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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1991)
News Digest Edited by Jennifer O'Cilka Patriot missiles destroy Iraqi air assaults on Saudi Arabia DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia - U.S. forces fired what appeared to be several Patriot ground-to-air mis siles during an alert Sunday night, and a Saudi official said they de stroyed two incoming Iraqi mis siles. The Saudi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Iraqi missiles were shot down as they approached Dhahran from the north. He did not identify the type of missile, or give its altitude when destroyed. Dhahran, site of a major allied military base, is 200 miles south of Kuwait and about 240 miles south of Iraq’s southernmost border. Air raid sirens also briefly sounded in Riyadh, the Saudi capi tal 225 miles southwest of Dhah ran and home of U.S. and Saudi command headquarters. Iraq’s modified Scud missiles can reach both cities. Warning sirens also sounded in Bahrain, an island emirate about 14 miles east of Dhahran. Wit nesses said they heard anti-aircraft gunfire. In Dhahran, an Associated Press reporter saw two and heard four Patriot missiles fired from the base northward toward Kuwait. Just as the fiery tails of the missiles disap peared from sight, there was a small flash in the sky. At a hotel just off the air base, dozens of journalists and spokes men for the Saudi and U.S. mili tary ran to a bomb shelter as the air raid sirens sounded. Many donned gas masks and chemical weapon suits. It appeared that civil defense authorities were notified of a pos sible missile attack just seconds before the first Patriot missile was fired. At the Dhahran air base early Friday morning, a Patriot missile recorded its first successful com bat firing, blowing up an incoming Iraqi Scud missile, TURKEY f V :f U.S.S.R. •A"''v/.7 I ...... SYRIA f \ IRAN V • • " '• 7 Missiles 1 IRAQ S launched from “ ' \ \ southern Iraq v. I. -' SAUDI ri:!4 n ■ r ir -'4 i : rt—Persian Gulf ARABIA , ,~X—BAHRAIN KUWAIT , P^sounded alert (RiyadhjO 7tQATAR/> Sounded alert 1 UAE 7 ’ • ‘.'“7 OMAN | | Patriot 1 ,/ ground-to-air \ v:Fv / missiles zo^miies .1 launched 7 200 km. s. ?*:• Arabian Sea u Ap Soviet troops occupy Latvian police building RIGA, U.S.S.R. - Soviet “black beret” commandos attacked Latvia’s police headquarters Sunday night and occupied it temporarily, killing five people and wounding nine in the as sault, Latvian government officials said. All Latvian police were ordered to take up arms and defend other gov ernment buildings, but the comman dos left police headquarters about six hours after the assault began. The elite forces of the Soviet Inte rior Ministry began the attack at about 9:06 p.m. (2:06 p.m. EST), as red and white tracer bullets lit up downtown Riga. An automobile burst into flames next to the Latvian Interior Ministry, which controls police in the republic and is loyal to the separatist govern ment. The raid came a week after Soviet tanks attacked the main broadcast center in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius,killing 14 people and wound ing more than 200. The central government in Moscow has been pressuring the Baltic repub lics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to nullify the independence declara tions passed last year by their demo cratically elected parliaments. The three countries, independent states between the world wars, were forci bly annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. In Washington, the White House called the Riga developments “deeply troubling.” White House spokesman Bill Harlow reiterated the Bush ad m in istration’s cal l for a peaceful reso lution to the Baltic problem. The Soviet military commander for the Baltic military district, Col. Gen. Fyodor Kuzmin, demanded on Jan. 14 that Latvian police turn in their arms. Black berets briefly occu pied a Latvian precinct station and raided a police school for arms last week. Subsequently, Latvian Interior Minister Aloisz Vanznis told the separatist parliament that the police were authorized to use their weapons to defend government buildings. In all, five people were killed and nine wounded, according to the par liament’s press office, quoting hospi tal officials. Pause would prolong war, Foley says WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders called Sunday for continued vigorous prosecution of the air war against Iraq, and House Speaker Thomas Foley said any bombing pause would give Saddam Hussein an open ing for “schemas and maneuvers” to prolong the conflict. Foley spoke as an administration source said the United States was sending a seventh aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region as part of a continuing move to bolster Israel’s defenses against Iraqi attack. The source, who spoke on condi tion of anonymity, said the USS For rcstai, currently in Mayport Fla., would be dispatched “in the near future” to the eastern Mediterranean. Foley was one of two senior law makers to urge a continuation of the air bombardment which Operation Desert Storm officials said had pro duced more than 7,000 sorties in less than four days. Iraqis “are being pounded very heavily and I think we ought to keep that pounding up and hope that we can prevail in the shortest lime pos sible,” Sen. Sam Nunn, chairman of die Senate Armed Services Commit tee told reporters at the Pentagon af ter receiving a private briefing. Nunn and Foley led the unsuccess ful fight in Congress a week ago to deny Bush the authority to wage war, but since have stressed their support for the war effort. Foley and other lawmakers spoke on Sunday morning interview pro grams as President Bush spent the day at his presidential retreat at Camp David. The president spoke by telephone with Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd, French President Francois Mitterrand, Brit ish Prime Minister John Major and Egyptian President President Hosm Mubarak, said a White House spokes man. Rep. Stephen Solarz, D-N.Y., said in an NBC interview that if Iraq uses chemical or biological weapons “the American people will be so enraged that it will guarantee” long-term sup port for the war. Foley, invited to Camp David for dinner with the president, rejected the idea of a bombing pause to encourage Saddam to withdraw from Kuwait. “Saddam Hussein can request an opportunity to remove his troops if he wishes to, the wasnington state Democrat said in an interview with Cable News Network. “But I think a pause would merely give him an opportunity to resupply the ground forces,” said Foley. “It would give him an opportunity to use various kinds of schemes and maneuvers to try and delay it fur ther.” The move adds to the U.S. military protective umbrella over Israel, which has been given Patriot missiles with U.S. crews to prevent renewed attack by Iraqi SCUD missiles. The war at home Arab-Americans tom, worried In the days after Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were routinely fired, assaulted or accused of spying. Civil defense director Fiorello La Guardia confined Japanese to their homes and boasted to the president, “I am going to pep it up.” Fifty years later, as the United States has gone to war against Iraq, there have been virtually no serious attacks against Arab-Americans. But Arab-Americans themselves are torn by dual loyalties and nagged by the worry that if war drags on, Americans might look for scapegoats on the home front. ‘ We feel caught between a mad man in Baghdad and a madman in Washington,” said Dr. M.T. Mchdi, president of the Amcrican-Arab Re lations Committee, which claims about 20,000 members. Mehdi, a longtime critic of U.S. policy in the Mideast, said an infor mal telephone poll by his organiza tion suggested that the vast majority of Arab-Americans opposed the at tack on Iraq, even though many have no love for Saddam Hussein. Although Arab-American organi zations had been reporting a gradual increase in anti-Arab sentiment as the gulf crisis deepened, there was no particular surge following the begin ning of hostilities last week. Security at mosques across the country was increased, but Arab American organizations said there were only a few reports of war-related arguments or insults. The Justice Department said its hate crimes tele phone hot line had received no com plaints of harassment of Arab-Ameri cans. Detroit Mayor Coleman Young said dozens of the city’s 45,000 Arab Americans had reported bomb threats and other harassment. Police in Tulsa, Okla., said they would step up patrols around mosques and synagogues following a rock throwing incident at the Islamic Soci ety of Tulsa. Lt. Larry Merchant said vandals shattered the mosque’s win dows Friday night during a prayer service for peace in the Middle East. A bomb exploded in an Arab-owned grocery Thursday morning in Cincin nati, but the FBI said it appeared unrelated to the war. Some Arab students at the Univer sity of Arkansas in Little Rock said the war had caused ethnic tensions on campus. “We’re worried that something is going to happen,” said Khalil Al Kharaosi, a sophomore from Oman. He said he hoped his fellow students would keep in mind that “this is a problem with countries, not with people.” Earlier in the week, Arab-Amcri can leaders met with FBI officials in Washington to complain about the bureau’s interviews with leaders of the community about potential ter rorism. Although the FBI declined to comment in detail on the talks, Arab Amcrican leaders said they were told agents would continue to conduct interviews, but would stop asking certain political questions. Mehdi said his office received only two abusive calls since the attack Wednesday night. “Twenty years ago, we would have received 80 or 90 of these kind of calls,” he said. “American society is more sophisticated, more educated, less emotional now.” Nebraskan Editor Eric Planner Assistant Photo Chief Al Schaben 472-1766 Night News Editors Pal Dlnslage Managing Editor Victoria Ayotte Cindy Wostrel Assoc News Editors Jans Pedersen Art Director Brian Shelllto Emllv Rosembaum General Manager Dan Shattll Editonal Page Editor Bob Nelson Production Manager Katherine Pollcky Wire Editor Jennifer O'ClIka Advertising Manager Loren Melrose Copy Desk Editor Diane Brayton Sales Manager Todd Sears Sports Editor Paul Do meter Publications Board Arts A Entertainment Chairman Bill Vobe|da Editor Julie NaugMon 436-9993 Diversions Editor Connie Sheehan Professional Adviser Don Walton Photo Chief William Lauer 473-7301 The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144-080) ia published by the UNL Publications Board. Ne bra ska Union 34,1400 R St., Lincoln. NE, Monday through Friday during the academic year; weelly 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 S p m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Bill Vobejda, 436-9993 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 1991 DAILY NEBRASKAN_ Polls: Americans confident, worried about war spreading NEW YORK - Public opinion polls have found Americans up beat about the progress of the gulf war, but two out of three remain worried the conflict will spread. In a poll taken by the Gallup Organization for CNN Thursday and Friday, 29 percent said they were very worried and an addi tional 38 percent were somewhat worried war could spread through out the region or other parts of the world. At the same time, 73 percent said they thought the United States and its allies were winning the war. Virtually nobody thought Iraq was winning and 20 percent said nei ther side was winning. Only 30 percent said the United Slates should stop fighting if Iraq withdraws all its troops from Kuwait but Saddam Hussein remains in power. Two-thirds favored fight ing until Saddam is removed. An ABC News poll Friday night had a similar finding. A Los Angeles Times poll Thursday and Friday found that more than three-fourths of Ameri cans said Israel has the right to retaliate for repeated missile at tacks. But raising the possibility that such an Israeli response could break un the U.S.-organized alliance changes the result. The ABC poll lound that when respondents were told of Iraq’s desire to draw Israel into the war, a 69-25 percent mar ?;in said Israel should leave the ighting to the United States. North Platte family among those evacuated from Incirlik, Turkey NORTH PLATTE - Karen French held her sleeping 5-year-old daughter as she and her three other children arrived at the North Platte Airport, exhausted after a two-day journey from the Middle East. The French family was among hundreds of American military de pendents evacuated from the U.S. Air Force Base in Incirlik, Turkey, this week after tensions in the Persian Gulf erupted into war. French’s husband, Steve, is an Air Force sergeant stationed at Incirlik, a small village and military base lo cated near the town of Adana in south ern Turkey. Their final night in Incirlik was a tense one. Around 2 a.m., as she ami friends sat in the living room watch ing news reports of the war, they could hear Air Force planes taking ot I overhead, apparently on bombing raids into Iraq, French said. At about 2:45 a.m., air raid sirens sounded in Incirlik. “We heard the sirens go off.. • we had gas masks because of the possi bility of chemical warfare ... Ire* member 1 was shivering,” she said. It was a false alarm, French said. French and her children - Larissa, 5, Chris, 13, Anthony, 16, and Becky, 17 - Finally took off around 6 a.m. Friday morning for the long trip.