2 N 1 Associated Press NelSraskan
^ "®" Edited by Jennifer O'Cilka Monday, March 18,1991
Landmark referendum
Millions of Soviets vote despite violence
MOSCOW - Millions of people
voted Sunday in a landmark referen
dum on whether to preserve the frac
turing Soviet Union. Violence pre
vented some people from casting
ballots, while others were lured to the
polls with scarce goods.
Hanging in the balance in the first
referendum in Soviet or even Russian
history was not only the fate of this
vast country and its more than 100
ethnic groups, but also the future of
Mikhail Gorbachev.
The Soviet president lobbied heav
ily for approval and predicted victory
in the referendum, which asked citi
zens whether they want to stay to
gether in a renewed federation.
No results were immediately avail
able from the vote, but public opinion
polls indicated it would pass, giving
Gorbachev the popular mandate he
seeks to crack down on separatists.
He has been pushing for the refer
endum since December to bypass
democratically elected legislatures in
the republics that he contends are
dominated by nationalist extremists.
Gorbachev wanted to appeal di
rectly to the people to restore national
unity shattered by sometimes violent
ethnic, legal and political disputes.
The country, however, is already
so divided that six of the 15 Soviet
republics, or 10 percent of the 200
million eligible voters, refused to vote
in the referendum.
Violence in Moldavia on Sunday
reflected the fractures.
Hundreds of nationalist Moldavi
ans, aided by police, enforced a local
boycott by blocking access to the
seven polling stations the Red Army
set up in the republic’s capital, Kish
inev, according to Associated Press
correspondent Dan Petreanu. The
nationalists beat up ethnic Russians
and Ukrainians who tried to vote. No
serious injuries were reported.
Moldavia is among the six repub
lics whose parliament decided not to
hold a referendum. The others are the
Baltic republics of Lithuania, Latvia
and Estonia, plus the Caucasus re
publics of Georgia and Armenia.
A smiling Gorbachev declared
himself confident of victory as he
voted near his home in southwest
Moscow.
He told reporters the issue was
larger than his political future.
“It is the fate of the people, of
hundreds of peoples, of such a great
state, and if you will, the fate of
civilization,” said the Soviet leader,
as his wife, Raisa, stood at his side.
He has repeatedly tried to turn the
referendum into an issue of patriot'
ism, of preserving the motherland for
which millions lost their lives.
Polls were open from 7 a.m. to 10
p.m. Preliminary results were not to
be available before Monday. By
midday, turnout ranged from a low ot
18 percent in Leningrad to a high of
80 percent in Kazakhstan, according
to an Associated Press check of sev
eral regions of the country.
The referendum, a lead-up to ap
proval of a new Union Treaty that
would delegate more power to the
republics, asked: “Do you consider it
necessary to preserve the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics as a re
newed federation of equal, sovereign
republics in which human rights and
freedoms of any nationality (people
of all ethnic groups) will be fully
guaranteed?”
All 15 republics have declared some
form of sovereignty. In alternative
refercndums in the three Baltic re
publics, voters overwhelmingly ap
proved outright independence.
Gorbachev on Sunday repeated his
warning that if the referendum fails
and the union breaks up, a civil war
could erupt.
“I don’t think our people are suici
dal,” he said.
Gorbachev’s chief political rival,
Russian Federation President Boris
Yeltsin, called die referendum ques
tion ambiguous and accused the Krem
lin of trying to scare people into ap
proving it.
Yeltsin refused to say how he voted,
but he made clear he differs sharply
with Gorbachev over the structure of
a new union.
“The position of the center is such
that it wants to preserve the system,’’
Yeltsin told reporters.
Poll officials, apparently worried
about a low turnout, put out more
than the usual bait they offer for vot
ers. Scarce beer and cigarettes went
on sale inside a polling station in
Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. Moscow
officials offered chocolate and or
anges and hired an orchestra to play.
-** —---—-—
It Is the fate of the people, of hundreds of peoples,
of such a great state, and If you will, the fate of
civilization.
Soviet president Gorbachev
Allies refuse to move warplanes
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia - In a
second round of cease-fire talks, al
lied commanders met with Iraqi mili
tary commanders Sunday and told
them they cannot move their war
planes inside Iraq for any reason, a
top U.S. official said.
Meanwhile, the secretary of the
Army, Michael Stone, said American
forces will remain in the Persian Gulf
beyond the July 4 date set by Presi
dent Bush as “a special day of cele
bration for our returning troops.”
In another development Sunday,
500 Iraqi prisoners of war were re
turned to their country through a remote
Saudi Arabian border outpost, bring
ing to about 1,900 the number repa
triated since hostilities ended.
The Central Command said a dele
gation headed by Maj. Gen. Robert
Johnston, the chief of staff, met with
10 Iraqi military officers at 1 p.m. (5
a.m. EST) in U.S.-occupicd Safwan
in southern Iraq.
“The talks centered on cease-fire
agreements,” the command said in a
communique. “This meeting was a
continuation of previous military
discussions. In the past several days,
the U.S. has learned that the Iraqis
have flown some of their military
airplanes.”
Thecommand said this wasclearly
a violation of the terms of a tempo
rary cease-fire set by Gen. Norman
Schwarzkopf, the U.S. commander in
the gulf, at the first round of peace
talks two weeks ago in Safwan.
“Now, the Iraqi military has indi
cated that it intends to fly more air
planes, to move them around within
Iraq,” the command said. “This, too,
would violate the terms of the tempo
rary cease-fire.”
The meeting was held to hear why
the Iraqis want to fly some of their
aircraft, U.S. officials said. The
command said it would consider the
request and respond appropriately.
Its communique on the meeting Sun
day gave no details of what took place
or what the U.S, response was.
However, Secretary of State James
Baker said Sunday the U.S. govern
ment had refused Iraq’s request to
move the warplanes. He said the denial
came in the past 24 hours but would
not say how it was communicated.
“That’s something that was agreed
to at the very time operations were
suspended,” Baker said on ABC’s
“This Week with David Brinkley.”
Baker, who just returned from a
lour of the Middle East, acknowl
edged that the prohibition had a
“collateral effect” of hindering
Baghdad from fighting rebel insur
gencies inside Iraq that began as the
war ended. But he s inside Iraq that
began as the war ended. But he in
sisted the move was not intended to
help topple Saddam Hussein’s gov
ernment.
Asked if the United States was
assisting the Iraqi rebels, Baker said
only that the U.S. government was
not providing them with arms.
Kurdish rebel leader Jalai Tala
bani has claimed that Iraqi govern
ment troops were using helicopters
and warplanes to drop napalm and
incendiary bombs Saturday on the
northern cities of Karahanzecr and
Shamshamal.
Saddam Hussein is battling twin
rebellions by ethnic Kurds in north
cm Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the
south. Thousands of people have been
reported killed.
Defense Secretary Dick Cheney
has said allied troops now occupy
about 15 percent of Iraq and will hold
the territory until a formal cease-fire
is worked out between Iraq and the
allies.
Troops of the 101st Airborne and
the 1st Cavalry Divisions have moved
back to their most advanced positions
to the Euphrates River to signal to
Saddam that he cannot move his forces,
including aircraft, as he chooses.
Killings, beatings raise questions
KUWAIT CITY - A series of slay
ings and beatings of Palestinians, Iraqis,
Kuwaitis and other people is rocking
this newly liberated country and rais
ing questions about who is in control.
“Who is in charge?” asks a Ku
waiti army major. “1 don’t bloody
well know.”
Prior to Iraq’s invasion in August,
Kuwait was one of most stable coun
tries in the region. But the war dis
rupted every facet of life, and the
recently relumed government so far
appears weak and unable to assert its
authority.
Somebody is killing, beating and
abducting Palestinians and other third
counu^ nationals. Somebody else is
gunning down Kuwaiti army and
resistance fighters manning check
points throughout the city.
Just who is responsible is difficult
to tell.
Kuwaiti resistance fighters blame
the Kuwaiti army. The army blames
the resistance. Everybody blames the
Palestinians.
Since Feb. 26, when Iraqi troops
fled Kuwait, more than 45 bodies of
non-Kuwaitis have been delivered to
Kuwait’s three main hospitals, hospi
tal officials said.
Most of the 15 bodies dumped at
Mubarak al-Kabecr Hospital shared
the same trait, doctors said.
The men have been shot between
the eyes, they were blindfolded and
their hands were tied behind their
backs, they said. Of them, 12 were
identified as Palestinians; three were
Iraqis.
Officials at Amiri Hospital said
they had received what they believed
were at least 10 new Iraqi bodies and
one Sudanese corpse — all had been
shot and all were in civilian clothes.
“None of them had identification,”
said one doctor. “Still, we are quite
certain they were not Kuwaiti.”
In the Palestinian neighborhood of
Hawalli, several families interviewed
over three days said they were miss
ing sons or husbands.
One boy, Iyad Khomana, a 13
year-old Palestinian, disappeared with
three friends from a gasoline line
several days after liberation, accord
ing to his aunt. His body was found
March 2 with a bullet to the head,
according to the death certificate kept
by his family.
Also since liberation, 20 Kuwaiti
soldiers and resistance fighters have
been killed manning checkpoints
around the city, mostly in drivc-by
shootings, Ministry of Justice offi
cials say.
Yugoslavs wait
for a decision
from military
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -
A tense Yugoslavia wailed
Sunday for a sign as to whether
the military would intervene to
help Serbia’s hard-line Com
munist leadership hold the troub
led nation together by force.
The army, seeking to quash
reports that the military was ,
divided over whether to support
Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic, declared Sunday that
it was “completely united.”
Reports, however, indicated the
armed forces remained divided
on whether to back Milosevic.
There were indications that
military officials were meeting,
but no further statements were
issued. There were no signs of
increased military activity.
Also Sunday, the main oppo
sition Serbian Renewal Move
ment renewed its call for the
resignation of Milosevic’s So
cialist government, the renamed
Serbian Communists.
The opposition party has been
backing daily protests by tens of
thousands of anti-Commumst
demonstrators in the last week.
It blames the government for
violence at a rally on March 9
that left two people dead and
120 injured when police and
protesters clashed.
The country was pushed to
the brink of a military crack
down after Serbia, the country’s
largest republic, announced
Saturday that it no longer rec
ognized federal authority be
cause Yugoslavia’s executive
branch — the federal presidency
— refused to impose a nation
wide state of emergency.
Netfraskan
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472-1766 Kara Wells
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Wire Editor Jennifer 0'Cllka Advertising Manager Loren Melrose
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Sports Editor Paul Domeler Publications Board
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRK3HT 1991 DAILY NEBRASKAN
Albania frees prisoners amid unrest
VIENNA, Austria - Communist
Albania freed 42 political prisoners
Sunday from its most notorious labor
camp, but opposition activists said
the government has not fully met its
pledge to release all political prison
ers.
Albania had billed the release as a
fulfillment of its promise last week to
free all political prisoners from the
jails in which hundreds, maybe thou
sands of government opponents died
during 46 years of Stalinist rule.
The release came amid reports of
renewed clashes between police and
citizens flocking to the port of Durres
after hearing rumors they could board
ferries for Italy.
Albanian radio, monitored by the
British Broadcasting Corp., reported
“confrontations” between police and
Albanians who flocked to Durres on
Friday and Saturday.
Gene Polio, a spokesman for the
opposition Democratic Party, con
firmed that there were casualties but
he had no details.
After 20,000 Albanians fled re
cently to Italy across the Adriatic
Sea, authorities declared Durres port
a military /one to hall the exodus.
Authorities had said 123 political
prisoners would be released this
weekend In addition to the42 prison
ers from Burrel, reputedly Albania’s
harshest prison, 81 were to have been
released from various prisons through
out the Balkan nation.
A Westerner who witnessed the
release of the Burrel prisoners, speak
ing on condition of anonymity, said
the freed men told of 26 remaining
political prisoners who had gone on a
hunger strike to demand their free
dom.
Arbcn Puto, a leader of Albania s
first human rights group, has said tne
120 are serving sentences for espio
nage a.id sabotage but that his group
is convinced they are innocent.