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Edited by Alan Phelps ± i Y Y L/ LyiVJJ-JkJ X
Four whites killed in South African attack
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
— Blacks burst into a country club
dining room and bar and opened fire
with automatic rifles and hand gre
nades, killing four whiles and wound
ing 17, officials said Sunday.
The Saturday night slaughter in
King William’s Town, 625 miles
southeast of Johannesburg, was a rare
mass attack on whites. Noone claimed
responsibility for the assault, which
appeared to be racially or politically
motivated.
Blood splattered the floor and din
ing tables at the King William ’sTown
Golf Club. A grenade blew a hole in
the floor and shrapnel brought down
part of the ceiling. Drinking glasses
and windows were shattered.
The assailants escaped, and police
announced a massive manhunt and
offered a $ 17,000 reward for informa
---1
tion leading to arrests.
The bloody attack was the realiza
tion of many whites’ worst fears in
this racially divided nation, where
black-on-black violence has taken
thousands of black lives in recent
years. Whites — outnumbered 30
million to 5 million—have feared for
generations that the black majority
could turn on them.
The attack came at a sensitive time
politically. The government and the
African National Congress, the lead
ing black group, are scheduled to
meet this week to try to restart de
railed talks on ending white minority
rule.
The government, reacting to the
country club deaths and other week
end violence, said in a statement that
it “cannot successfully deal with vio
lence alone.”
Il called for the cooperation “of all
our communities and of all political
leaders ... There must be a common
resolve that our society will no longer
tolerate violence.”
Ray Raduc, a member of parlia
ment, and his wife were attending the
dinner and wine-lasting at the club
when an undetermined number of
blacks attacked the dining room and a
bar just before 10 p.m.
“The result was absolute carnage,”
Radue said. “The attack was a totally
unprovoked act of terrorism against
innocent people.”
The attackers rolled grenades into
the dining room and the bar, then
followed up with automatic weapons
fire in an assault that lasted less than
a minute, witnesses said.
1 wo white couples were Killed ana
17 people were injured, several seri
ously, police said. About 60 people,
mostly middle-aged and elderly
whites, were in the dining room and
the bar. The club is integrated, and
blacks were among the guests at the
bar.
Radue, who was slightly injured
by shrapnel, said there were three
attackers, while police pul the num
ber at five.
The slaughter is the latest in a
series of violcntpolitical and criminal
acts that have become commonplace
in South Africa.
Some9,000 blacks have been killed
in political violence in the three years
since PresidentF. W. dc Klerk came to
power, but virtually all the fighting
has been restricted to black town
ships, well removed from the white
suburbs.
Christmas buying upswing
makes for merry retailers
NEW YORK — Americans
shopped enihusiasiically during the
Thanksgiving weekend, showing
signs of ending a long Christmas
buying droughtandgiving retailers
an encouraging start to the holiday
season.
Several big retailers reported
S unday that business was up sharply
from the depressed levels of a year
ago. But they also noted that sales
remained weak in California, which
has lagged behind the rest of the
country in recovering from the re
cession.
“We expected strong sales for
the post-Thanksgiving weekend and
it was strong, with the exception of
California,” said Kenneth Macke,
chairman of Dayton Hudson Corp.
At Sears, Roebuck and Co., “The
buying mood was more upbeat than
it was the last two years,” said Matt
Howard, senior vice president for
marketing.“We were quite pleased
with the business. It was a very
good kickoff for the holiday sea
son.”
Butrctailcrsalsoremained wary,
perhaps remembering the disap
pointing holiday seasons of 1989,
1990 and 1991.
“At this point, we’re still cau
tiously optimistic about the bal
ance of the season,” Howard said.
That caution is understandable
— there arc still signs that many
consumers, while feeling better
about the economy and shopping
this Christmas, are again working
within a light budget.
Dayton Hudson’s strongest busi
ness was at its lower-priced Target
discount stores, spokeswoman Ann
Barkclcw said. The company’s
Mcrvyn’sclothingstoresdidn’tfarc
as well, and the most popular items
sold there included gifts within a
specific price range, such as under
S10 or under $20.
But other signs indicated a po
tentially strong shopping season.
Scars reported strong sales for
such “big-ticket” items as major
appliances, as well as for video
games like Sega Genesis and Super
Nintendo.
The torrid pace ol the first week
end is likely to slack off in the first
week of December, then pick up in
the last 10 days of the season, if the
pattern of previous years holds.
Many.consumcrs will be wailing to
see if prices come down, while
others will be pressed for shopping
lime or just procrastinating.
Economists and retail industry
analysts say this could be the best
holiday season since 1988,although
many retailers, especially those in
depressed areas like California,
won’t share in the general good
fortune.
German refugee center bombed
Extremist attacks
continue despite
police crackdown
BERLIN — A refugee center in
western Germany was firebombed
Sunday as violence against foreigners
continued despite a pol ice crackdown
on neo-Nazis and Chancellor Helmut
Kohl’s call for tolerance.
In Turkey, German flags were
burned amid cries of “Down with
skinheads!” and “Death to murder
ers!” at the funeral Sunday for three
Turkish victims of the right-wing ex
tremist violence in Germany.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli Cabinet
denounced German racist and anti
Semitic attacks and demanded Ger
man officials fight right-wing extrem
ism with “the full force of the law.”
At least 16 people have died this
year in some 1,800 extreme rightist
attacks throughout Germany against
foreigners and Jews. Neo-Nazis have
often found support among those suf
fering economic hardship, particu
larly in former East Germany.
The government has taken mea
sures to curb the violence, including
banning a radical-right group, but has
been criticized for not doing enough.
In an attack early Sunday in Lingcn,
near the Dutch border, two firebombs
were thrown at buildings housing 20
refugees, but no injuries were reported
and damage was minor. Officials of
fered a S3,100 reward for clues lead
ing to the arrests of the attackers.
In Eberswaldc, 25 miles northeast
of Berlin, a fire at around midnight
Saturday destroyed a barracks hous
ing 60 refugees. A watchman suffered
smoke inhalation. Police were inves
tigating the cause of the fire.
In an interview broadcast Sunday
on Dcutschlandfunk radio, Kohl
vowed Germany will use the full force
of the law against “the radical right
mob.”
But he said proposed constitutional
changes to limit the number of refu
gees and toughen Germany’s liberal
•asylum policy would not resolve the
problems of racism and anti-foreigner
violence.
He said Germany’s prosperity
would have been impossible without
help from foreign workers such as the
Turks, Germany’s largest minority
group, many of whom were recruited
to work in labor-short Germany in the
1960s.
In Carsamba, Turkey, thousands
attended the funeral of an ethnic T urk-,
ish woman and two children killed in
a fircbombing attack on their home in
Moclln, Germany, on Nov. 23,
Turkey’s semi-official Anatolia news
agency reported.
Anatolia said burning German flags
were thrown from houses as the cof
fins were carried to the graveyard. A
German Embassy representative as
well as four Turkish government min
isiers and several pari iamentary depu
ties attended the funeral, it said.
“Germany has not reverted to Nazi
Germany, and will never do so,” Ger
man Embassy official Hans Jocrg
Haber said in a speech in Turkish
during the funeral.
Nine people arrested on suspicion
of attacks against three refugee shel
ters arc being investigated for links to
the Moclln arson, the worst attack
since the violence flared.
After theattack,authorities banned
the extreme rightist Nationalistic Front
and raided homes of its members
across Germany, sciz.ing explosives,
weapons and neo-Nazi propaganda.
The banned group has not been linked
to the Moclln attack.
Venezuelan president stands tirm in coup aftermath
CARACAS, Venezuela—President Carlos
Andres Perez on S unday defied demands for h is
resignation in the aftermath of a coup attempt,
butconccdcd he has failed to convince Venezu
elans that his policies aim to belter their lives.
Perez spoke two days after rebel troops tried
to bomb him outof the presidential palace. The
government raised to 169 the death loll in the
coup attempt, which Perez blamed on “military
mafia” and “social rejects.”
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to
disperse protesters outside a prison where 62
people were slain in a rebellion that broke out
in the waning hours of the coup attempt, the
second in 10 months. The protesters demanded
to know whether their incarcerated relatives
had died.
The Peruvian government was considering a
Perez refuses rebel demands; 62 protesters slain
request ior political asylum oy y.i rcoci Ven
ezuelan air force officials, including one of the
coup leaders, who flew a C-130 Hercules cargo
plane to Iquitos, Peru, after the coup failed.
Venezuela has demanded their extradition and
the return of the C-130.
The capital remained jittery Sunday. Perez
announced that curfews and other restrictions
imposed during the coup would be gradually
lifted by week’s end, and the military said it
would be detonating dud bombs dropped by the
rebels.
Perez has been severely criticized for his
strict economic austerity measures and for fail
ing to improve the lot of most citizens.
About one-fourth of Venezuelans live in
extreme poverty despite one o! the highest rates
of economic growth in the hemisphere. The
country, the No. 3 producer in OPEC, also has
suffered from low oil prices.
At least 1,100 suspected rebels have been
captured since Friday when dissident air force,
navy and police factions launched the uprising
in Caracas and Maracay, about 50 miles to the
southwest, claiming to represent the poor.
In a nationally televised speech, Perez said
the coup leaders belonged to a “military mafia”
and were joined by “social rejects” involved in
leftist guerrilla groups in the 1960s. He said he
had the firm support of the military.
Claiming the attempt was aimed at ending
34 years of democracy, he said his departure
i'
from power before his five-year term ends in
early 1994 “is not an issue, it never has been and
it will not be.”
But he acknowledged that his government
has fai led to convince Venezuelans it was on an
“orderly, sincere and courageous path to con
front our errors.”
He said his government has been trying to
straighten out decades of mismanagement. It
was not clear if that included Perez’s first term
in 1974-78, when he leftofficc in disgrace amid
a corruption scandal.
Perez, 70, urged Venezuelans to demon
strate support for democracy by turning out in
large numbers for municipal and state elections
Sunday, which opposition leaders hope will
show further discontent with Accion
Democralica, Perez’s party.
... .— "i
Russian ruling could help, hurt Yeltsin
MOSCOW — Russia’s Constitu
tional Court could provide grounds
for Boris Yeltsin’s impeachment if it
rules Monday that he improperly
banned the Communist Party last year,
Russian newspapers and legal schol
ars say.
A ruling in Yeltsin’s favor would
give the president a moral boost and
deprive his opponents of a major
weapon before the Congress of
People’s Deputies, controlled by
former Communists, opens Tuesday.
While it is doubtful that hard-line
lawmakers who have threatened to
impeach Yeltsin can muster a two
thirds majority in the 1,046-member
Congress, the court could give them
the legal grounds — and political
momentum — to try.
The panel of 13 judges is sched
uled to rule Monday on a lawsuit by
pro-Communist legislators who con
tend Yeltsin exceeded his constitu
tional authority when he banned the
former ruling parly after a failed Au
gust 1991 coup against Soviet Presi
dent Mikhail Gorbachev.
The court wrapped up a four-month
trial Nov. 13. Since then, the judges
have deliberated behind closed doors
and given no clues about their deci
sion.
“We know that a bomb is going to
drop” when the verdict is announced,
the daily Izvestia said last week. “But
we don’t know how many megatons it
will be, or on what side it will fall.”
The court, created just one year
ago, is the ultimate authority on con
stitutional issues but docs not con
sider criminal eases. Nine of the 13
judges arc former Communists.
Eighty-six percent ot the deputies
in the Congress are former Commu
nists, but not all arc hard-liners. The
hard-line National Salvation Front,
which consists of nationalists and.
former Communists, has 355 seats.
Nebraskan
Editor Chris Hoptsnspsrgsr Night News Editors Kathy Stslnauar
472-1766 Mika Lewis
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Writing Coach General Manager Dan Shattll
Editorial Page Editor Dionne Saarcay Production Manager Katharine Pollcky
Wire Editor Alan Phelps Advertising Manager Todd Sears
Copy Desk Editor Kara Walls Senior Acct. Exec Jay Cruse
Sports Editor John Adklsson Classified Ad Manager Karan Jackson
Arts & Entertainment Publications Board Chairman Tom Massey
Editor Shannon Uehllng 468-8761
Diversions Editor Mark Baldridge Professional Adviser Don Walton
Photo Chief William Lauer 473-7301
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__. ' ; _ L .-J.
