lSJPWQ r)l (XPCt Associated Press
■*> ^ w w I ^ JL V» J |r Edited by Roger Price
Noriega found guilty,
faces up to 120 years
4
MIAMI — Manuel Noriega, the
dictator who defied a superpower,
was convicted of eight of 10 drug and
racketeering charges Thursday, two
years after the long arm of America
I plucked him from
Panama in a bloody
invasion.
The ousted Pana
manian leader’s
conviction in
cluded the key
counts of racket
eering and racketeering conspiracy.
The eight counts carry a possible
maximum sentence of 120 years.
Sentencing was set for July 10.
“We did one heck of a job. We’re
proud of what we did,” said Assistant
U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan.
U.S. Attorney James McAdams
said as soon as Noriega is sentenced,
he will be taken to Tampa for a trial
on marijuana smuggling charges. If
convicted in that case, he could be
sentenced to 35 years in prison.
The defense said it would appeal
the verdict.
President Bush called the convic
tion “a major victory against the drug
lords.”
“I hope it sends a lesson to drug
lords here and around the world they
will pay a price if they continue to
poison the lives of our kids in this
country or anywhere else,” Bush said
at a Washington meeting with Nica
raguan President Violetta Chamorro.
Defense attorney Frank Rubmo was
bitter, and said the appeal would be
based on issues including Noriega’s
prisoner-of-war status and the inva
sion.
“The United States government in
its self-appointed role as world po
liceman ... saw fit to invade a foreign
country and seize its leader,” he said.
“This, in our opinion, is the mod
em day version of the Crusades, that
the United Stales will now trample
across the entire world, imposing its
will upon so-called independent,
sovereign nations. Unless the foreign
governments arc willing to kneel once
a day and face Washington and give
grace to George Bush, they, too, may
be in the same posture as General
Noriega.”
Noriega was acquitted of cocaine
distribution and conspiracy to import
cocaine.
There was no visible reaction from
Noriega or the jurors as the verdicts
were read.
Summary of 10 felony charges against the
ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega.
Racketeering conspiracy
• Helped Medellin cartel set up operations in Panama
• Hid its leaders after assassination of Columbia's justice minister
• Took $4 million bribe to authorize Panamanian cocaine lab
• Laundered drug profits and supported cocaine importation to the U.S.
I l GUILTY I l
Racketeering
• Actual charges incorporated in count 1
Conspiracy
• To import cocaine into the U.S. between Oct. 1981 and Jan. 1984
Distribution of Cocaine
• 400 Kilograms in January of 1984
Manufacture of cocaine for U.S. distribution
• Aided Medellin cartel in obtaining chemicals to manufacture cocaine in
Colombian drug lab between September 1983 and March 1984
Conspiracy to manufacture cocaine
• In Darien, Panama drug lab in 1984
Conspiracy to import cocaine
• Aboard the yacht Krill between November 1985 and March 1986
Causing travel in furtherance of conspiracy
• Aiding in the flight of two drug pilots during criminal activities
AP
Conservatives lead
in British election
LONDON — Prime Minister
John Major, who waged a come
from-behind campaign to extend
13 years of Conservative Party
government, appeared headed for
a slight majority in the House of
Commons following Thursday’s
elections.
With results in hand from 362
seats out of the 651 contested, the
British Broadcasting Corp. projected
that Major’s party would win a
total of 328 scats, two more than a
• majority.
Projections by Independent
Television News gave the Conser
vatives 329 seats, Labor 270 and
Liberal Democrats 24.
“We were written off at the
weekend, but we didn’t sink into
“defeatism,” said Home Secretary
Kenneth Baker, a former Conser
vative Party chairman.
“The battle is not yet over,”
insisted Labor Party leader Neil
Kinnock.
The BBC projected that the
Conservatives would win 43 per
cent of the popular vote, matching
their share in three landslide victo
ries under Margaret Thatcher.
“This is very, very bad news for
Labor,” said BBC analyst Peter
Kellner. “It is also rotten news for
the pollsters ... they blew it.”
The combined verdict of the
last opinion polls this week showed
Labor about a point ahead, though
the difference was well within the
margin of error.
The projections moved steadily
toward the Conservatives after the
polls closed as Labor failed to win
in several battleground districts.
If no party wins a majority, Major
would have the first chance to line
up enough support from other par
ties to govern. If he failed, Kin
nock would have a try.
The rejuvenated Labor Party
campaigned hard on the theme that
the Tories have held power too
long. But what hurt the Conserva
tives most was an enduring reces
sion that has pushed the unemploy
ment rate to 9.4 percent.
The other big issues were taxa
tion and the state-run National
Health Service.
Officials reported a steady voter
turnout in bright sunshine that bathed
most of the nation. Usually about
75 percent of the 43.6 million vot
ers in England, Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland cast ballots.
Speculation that the Conserva
tives would win boosted share prices
on the London Slock Exchange.
The Financial Timcs-Stock Ex
change l(X)-share index rose 43.2
points to close at 2,436.4.
Foreign firms pay little tax
WASHINGTON — Forcign-owncd
businesses operating in the United
States may be illegally dodging in
come taxes worth up to $30 billion a
year, and many pay no lax at all on
billions of dollars of sales, a House
panel was told Thursday.
The Internal Revenue Service
acknowledged there is a compliance
problem among many foreign com
panies, but Commissioner Shirley D.
Peterson said there is not nearly enough
information available to estimate the
loss. She suggested the maximum loss
would be about $3 billion a year.
Seventeen foreign companies that
distribute cars in this country paid the
United Stales an average S4 in tax for
each $1 ,(XX) of sales over several years,
according to an investigation by the
staff of the House Ways and Means
oversight subcommittee. One com
pany sold $3.4 billion worth of cars
over two years and paid zero tax.
The panel checked a sample of lax
returns filed by foreign-based elec
tronics companies oik! found that 40
percent paid no U.S. income tax.
One company with S6.6 billion of
U.S. sales paid no lax. In a subsequent
year, the same company had sales of
$2.8 billion and paid SI56.
“In our society, a teacher or fac
tory worker can pay more in federal
income tax than a major multina
tional corporation with billions in
annual U.S. sales,” said Rep. J.J. Pickle,
D-Texas, chairman of the subcom
mittee. “This is what is happening
today and it is terribly unfair anti
wrong.”
“We have got to stop chasing our
tails around the block and tell these
people... this is outright tax evasion
and we are not going to take it any
more,” said Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D
Pa. He is sponsoring a bill to impose
a new minimum tax on foreign com
panies.
Fed lowers interest rate
to help economy recover
WASHINGTON — The Fed
eral Reserve on Thursday unex
pectedly lowered a key interest rate
in a move apparently aimed at
calming jittery financial markets
and buying re
covery insur
ance for the U.S.
economy.
The Fed
added reserves
to the nation’s
money supply
shortly before noon in a fashion
that economists said clearly sig
nalled a cut in its target for the
federal funds rate, the interest that
banks charge each other.
Most economists said they be
lieved the Fed had cut the funds
rate by a quarter-point, from 4
percent to 3.75 percent. It marked
the 16th time the Fed has lowered
the funds rate since it stood at 8
percent when the recession began
in July 1990.
The move came shortly after
the Labor Department reported that
wholesale prices edged up only 0.2
percent in March, indicating that
inflationary pressures remain in
check.
The Fed’s move Thursday was
taken against a backdrop of these
economic developments:
•The 0.2 percent gain in the
Labor Department’s Producer Price
Index, which measures inflation
pressures before they reach con
sumers, matched the small Febru
ary increase and left wholesale prices
rising at an annual rate this year of
just 0.7 percent.
•The number of Americans fil
ing firsl-iimcclaims for unemploy
ment benefits dropped by 24,000
for the last week in March. The
improvement left the four-week
moving average for . claims at
441,750, its lowest since last No
vember.
Police suspect arson
in Residence Hall fires
From Staff Reports
Students were evacuated from
Harper Residence Hall Thursday night
after the University of Nebraska
Lincoln Police Department received
reports of two trash-can fires, a police
officer said.
Sgt. Bill Manning said the fires in
Harper caused minimal damage and
were being classified as arson.
Students were evacuated from the
hall at about 8:16 p.m., he said.
Five fires also were reported
Wednesday and early Thursday morn
ing on the ninth and 10th floors of
Cather Residence Hall.
Lt. Mylo Bushing said the fires in
Cather also were being classified as
arson.
The first fire, Bushing said, was in
I a restroom trash can on the ninth floor
and was discovered by a resident
showering at about 6 p.m. Wednes
day.
At about the same time, ninth
floor residents found a paper taped to
the wall of the lobby on fire, he said.
Smoke in the hallway led them to a
third fire in a study room trash can,
Bushing said.
At 12:19 a.m. Thursday, UNL police
received another report that restroom
trash cans on the ninth and 1 Oth floors
were on fire. Several individuals re
ported hearing firecrackers go off prior
to these fires, Bushing said.
“We have no suspects as of now,"
he said.
Residents extinguished all fires,
and no damage was reported except
to trash cans and paper towel dispens
ers in the restrooms, he said.
Nebraskan
Editor Jana Pedersen
472-1766
Managing Editor Kara Walla
Assoc News Editors Chris Hopfensperger
Kris Karnopp
Opinion Page Editor Alan Phelps
Wire Editor Roger Price
Copy Desk Editor Wendy Navratll
Photo Chief Michelle Paulman
Night News Editors Adeana Leftln
John Adklsson
Wendy Molt
Tom Kunz
Art Director Scoff Maurer
General Manager Dan Shattll
Production Manager Katherine Pollcky
Advertising Manager Todd Sears
Sales Manager Eric Kringel
Classified Ad Manager Annette Sue per
Publications Board
Chairman BUI Vobe|da
472- 2588
Professional Adviser Don Walton
473- 7301
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_1992 DAILY NEBRASKAN_