rt N I ^ 1 O" O q "J" Associated Press Netfraskan I
^ V W SI ^ ^ Edited by Jennifer O Cilka Thursday Aprj| 18 1991
Gorbachev’s plea
gets cold shoulder
TOKYO-Japan’s elite toasted and
cheered Mikhail Gorbachev Wednes
day, but turned a cold shoulder to the
Soviet leader’s frank plea for aid and
investment.
Gorbachev, in a speech to parlia
ment, urged Japan to join the “new
spirit in Soviet-U.S. relations” that
began with the end of the Cold War
and promised that the Soviet Union
would never attack Japan.
He also claimed broad Soviet mili
tary reductions in Asia and said he did
not intend to interfere with Japan’s
most important relationship, its secu
rity treaty with America.
Yet midway through Gorbachev’s
historic four-day visit, deep-seated
Japanese doubts about their giant Soviet
neighbor and its economic stability
were proving more difficult to over
come than Cold War hostility.
Accompanied by his wife, Raisa,
the 60-year-old Soviet president en
tered the wood-paneled main cham
ber of the Diet, or parliament, to a
standing ovation. He received another
when he finished speaking 45 min
utes later.
In his most plain-spoken request
to date for foreign aid, Gorbachev
warned that “the development of a
new peaceful world order will largely
depend on the outcome of perestroika.
. . . We are counting on support for
our efforts, particularly now as we go
through this critical stage.”
“If we let the new social processes
get out of hand, the country may
really be thrown into the chaos that
gives birth to dictatorship,” he said in
a speech interrupted seven times by
applause.
At a luncheon meeting earlier,
Gorbachev was blunter about asking
for aid. He threw out most of a pre
pared text in trying to persuade 600
business leaders he was serious about
reforming the crumbling Soviet econ
omy.
“Our Far East and Siberia have
resources, but they lack the infra
structure to develop them,” Gorbachev
said, adding that the Soviet Union has
much to learn from Japan’s experi
enceof converting military industries
to commercial use.
Gorbachev stressed he was aware
of the need for the Soviet Union to
deal with its outstanding debts.
“This year has been especially
difficult because our oil exports have
declined due to the gulf war. But we
have the resources to resolve the
problem. Your understanding would
be appreciated,” he said.
But Japan’s hard-nosed business
elders, whose savvy built this country
into the world’s No. 2 economic power,
said political and economic problems
must be resolved before they can invest.
“It was all requests. (Gorbachev)
didn’t have any gifts to offer us. That’s
a pity,” said one executive who re
fused to give his name. Indeed, the
Soviets are asking Japan for a loan to
pay off hundreds of millions of dol
lars of debt for Japanese exports.
As expected, there was no prog
ress reported on Japan’s main condi
tion for freeing up Japanese capital:
that the Soviets return four islands off
northern Japan seized in the closing
days of World War II.
Territorial concessionsof any kind
are risky in a nation beset by separa
tist movements, and Gorbachev seems
to be under the sway of hard-liners
who oppose such a move. His politi
cal rival, Russian President Boris
Yeltsin, also has warned that no deal
can be made on the islands without
his republic’s approval.
• student discount • ..
teutons
the unmode bed
FUTON + FURNITURE
omoha, nc rockbrook village 402.397.9340
H_I
66th &0 Complimentary 3pm.iipm
TEX MEX WINGS
**v*v** v% ..v». N% # ^ ^ V / )
/"Headquarters of..; &
/ Striking Railroads 1/©J
S . . ®. - : 1,3,7
' ••• ©
® \ ; ° v:.v’'"" $
\ \f'< ...'V v^C s" J
1 i \ : ' /" i \ x /
\ / ? ! ( i : f
\wVA<{ _ . ***** * * J
v."*™S. " **
S X. \
\ f v
V \ MILES OF
COMPANY HEADQUARTERS RAILROAD
1 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Chicago 12,226
2 Burlington Northern Fori Worth, Texas 27,207
3 Chicago & North Western Chicago 5,763
4 Conrail Philadelphia 14,395
5 CSX Jacksonville, Fla. 26,220
5 Grand Trunk Detroit 221
7 Illinois Central Chicago 2,947
8 Kansas City Southern Kansas City, Mo. 863
9 Norfolk Southern Norfolk, Va. 26,335
10 300 Line Minneapolis 6,987
/1 Southern Pacific San Francisco 11,844
12 Union Pacific Omaha 10,845
AP
Nationwide strike:
Freight carriers
ground to a halt
Freight trains ground to a halt
Wednesday in the first nationwide
railroad strike in nearly a decade,
halting rail shipping of everything
from coal to car parts and interfering
with most Amtrak trains and some
commuter services.
“Anyone out there want to give me
a lift to New York? I’m at the railway
station,” said Australian tourist James
Veel, who was stranded at Raleigh
N.C.
Congress and the Bush admini
stration sought a quick end to the
strike, with talks focusing on a cool
ing-off period that would allow a new
emergency board to make recommen
dations for settlement on a contract to
replace one that expired in 1988.
Freight carriers and unions sched
uled no new talks after last-ditch
bargaining failed to produce a settle
ment before the midnight Tuesday
expiration of an initial cooling-off
period. The strike waged by eight
unions and honored by three others
against 10 companies, started at 7
a.m.
The strike by 235,000 rail workers
over wages, work rules and health
care costs could also idle as many as
a half-million non-railroad workers.
i roops back to butter zone
SAFWAN, Iraq - The U.S. mili
tary presence in southern Iraq shrank
to a narrow buffer zone along the
Kuwait border Wednesday.
For the first time, meanwhile, U.S.
soldiers entered northern Iraq to look
for sites that will serve as camps for
Kurdish refugees. The Pentagon said
U.S., French and British troops would
build tent cities and provide food and
medical care for the Kurds.
At the southern buffer zone, the
field commander in charge of the
18,000 soldiers of the 3rd Armored
Division said they would feed and
protect refugees in the area until re
lief agencies can take over the work.
“We’re not going to pull the plug
until people can take care of them
selves or until there’s somebody else
here to take care of them,” said Lt.
Col. John Kalb, who runs a sector of
the Kuwait border zone that includes
the U.S. Army-run refugee camp in
Safwan.
An estimated 40,000 Iraqis are in
the zone, seeking refuge from civil
unrest in southern Iraq, where Shiite
Muslims rebelled against Saddam
Hussein.
The zone, which was created un
der the cease-fire implemented by the
U.N. Security Council, stretches six
miles into Iraq and three miles into
Kuwait.
Iraqi and Kuwaiti military units
are barred from the zone, but the Iraqi
part of the zone is to return to the civil
control of Saddam’s government once
U.N. peacekeeping troops are de
ployed. Many refugees who deserted
from the Iraqi army or supported anti
government uprisings fear that change
over will give free reign to Iraqi po
lice to exact revenge.
Kalb said the refugees would be
safe as long as U.S. troops were around.
He said that no regular Iraqi police
had returned to Safwan, but that sev
eral secret police agents had been
arrested by the Americans. They were
seeking information on the U.S. mili
tary and the names of Iraqis working
with the Americans, he said.
Kalb said American soldiers might
stay on to run humanitarian programs
even after the 1,440-member U.N.
peacekeeping force begins patrolling
the buffer zone. No deployment time
table has been set.
Kalb’s staff said the other major
U.S. contingent in Iraq, the 1st Infan
try Division, finished moving out early
Wednesday, leaving only the 3rd
Armored from the 200,000 American
soldiers who occupied the area after
the allied victory in late February.
U.S. military strength in the Per
sian Gulf theater dropped under
270,000 men and women Wednes
day, just under half the peak at the
war’s end, the U.S. Central Com
mand in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said.
I ! COMPARE OUR
PARALEGAL
PROGRAM
TO ALL OTHERS
Founded in 1977. and exclusively g
dedicated to Paralegal studies, SI
Denver Paralegal Institute offers the Gj
quality education which only a well H
established institution can provide. j=r
• REPUTATION American
Bar Association Approved
• INSTRUCTORS Licensed
Practicing Attorneys
• HIGH PLACEMENT
Graduates Working
Nationwide Gj
• SCHEDU1.ES 5-month day g
program, includes 100 hour
working internship
• ENTRY REQUIREMENTS 1
College Degree or Related
Legal Experience With College fa
DENVER
PARALEGAL |
INSTITUTE ^
1401 19th St. • Denvw. CO 00202 §jj
Small victory
Soviet mine goes back to work
MOSCOW - The nation’s largest
coal mine resumed operations Wednes
day free from Kremlin control — a
small crack in a crippling strike but a
victory in the fight by republics to
gain control over Soviet industry and
natural wealth.
Meanwhile, workers in other in
dustries threatened to join miners who
continued the 7-wcek-old strike.
The strike was backed by a veteran
dissident who returned to Moscow
this week after more than 15 years in
exile.
Vladimir Bukovsky urged protests
and said a general walkout “is the
only solution” to force Kremlin re
l*1" '
forms and to oust President Mikhail
Gorbachev. He was in Tokyo seeking
Japanese investment for the crum
bling Soviet economy.
Some hard-liners also have de
manded Gorbachev’s resignation,
saying he has not acted firmly enough
to end ethnic and labor strife.
The mine strikes have battered the
Soviet economy and posed a strong
challenge to Gorbachev’s authority
as party chief and government presi
dent. The miners started the strike on
March 1 demanding pay raises, but
Gorbachev’s resignation has become
their main goal.
Nebraskan
Editor Eric Planner Night News Editors Pat Dlnalage
472-1768 Kara Wells
Managing Editor Victoria Ayotte Cindy Wostrel
N°ws Editors Jana Pedersen Art Director Brian Shelllto
ch rr-. I"’*'* RoMnb«um General Manager Dan ShattH
Editonal Page Editor Bob Nelson Production Manager Katherine Pollcky
Wire Editor Jennifer O'Cilka Advertising Manager Loren Melrose
Sports Editor Paul Domeler Publications Board
Arts A Entertainment Chairman Bill Vobe|da
Editor Julie Naughton 436-9993
Diversions Editor Connie Sheehan Professional Adviser Don Walton
Photo Chief William Lauer 473-7301
The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144-080) it published by the UNL Publications Board, Ne
braska Union 34,1400 R St., Lincoln, NE, Monday through Friday during the academic year,
weekly 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 5 p m Monday through Friday The public also has
access to the Publications Board For information, contact Bill vobeida, 436-9993
Subscription price Is $45 for one year
q, nSHS SEJL*#'**8, chan0®8 «° Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34.1400 R
St ,Lincoln, NE 66686-0446 Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE
L-ALi. MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1991 DAILY NEBRA8KAN _
