1ST OTA7C T1 "I CX cl" Associated Press
X ^1 W »f ^ J_J 1<bV^I Edited by Eric Pfanner
Changing world spurs
end of hostage crisis
WASHINGTON — After all the
frustrating years, the hostage or
deal was rushing toward an end
Tuesday.
Eight Westerners have been freed
in four months — their freedom a
result of historic changes that in
clude the collapse of the Soviet
Union and the display of U.S. mili
tary power in the Persian Gulf.
Those and other developments
accelerated policy shifts in Iran
and Syria, the two nations that had
to cooperate for the ordeal to end.
“They understood, the Iranians,
that hostages were the single main
obstacle between Iran and the rest
of the world,” said Judith Kipper,
an analyst at the Brookings Institu
tion.
Expectations were high that
journalist Terry Anderson, the last
American held in Lebanon, would
soon be free after more than 6 1/2
years in captivity.
He would re-enter a world po
litically far different than it was
when he was taken prisoner in March
1985.
It was a world in which U.N.
Secretary-General Javier Perez de
Cuellar was able to use the new
concerns of Iran and Syria to bro
ker deals for hostage releases that
involved complex elements includ
ing Israeli release of Arab prison
ers and U.S. freeing of Iranian assets.
The swift release of hostages
after so many years of dashed hopes
ctcalcd the impression of a sudden
shift.
Many analysts suggest their
release came as a result of changes
that began before the Soviet col
lapse and the gulf war.
Shaul Bakhash, a professor at
George Mason University who spe
cializes in Iranian affairs, said the
push within Iran to normalize rela
tions with the West took place over
“a much longer period of time.”
Bakhash said the Iranians used
the gulf war as a cover to acceler
ate their efforts to end the diplo
matic and economic isolation that
began when Ayatollah Khomeini
ruled the country.
It was during the war that Iran
restored diplomatic relations with
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and
England.
The desire in Tehran for a nor
malization of relations with the
outside world would not have been
enough to free the hostages.
It look an alteration in the world
balance of power that existed when
the hostages were taken in the mid
1980s.
In 1985 and 1986, Iran and Iraq
were waging all-out war and the
United States and the Soviet Union
were competing for influence in
ihe Middle East.
With an unpredictable sudden
ness, the Cold War ended and Soviet
influence in the region dropped
sharply.
The end of the Cold War was
followed swiftly by Iraq’s invasion
of Kuwait, which tested U.S. power
and the will to use it.
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Sununu gives up helm
Combative White House chief calls it quits
WASHINGTON —John Sununu,
the combative White House chief of
staff whose abrasive style earned him
enemies in both parties, resigned
Tuesday, telling President Bush he
didn’t want to be “a drag on your
success.”
Speculation immediately centered
on Transportation Secretary Samuel
Skinner as a likely successor, although
the White House said no decision had
been made.
Sununu handed Bush a five-page
handwritten resignation note on Air
Force One while Bush was on a trip to
Florida and Mississippi.
Bush accepted the resignation,
effective Dec. 15, and said Sununu
would remain as a counselor with
Cabinet rank through March 1.
Sununu’s resignation ended weeks
of rumor that he was on his way out.
The 52-year-old former New Hamp
shire governor and Bush campaign
aide had come under increasing criti
cism in recent days from Republicans
for his role in the mixed signals from
the White House on the faltering
economy.
Administration and Republican
sources said they expected Skinner, a
close political ally of the president’s
who played an active role in his 1988
re-election effort, to get the top White
House staff job.
While House spokeswoman Judy
Smith said that as far as she knew,
Bush had not offered Skinner the job.
Skinner is well respected by other
Cabinet members, GOP members of
Congress and Republican campaign
workers.
Speculation that he would gel the
post was fueled by revelations that he
had a private dinner with the presi
dent Sunday and breakfast at the White
House on Monday with Bush’s son
and chief political troubler shooter,
George W. Bush.
It was Bush’s eldest son who de
livered the bad news to Sununu last
week that there was wide opposition
to him among Bush’s top advisers,
administration and Republican sources
said Tuesday.
In his letter, Sununu said that until
recently he had been convinced he
could be a strong contributor to Bush’s
efforts.
“But in politics, especially during
the seasons of a political campaign,
perceptions that can be effectively
dealt with at other times can be con
verted into real political negatives,”
Sununu wrote. “And I would never
want to not be contributing positively,
much less be a drag on your success.”
' Japanese military measure approved
TOKYO — Nearly 50 years after
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, law
makers Tuesday passed a controver
sial plan allowing Japan to send ground
forces overseas for the first time since
World War II.
Legislators considered drafting a
formal apology in time for the anni
versary of the Pearl Harbor attack on
Saturday.
The bill creating a peacekeeping
corps of up to 2,000 soldiers still must
be approved by the upper house, where
its opponents plan to delay a final
vote. Eventual passage is expected.
Bitter debate over the proposal
underscored the raw emotions con
cerning any action dealing with the
military or evoking memories ot the
nation’s World War II defeat. Last
week, a brawl in Parliament erupted
between opposition lawmakers and
Liberal Democrats who pushed the
bill through a special committee.
Lawmakers worry about the West’s
criticism that Japan avoids its global
responsibilities by relying on “check
book diplomacy” — sending money
but few personnel in world crises such
as the Persian Gulf War. Japan de
ployed minesweepers to the gulf after
the cease-fire..
Opponents say the bill violates
Japan’s postwar pacifist constitution,
which renounces the use of military
force overseas. About 3,000 anti
military demonstrators ran ica against
the bill in Tokyo after it was passed
by a 311-167 vote.
Also, neighbors such as China and
the two Koreas, which suffered Japa
nese attacks this century, are uneasy
about any hint of a rebirth of Japanese
militarism.
“We understand the Japanese
motive behind its effort to participate
in the U.N. peacekeeping operations
but call for prudence in sending its
troops overseas because of the unfor
tunate experiences of the neighbor
ing countries with Japan,” said a state
ment from South Korea’s Foreign
Ministry.
Gorbachev warns of chaos
if Soviet Union disintegrates
MOSCOW—Frcsidcn t M ikhai 1 Gorbachev
warned Tuesday that the disintegration of the
Soviet Union will lead to misfortune, catastro
phe and war, but Russia hastened the breakup
by recognizing the Ukraine’s new statehood.
Saying the country was experiencing a de
structive “crisis of statehood," Gorbachev urged
lawmakers across the Soviet Union to approve
his proposed Union Treaty.
“The breakup of such a multiethnic commu
nity will bring misfortunes upon millions of
our people, which will outbalance all possible
temporary benefits from secession,” Gorbachev
said in a statement distributed to lawmakers in
all 12 republics, not just those seven that have
said they will sign the treaty.
1“ A breakup is fraught with interethnic, inter
republic clashes, even wars,” he said. “That
would be a catastrophe for the entire global
community.”
Coming one day after Ukrainian officials
announced that voters in the republic had over
whelmingly approved a referendum on inde
pendence, Gorbachev’s comments amounted
to a desperate plea to save some form of union
as well as what little remains of his dwindling
authority.
The proposed treaty would limit the Krem
lin’s role to foreign affairs, strategic nuclear
arms and coordination of economic policy. It
also would establish a five-year, directly elected
national presidency and an independent judici
ary, and allow the republics to introduce their
own currencies.
The Ukraine’s newly elected president,
Leonid Kravchuk, previously pledged not to
sign the treaty. Russian Federation President
Boris Yeltsin said in a newspaper interview last
week that if Ukraine did not sign the treaty, his
republic would not sign either.
Mideast talks are headed
for uncertain next round
WASHINGTON — New Midcasl peace
talks Tuesday headed toward an uncertain
opening round with Israel still insisting on a
delay and prospects of Arab negotiators con
fronting an empty Israeli chair.
Secretary of State James Baker arranged for
the talks to open today at 10 a.m. even if Israel
failed to show up.
Delegations from Syria, Lebanon and Jor
dan joined with Palestinians challenging the
Israelis to attend, but the Israeli Cabinet de
cided Sunday its negotiators needed until Monday
to prepare to deal with the Arabs on three
fronts.
Israel also wants to stagger the talks so that
there would be an interlude between its nego
tiations with three Arab delegations. That, too,
was rejected in the Bush administration’s ar
rangements.
The United States and the Soviet Union
called for an international conference in Moscow
at the end of January to case Arab-Israeli ten
sions.
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Professional Advi ser Don Walton, 473-7301
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