"NT P'W** D 1 O’ P Qf Associated Press
JL ^1 f W 1/ IIbV Ji Edited by Eric Pfanner
Hopes for peace raised amid bloodshed
New bombings
break into
accord efforts
MADRID, Spain — Arabs and
Israelis alike voiced hopes Tuesday
for forging a lasting accord, but new
bloodshed stained the eve of historic
Middle East talks.
A bombing by the fundamentalist
group Hezbollah killed three Israeli
soldiers in southern Lebanon, and Israel
responded hours later by bombing
what it said was a Hezbollah base in
Nabatiyeh, eight miles north of the
Israeli border.
In Beirut, a rocket hit the wall of
the U.S. Embassy compound. There
were no immediate reports of injuries
or serious damage.
Radical Shiite Muslim and Pales
tinian groups have promised to attack
the United States and others involved
in the Madrid peace conference open
ing today, which they oppose because
it could lead to Arab recognition for
Israel.
The latest such threat came from
Hezbollah leader Abbas Musawi, who
held a news conference in south Beirut
to proclaim today “a day of Islamic
wrath and mourning to protest against
American attempts to impose hegem
ony on the Muslims.”
Underscoring fears that the con
ference could be derailed, Palestine
Liberation Organization chief Yasser
Arafat warned that ‘‘extremist” Arab
groups could threaten the gathering’s
chances for success.
Arafat, in an interview broadcast
on German television, expressed broad
support for the Palestinian delegation
to the talks, and optimism about the
outcome of the talks.
The PLO was not formally repre
sented in Madrid because Israel re
gards the PLO as a terrorist organiza
tion and refuses to deal with it.
In statements in Madrid on the eve
of the talks, Palestinians struck a
conciliatory stance. Faisal Husseini,
leader of a group of advisers accom
panying the Palestinian delegation,
endorsed negotiations for autonomy
within the occupied territories rather
than immediate statehood.
On the Israeli side, there was a hint
that Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
might be willing to at least talk about
the idea of territorial concessions.
“We believe and are convinced it
belongs to us since thousands of years,”
he told NBC-TV on Monday. “Maybe
the Palestinians believe the same. Then
let us negotiate how to settle it, how
to find a way to avoid war.”
Hanan Ashrawi, a key adviser to
the Palestinian delegation, said Tues
day that the statement boded well for
the conference.
Busn reassures Caoroacnev,
vows to ‘deal with’ him
MADRID, Spain — President Bush
on Tuesday wrapped a reassuring arm
around Mikhail Gorbachev, declar
ing that the embattled Soviet leader is
the man the United States will “deal
with” in renewed talks to reduce long
range nuclear weapons.
In their first face-to-face meeting
since the abortive Soviet coup three
months ago, Bush also promised food
and other humanitarian aid to help
Gorbachev’s economically weak na
tion. But he gave no indication at
their joint news conference that he
was prepared to provide direct finan
cial assistance.
Together, Bush and Gorbachev will
open the historic Mideast peace con
ference today. And after their two
hour lunch Tuesday, they appealed to
Arabs and Israelis to reconcile their
differences.
Bush used the news conference to
stress his respect for the Soviet leader
and his determination to keep work
ing with him in the face of pressure
from individual Soviet republics for
separate dealings with the United
Slates.
“I have had a history of very satis
factory negotiations with President
Gorbachev,” Bush said. He said his
administration and the American
people support Gorbachev in seeking
Soviet reform, “and so we’ll deal
with what’s there. And I am very
happy to see my friend again.”
Despite the coup attempt, which
left Gorbachev under arrest for three
days, “I sense no difference in how
we talk and the frankness with which
we exchange views; no difference
certainly from my standpoint, in the
respect level for President Gorbachev.”
Gorbachev bristled when a Soviet
reporter asked who was in charge in
Moscow while he was in Madrid.
“I’m still the president,” said Gor
bachev, who faces challenges to his
power from the restive republics.
“Nobody’s taking my place.”
As for arms reductions, Bush said,
“Our schedules are very close.” He
said he would send Undersecretary of
State Reginald Bartholomew and other
U.S. experts to Moscow to try to
/ /*M S
Brian Shellito/DN
bridge differences in the sweeping
proposals the two leaders made last
month.
He said the two men want to go
forward with ratification of two exist
ing arms control treaties covering long
range nuclear weapons and conven
tional forces in Europe
Palestinians signal intent
to negotiate on statehood
MADRID, Spain — In a marked
departure from decades-old hard-line
attitudes, Palestinians signaled Tues
day that they would settle for auton
omy instead of demanding immedi
ate statehood.
Faisal Husseini, the PLO-approved
supervisor of the Palestinian negoti
ating team, said statehood remained
the ultimate goal. But he said Pales
tinians would negotiate with Israel in
the Middle East peace conference that
opens today about limited self-rule
for the 1.7 million Palestinians in the
occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Evident from Husseini’s statement
was that statehood has become the
target of more realistic hopes, rather
than a condition that Israel would
never accept. It underlined the evolv
ing pragmatism among Palestinians,
considerably weakened by the chang
ing international political climate.
The Palestinians will demand that
Israel freeze settlement construction
in the land seized from Jordan and
Egypt in 1967, but will stay at the
talks in Madrid no matter how tough
the bargaining, delegates and advis
ers said.
The conference opens with the
Palestinians attending in a joint dele
gation with Jordan. They hope to have
an independent team when bilateral
talks begin between Israel and its
adversaries — Jordan, the Palestini
ans, Syria and Lebanon.
The 14 Palestinian negotiators are
led by Haidar Abdul-Shafi, a 71 -year
old physician from Gaza. An advi
sory committee headed by Husscini
is overseeing the official delegation.
Asked what the Palestinians were
shooting for, Husseini said: “Auton
omy for an interim period that will
move us, Palestinians, from a people
under occupation to a people with l ull
independence and a Palestinian inde
pendent state that will later join in a
confederation with Jordan.”
Israel rejects the notion of a Pales
tinian state in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. But Israeli officials have
said an agreement on autonomy could
be a key achievement of the Madrid
peace negotiations.
U.S. economy registers advance
after year-long period of decline
WASHINGTON — The U.S.
economy started growing for the
first time in a year, posting a 2.4
percent advance from July through
September, the government said
Tuesday in a report hailed by the
Bush administration as proof the
recession is over.
Private economists worried about
more recent signs of sluggishness,
including another report Tuesday
that showed consumer confidence
plummeting in October as Ameri
cans grew more concerned about
the economy and job prospects.
The Commerce Department said
the gross national product, the
country’s total output of goods and
services, climbed at the fastest pace
in 2 1/2-years following three
consecutive quarterly declines as
the country struggled through the
recession.
Treasury Secretary Nicholas
Brady and Commerce Secretary
Robert Mosbacher said the increase
was encouraging.
“The recession is over,” said
Mosbacher. Although he told re
porters that the growth rate is “not
as fast as we would like to see,” he
said he did not expect any type of
double-dip recession in which the
country lapses back into recession
after a period of weak growth.
Other economists, surveying the
GNP report, saw plenty of reason
for concern that one or two quar
ters of growth will be followed by
another recession, something that
has occurred in five of the last
eight downturns.
Analysts were particularly wor
ried about a report from the Con
ference Board that consumer con
fidence plunged 12.5 points in
October to 60.4, when compared to
a base of 100 in 1985. That left the
closely watched confidence read
ing only six points higher than it
was in the depths of the 1981-82
recession.
Economists said the big drop in
consumer confidence apparently
reflected a rash of weak reports on
the economy in past weeks point
ing to a stall in factory production,
falling retail and home sales and
further layoffs, especially in white
collar businesses.
Percent change from previous quarter
_ _______
_ 3rd quarter _
(preliminary)
1ST- +2.4% -
"III ■ - I
=ap
-1988- -1990- -1991 •
Quarterly at annual rate
AP
Nebraskan
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476-2855
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Japanese corporations to invest
$1 billion in Time-Warner Inc.
TOKYO — Toshiba Corp. and
Japan’s biggest trading company will
invest $1 billion in Time Warner Inc.,
under a cautious deal announced
Tuesday that will mix Japanese elec
tronics and Hollywood creativity
without changing owners.
The U.S. media and entertainment
giant will spin off three of its five
divisions to create a new $20 billion
company, Time Warner Entertain
ment, in which Time Warner will
retain an 87.5 percent share. Its maga
zine and record businesses will not be
affected.
The new company represents a
“global partnership” among Toshiba’s
consumer electronics — particularly
high-definition television, Time
Warner entertainment properties such
as Warner Bros, movies and HBO
cable TV, and Itoh’s world distribu
tion network and satellite business,
officials said.
Toshiba and C. Iloh are each to
contribute $500 million for a 12.5
percent stake in the new company
and a combined 50 percent interest in
a subsidiary Japanese distribution
company, Time Warner Entertain
ment Japan.
“Unlike the 100 percent foreign
acquisitions of companies like Co
lumbia Pictures, MCA,CBS Records
and RCA Records, our new alliance
sets up a partnership structure at the
subsidiary level that... maintains our
commitment to American ownership
and control of Time Warner Inc.,'’
Time Warner’s chairman, Steven J.
Ross, said in a statement from New
York.
The Japanese minority stake also
reflects growing Japanese doubts about
swallowing U.S. entertainment com
panies whole, as well as the wisdom
of completely merging software and
hardware companies, analysts said.
In the last few years, Sony and
Matsushita, two other consumer elec
tronics giants, have acquired major
U.S. film studios, causing both finan
cial troubles and political frictions
for the companies.
Time Warner will retain operating
and creative control over the joint
venture. But it allows Toshiba to gain
insights into the latest entertainment
software, just as Time Warner wants
to keep abreast of the latest in vide
ocassette players and other equip
ment for its films and TV program
ming.
Man with HIV
sentenced to
house arrest
Former girlfriends
both have AIDS
PORTLAND, Ore. — A 27-year
old man has been sentenced to sexual
abstinence for fi\e years and house
arrest for six months for knowingly
spreading the AIDS virus by having
sex with a girlfriend.
Alberto Gonzalez, who was ac
cused of infecting 22-year-old Bridg
eu Pederson, pleaded no contest
Monday to third-degree assault, a
felony, and two misdemeanor counts
of recklessly endangering others.
rrosccutors dismissed nine omcr
charges, including a count of first
degree assault that alleged Gonzalez
used a dangerous weapon — the AIDS
virus — to intentionally inflict seri
ous injury.
David Peters, the deputy district
attorney who prosecuted Gonzalez,
said Tuesday he would have been
able to show that Gonzalez knew he
carried the virus when he began his
relationship with Pederson.
Shawn Hop, a previous girlfriend
who would have been a key witness
for the prosecution, has said she and
Gonzalez both discovered that they
were HIV positive when they visited
a plasma center last year.
“He intentionally kept girlfriend
one and girlfriend two from ever
meeting,” Peters said. “He consciously
kept the second one from getting the
information she would have needed
to protect herself.”
Both women said they fear
Gonzalez has infected others. They
said he frequented nightclubs and often
made advances toward other women,
even during his relationships with them.
Pederson remains in good health.
Gonzalez told Multnomah County
District Judge Janice R. Wilson that
he suffers slight symptoms of AIDS.
