initial phases of die operation, a
Pentagon spokesman in Washington said the exercise was based in
eastern Saudi Arabia, about 100 miles from Kuwait.
ijnbrifL -- |
Shuttle takes off at night
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Atlantis lit up the sky Thursday in a
rare launch in darkness as it set off on a secret military mission that
reportedly will send a satellite to spy on Iraq.
The shuttle thundered from its oceanside launch pad at 6:48 p.m.
EST, trailed by a 700-foot-pi liar of flame. On board were five astro
nauts who will deploy the satellite during the flight.
The 100-lon shuttle was visible for miles as it rocketed into the
nighttime sky.
It was the fifth after-dark launch in 37 shuttle flights. It also was
NASA’s fifth launch for 1990 and the seventh and probably last
Pentagon shuttle mission to be shrouded in secrecy.
Two minutes into the flight, Atlantis’ two solid fuel rockets burned
out and dropped into the Atlantic Ocean. The shuttle continued toward
an undisclosed orbit on the thrust of its three main liquid fuel engines.
Throughout the day, high crosswmds and low clouds threatened to
delay the launch, but the weather improved. The countdown also was
unaffected by a last-minute problem with a unit at the launch pad used
to cool the shuttle.
FBI obtains CNN tapes
ATLANTA - The FBI said Thursday it had obtained Cable News
Network tapes and was checking to determine whether they are Manuel
Noriega recordings at the center of a court battle. The network de
manded the return of the tapes, which it said were obtained without a
warrant.
The FBI said the tapes turned up in a hotei lostand found department.
CNN aired a report saying a box of materials belonging to a network
reporter had been taken by FBI agents alerted by Turner Security,
which provides security for the office complex which houses CNN and
the Omni Hotel.
The network said die FBI agents had no warrant and acted over the
objections of a CNN attorney. It said it was demanding the tapes be
returned.
In Washington, FBI spokesman Scott Nelson confirmed authorities
obtained some CNN tapes without a subpoena.
“We were made aware of the tapes and merely picked them up for
analysis,” Nelson said.
The network said the Turner Security official called the FBI because
agents had told him they were looking for “stolen government prop
erty. ” The network said the material was not stolen.
Senate Ethics Committee opens
public ‘Keating Five’ hearings
WASHINGTON - The Senate
Ethics Committee opened trial-like
public hearings Thursday on the
“Keanng Five” with the panel’s law
yer declaring the lawmakers helped
the owner of a failing savings and
loan fight an “all-out war” with fed
eral regulators.
The senators also heard commit
tee chairman Howell Heflin say many
Americans believe “that you were
bribed, that you sold your office, that
you traded your honor and your good
names for contributions and other
benefits.”
Special counsel Robert S. Ben
nett, said in his opening statement
that Sens. Alan Cranston and Dennis
DeConcIhi “were important players”
in Charles J. Keating Jr.’s strategy to
slave off federal rules and that Sen.
Donald W. Ricgle Jr. “played a much
greater role” than he now contends.
Speaking in a packed hearing room,
Bennett said Sens. John McCain and
John Glenn played lesser roles. The
lawyer spoke for about five hours
Thursday,and will resume this morn
ing.
Before Bennett spoke, the chair
man of the six-senator committee,
Alabama Democrat Heflin, somberly
told the subjects of the inquiry: “Many
of our fellow citizens apparently be
lieve that your services were bought
by Charles Keating, that you were
bribed, that you sold your office, that
you traded your honor and your good
names for contributions and other
benefits.” -
While Bennett denied his role was
prosecutorial, Sen. David Pryor, D
Ark., testily told him, "You’re begin
ning to rcach personal conclusions
and deciding what is relevant and
what is not relevant.”
Bennett responded “It’s less my
conclusion and more the objective
evidence.”