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MP1A7C T^jp-pcf KdaM Press ^ " IT IJ X Cm ^ Edited by Roger Price Afghan rebels circle capital Guerrillas near to a agreement on government KABUL, Afghanistan — Guerril las advanced to the capital ’ s edge and joined forces with the crumbling Afghan government Wednesday to isolate a radical chieftain, and pre pare for a rebel-led Islamic govern ment. A force of at least 1,000 Muslim guerrillas moved to the perimeter of the capital accompanied by an Af ghan army colonel. Guerrilla com manders joined army officers at secu rity posts within sight of downtown Kabul. After 14 years of civil war that has claimed 2 million lives, the mujahe deen rebels were on the verge of conquering the capital and seizing power, replacing me government oi ousted President Najibullah, who went into hiding last week. The takeover was delayed by their indecision on how to share power and who should become the nation’s leader. For the first lime, police said, they were permitting unarmed mujahedeen, or Islamic holy warriors, to enter the city. Kabul appeared less tense Wednes day than at any time in the last week. Shops were open and markets were crowded on the first sunny day since the weekend. After the nightly 9 p.m. curfew went into effect, tracer bullets flashed across the sky and tanks were heard rumbling through the city. The Red Cross said a field nurse was killed by gunfire in Maidan Shar, about 18 miles southwest of Kabul. It gave no details, but the victim report edly was an Icelander killed by fun damentalist rebels. Afghanistan’s ethnic landscape Ethnic breakdown of the population and where they live: Pathan 50% As Muslim rebels close in on Kabul, many residents fear the 14-year-old civil war may degenerate into fighting among rival factions. Of the major factions, the strongest is the radical Hezb-e-lslami supported mostly by Pathans, the largest ethnic group. The moderate Jamiat-e-lslami has a strong following among Tajiks and Uzbeks. 'Other includes Chahar Aimak, Turkoman and Baluch On the map, •Other' includes areas of mixed ethnicity Source: The Central Intelligence Agency, 1992 World Almanac AP The cooperation in Kabul and provincial towns between the army and moderate guerrillas was directed against radical forces under the com mand of Gulbuddin Hckmalyar. Hckmalyar has threatened to at tack the capital unless it surrenders to him by Monday, the anniversary of ihc 1978 Communist coup and ihc start of the U.S.-supported insurgency. Ahmed Shah Masood, a moderate and the country’s most powerful rebel commander, belittled Hekmatyar’s fighting ability and advised him to help form a provisional guerrilla government. Recessions slow world economy WASHINGTON — The world economy will struggle back to growth this year, but the rate will be just half what had been expected, the Interna tional Monetary Fund said Wednes day. The IMF’s new economic outlook blamed the poor expectation on the aborted upturn in the United States last fall, spread ing weakness in Europe and Japan, and the economic chaos in the former Soviet Union. The IMF projected that the world economy would grow at a meager rate of 1.4 percent this year. That compares to a far more optimistic 2.8 percent projection the IMF made just six months ago. The IMF said that it now believed a significant upturn in world growth will occur a year later than it had previously thought, forecasting growth of 3.6 percent in 1993. IMF officials conceded that there were risks that even their lowered expectations might not be met. They listed the key threats as persistently high interest rates in Germany and other European nations, and a danger the Japanese economy will not re bound as anticipated because of such factors as jittery financial markets. “There arc clearly downside risks to the forecast,” said Michael Mussa, director of the IMF’s research depart ment. The IMF’s revised outlook was issued as world finance officials be gan arriving for the annual spring meeting of the 156-nalion IMFand its sister lending organization, the World Bank. This year’s meeting was expected to be highlighted by membership approval for Russia and the other former Soviet republics. In addition to arguments over how much in fi nancial assistance to provide the for mer Soviet Union, the finance offi cials were expected to debate how best to spur the world economy to higher growth rates. The Bush administration has been pressing for cuts in interest rates to stimulate demand for American ex ports. IMF officials said that they be lieved interest rates had been cut enough to spur an economic rebound and that further cuts ran the risk of making inflation worse. “Often problems of inflation start by trying to push the recovery too rapidly," Mussa said. High court hears case on abortion Ruling could overturn Roe vs. Wade WASHINGTON—With legal ized abortion potentially in the bal ance, the Supreme Court on Wed nesday was urged by an abortion rights advocate to keep women from returning to “back alleys for their health care” while the Bush ad ministration pressed for protection of “those who will be bom.” Both sides predicted the court’s conservative majority would up hold the restrictive stale law in an election-year decision expected by July. Among other things, the law imposes a 24-hour wailing period and requires married women to tell their husbands before getting abor tions. The greater question is whether the decision will reverse or drasti cally undermine the court’s 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling that abortion is a fundamental constitutional right. The justices will take their first vote on the case in their regularly sc hcduled .closed -door con fercncc Friday, and then begin their opin ion writing. Votes could change during that process. Pennsylvania Attorney General Ernest Preaic defended his state’s law as “an intelligent statute ... carefully drafted to reflect the teach ings of this court. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr, the administration’s top courtroom lawyer, urged the justices to rule that abortion is not a fundamental constitutional right. Starr contended that the stan dard for court review should be whether state abortion laws arc “rational.” He said the Pennsylva nia regulations pass that standard. Justice David H. Souter inter jected, “So would complete prohi bition (of abortion), wouldn’t it?” Starr then suggested that a state would have a problem if it attempted to outlaw all abortion without making any exception fora woman whose life was endangered by continued pregnancy. That response appeared to irri tate Justice John Paul Stevens. “That’s not really a fair answer,” he told Starr. “A total prohibition would be rational. It would meet your standard.” Stevens, Souter and Justices San dra Day O’Connor, Anthony M. Kennedy and Antonin Sealiaasked most of the questions from the bench. Justice Clarence Thomas was the only court member to remain silent throughout. 200 arrested as rival activists clash in front of a suburban Buffalo clinic AMHERST, N.Y. — Police ar rested nearly 200 abortion oppo nents who charged a women’s clinic Wednesday in a melee that was in sharp contrast to the staid abortion arguments being presented before the U.S. Supreme Court. Anti-abortion demonstrators surged onto a four-lane highway, and tried to rush past police barri cades and a crowd of about 150 abortion rights activists stationed in front of the suburban Buffalo clinic. The arrests occurred on the second day of large-scale abortion demonstrations in the Buffalo area by Operation Rescue. At the same time, the Supreme Court was hear ing arguments on an abortion ease from Pennsylvania. Several hundred demonstrators also waved placards and chanted outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. In Buffalo, the Rev. Robert Schcnck, an abortion protest or ganizer from suburban Tonawanda, said the demonstration had not been timed to coincide with the Supreme Court arguments. Protesters went limp and were carried or dragged by police through the crowd of abortion-rights dem onstrators to buses. Police bound protesters’ wrists with plastic hand cuffs. Police also used the handcuffs to bind the feet of the Rev. John Hunter, an anti-abortion leader from nearby Lockport, after he broke through the line of abortion-rights activists and dashed toward the clinic door. Some of those arrested lay hand cuffed in the street for 30 minutes as demonstrators on both sides taunted one another from opposite sides of the road. Police blocked traffic on the highway and about 100 officers tried to keep the two sides separated. A bus in which some Operation Rescue demonstrators had arrived was towed away from the front of the clinic. Abortion-rights activists chanted “God is a woman, and she’s pro choice!” They mocked abortion op ponents by shouting, “A baby a year until you drop!” Anti-abortion demonstrators prayed and sang hymns, holding signs such as “A Baby Is a Person, No Matter How Small,” and a poster showing a baby in the womb with the caption, “Mommy, Please Go Home, I Want To Live." Abortion Continued from Page 1 “My guess is that wc would end up with a very split nation regarding abortion laws,” he said. Duncan also predicted that the court then would have to rule on whether a fetus had a constitutional right to life, or whether abortion should be legal in the United States. He said the court’s decision was particularly relevant to Nebraska because of LB78, a similar bill the Nebraska Legislature failed to pass this year. Opponents of LB78 argued that the bill might have been uncon stitutional, he said, and the Supreme Court’s decision would clear up that issue. Students ask for DN apology By Kara Morrison Staff Reporter Members of the UNL Arab Stu dent Organization asked ASUN Wednesday night to help them obtain an apology from the Daily Nebras kan for publishing an advertisement the group found offensive. Rassem Dab has, a graduate en gineering student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said an ad by the Lincoln group Jews for Pride in the DN’s April 17 issue heightened nega tive stereotypes of Arabs. Part of the Jews for Pride ad said, “Wc pray lhai in remembrance of our common forefather Avrahom, our Arab brethren will abandon lies, murder, and terror and turn to am Yisroel in peace.” “Any educated person would not allow such a line to be published,” Dabbas said. He also said the Daily Nebraskan had “a double standard” because its advertising department edited a word from a Palestine Students Organiza tion ad, but did not edit the Jews for Pride ad. The Palestine Students Organiza tion ad on April 10 congratulated Palestinians for the safe return of Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasser Arafat, whose plane was re ported missing April 7, but was found April 8. The ad also said, “We take this op portunity to participate in the cele bration with our brothers and sisters in occupied Palestine, looking for ward to the day when we are a nation free on its own soil, safe in its own home, and liberated from the chains of occupation.” Dabbas said the Daily Nebraskan would not print the word “evil” be fore the word “occupation.” First Vice President Trent Steele said the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska would discuss the Arab students’ request at its executive committee meeting Tuesday. Nebraskan Editor Jana Padarsan 472-1766 Managing Editor Kara Walls Publications Board Chairman Bill Voba|da 472- 2588 Professional Adviser Don Walton 473- 7301 FAX NUMBER 472-1761 The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144-080) Is 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 Vobe|da, 472-2588 Subscription price is $50 for one year Postmaster Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St .Lincoln, NE 68588 0448 Second-class postage paid at Lincoln. NE ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1992 DAILY NEBRASKAN