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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1993)
_ Dailv # By ■ .t fl MoV\racV^« *» Associated Press ?■ - Edited toy Todd Cooper ;/ 8*, Suspect arrested in trade center bombing Suspect’s van Length: 10 7" Height: 4* 5" Width: 6’8" Cargo volume: 261 cu. ft. »■■■■,!■ m I, , i .i , . ■■■I i iy.. i ■ ■■ ■ m i ■■■*■—■' ay., ..j. - . . . ■■" i ■— NEW YORK — A man described as a follower of a radical Muslim cleric was arrested Thursday in last week’s World Trade Center bombing when he coolly tried a third lime to reclaim a rental deposit on a van wrecked in the blast. Other suspects were being sought. Law enforcement sources said the bombing appeared to be a terrorist act. Papers that the suspect presented the rental agency were covered with nitrates, according to a government source, speaking on condition of ano nymity. Nitrates are found in some explosives; traces of nitrates were found at the blast site. The arrest was a sudden, major break in the mostnotorious U.S. bomb ing in years. Just a day earlier, the FBI had said it could take months to crack the case. WNBC-TV in New York identi fied the suspectas 26-year-old Salama Mohammed of Jersey City, N.J., but the station wasn’t sure exactly how the name was spelled. His arraign ment, initially scheduled for Thurs day evening in New York City, was postponed. The arrest came after an army of investigators spent the past week combing through piles of rubble at the blast site, fielding thousands of phone calls and pursuing scores of leads. Detectives systematically checked garage payment stubs and viewed vid eotapes of entering vehicles. I Investigators turned up charred pieces of the rental van around the perimeter of the blast site, indications that the van might have held the ex plosives, a source said on condition of anonymity. The suspect had rented the van froqj a Ryder truck agent in Jersey City on Feb. 23 and returned less than two hours after the explosion Friday afternoon to say it had been stolen from him in Jersey City, said Paul Mascitclli, owner of a car dealership that shares an office with the Ryder agent. On Thursday morning, the man called the Ryder office — and spoke with an FBI agent posing as a Ryder official, before being arrested. 1 berbs oner tree passage to Muslims after burning of Bosnian villages Refugees allowed an escort if they vow not to return TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina — After routing thousands of civilians from their homes and burning their villages, Serbs Thursday offered to escort the beleaguered Muslims from the region and vowed they will never return. The statement, -reported by the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug, ap parently confirms the Serbs’ goal of driving all Muslims from eastern -Bosnian regions bordering Scibia, in a quest for a Greater Serbia. A day after the Security Council demanded that Serbs hall the tank-led offensive, the United Nations negoti ated with Serb commanders today for access to the besieged enclaves, still being pounded by Serb shells. Bosnian Serbs spumed the U.N. criticism, and their leader warned the United Stales it could face terrorist attacks as a consequence of its pro Muslim humanitarian intervention. Following that warning and a gre nade explosion outside the U.S. Em bassy in Belgrade, U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said today the United States “will not be deterred from doing what’s necessary.” Some 10,000 people driven from war-tom Cerska in the 4-day-old as sault were said to be sheltering in the snowy ruins of the Konjcvic Poljc enclave, cold and hungry. U.S. airdropped humanitarian aid fell close to that area Thursday, but ham radio reports suggested the bundles also fell near Serb positions, possibly hindering retrieval by the refugees. Reports from the assaulted region continued to cite Serb massacres of refugees, but with access barred they could not be independently confirmed. The people are extremely desper ate because they are trapped and the Serbs won’t let them go,” said Anders Levinsen of the U.N. High Commis sioner for Refugees in Tuzla. He said he was expecting about 20,000 refugees to seek shelter in Tuzla. According to the Tanjug report, the Bosnian Serb army command in Zvomik announced that all Muslims around Konjevic Polje can “safely leave the war-torn regions.” “The Serb side will even provide transport” and “does not want inno cent people to suffer,” the Belgrade based news agency quoted the com mand as saying. Hearing begins for Marine charged with shooting Somali MOGADISHU, Somalia—The first court martial hearing of Op eration Restore Hope began Thurs day in adusty, flyblown room where Sgt. Harry Conde faced charges for shooting a 17-ycar-old Somali who snatched his sunglasses. Conde, a 13-year veteran born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, could be charged with the military equivalent of an aggravated assault for wounding the teen-ager as well as a bystander hit by buckshot from Condc’s gun. If the court martial proceeds, he could face up to 10 years in prison. A power generator provided a droning background to the testi mony from nervous Marines in the room at Mogadishu’s airport. Their words frequently were blotted out by the roar of planes taking off and landing. Capt. Chris Wcsely, the investi gating officer, sat behind a battered table. Only a few folding metal chairs were available, so some spec ta tors sat on wooden drawers turned on their sides. Sheets of bare ply wood served as a partition. There’s no dispute that Condc shot a youth, identified only as Omar, who grabbed the soldier’s sunglasses through the window of a moving military vehicle that was returning to the airport. At issue is whether Condc fired on the spur of the moment, fearing for his safety, or if the shot came as Omar was fleeing and was fired in revenge. Omar, hit in the abdomen by several pellets, was treated at a Swedish field hospital but later vanished. No one is even sure he’s still alive. The weapon, an M-79 grenade launcher loaded with a40mm buck shot shell, had been confiscated by the Marines during a raid of Somali arsenals the month before. Under the U.S. military rules,confiscated weapons are not to be used in the field. I—-WORLD WIRE Major takes a swipe at British tradition LONDON — Prime Minister John Major has taken a whack at the “gongs,” announcing Tuesday that merit will dictate who gets the 2,000-odd knighthoods, peerages and shiny gold medals awarded each year. Major also abolished the old class distinction between bravery medals, which reserved the Mili tary Cross forofficcrs and the Mili tary Medal for grunts. Opposition lawmakers jeered much of Major’s speech and said his reforms didn’t go far enough. In a country which sometimes appears to be organized like a cos tume party, with its hierarchy iden tified by ye oldc titles and antique costumes, the distribution of hon ors is taken most seriously. Doctors denied voice in health plan WAJmlINvj ION — I he White House spumed a bid Thursday by the powerful American Medical Association for a scat at its health care planning deliberations. The doctors signaled a willingness to entertain changes but not strict con trols on what they charge. J “We know that the status quo must go,” AM A Executive Direc tor James S. Todd said in letters to the While House and leaders of Congress. The 290,000-mcmbcr organ i/a lion has helped to block national health insurance since the Truman administration. But Todd wrote Ira Magaziner, the White House adviser whoover sees hundreds of experts working on health care: “Bring us into the process, and we can help make it work.” White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said neither the AM A nor any other interest groups would be allowed to join Clinton’s health working groups. [ Officials expect long cult standoff WACO, Texas — Like an medi eval army laying siege to a castle, authorities are settling in for a long haul outside the Branch Davidians compound. But insteadof catapults and batter ing rams, the weapons of this siege are decidedly modem, including portable toilets, pizza and twice-a-day news briefings. ‘Things have settled into a rou tine,” said Jeff Jamar, the FBI official heading operations around the sect’s heavily fortified compound near Waco. That routine includes 12-hour shift changes of agents surrounding the cluster of tan buildings huddled on a rise of brown Texas prairie. Well armed sect members have been holed up since a deadly shootout with fed eral agents. While duly near the compound is dangerous — four agents were killed and 16 wounded Sunday — it’s not without amenities. Pickups bearing containers of steaming pizzas drive into the security area surrounding the Mount Carmel compound several times a day. -44 Things have settled Into a routine. —JeffJamar FBI official -99 - “It’s gelling so regular it’s like we should be punchingiimc clocks,”said one agent as he relumed lo his hole! after spending the day in the field. He declined lo identify himself. Liule happened to change ihc rou tine Thursday, the fifth day of the standoff between federal authorities and the more than 100 followers of David Koresh, the 33-ycar-old sect leader who claims to be Jesus. Speaking at a news conference, Jamar said Koresh had released two boys, aged 11 and 12, in the last 24 hours. That makes a total of 20 chil dren and two elderly women released from the compound since Sunday. Jamar said the body of an uniden tified man was recovered Thursday in a wooded area 300 yards from the compound. He had a pistol in his hand and died of gunshot wounds. At least two more of Koresh’s fol lowers were killed Sunday; there have been reports that from seven to 10 others died in the shootout. Jamar said surveillance indicates the sect members have relumed to their regular routine, with the esti mated 47 women handling housekeep ing and child care while the remain ing men do construction work. The compound is believed to be well stocked with food and water. Debate Continued from Page 1 candidate, said the university should start taking vertical budget cuts in stead of horizontal ones. By taking cuts across the board each year, the university is showing it still has “fat” in its budget, she said. Steele disagreed and said horizon tal cuts were preferable to vertical ones. He said ne could do without a few copy machines and telephones if 2 it meant saving programs at UfJL. V The parties also disagreed on an AS UN decision that ended spending limits in student elections. —• Stoete.wheis ASUN’scurrentsec -44 ASUN needs an attitude change and that’s what we represent ■ -Dietz VOICE presidential candiate -w ond vice president, said the decision was made for legal reasons. Because the student body presi dent is a student regent and therefore a state official, legally there can be no limit on campaign spending, he said. But Dietz said because the student regent had no vote, the dispute could be taken to court. He said spending limits let “com mon students” feel comfortable with ASUN. Strong closed by saying PARTY had more experience and diversity, not just token representation. She also said PARTY was open to new ideas ahd was not trying to ma nipulate different segments of the vote. In closing, Steele said he saw a fundamental disagreement between the two parties. He said VOICE was not trying to manipulate votes but was trying to represent alt students. Nebraskan FAX NUMBER 472-1761 *5* N«braakan(USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board. Ne braska Union 34, 1400 R St., Lincoln, NE, Monday through Friday (Airing 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 acMas to the Publications Board For Information, contact Doug Fiedler. 436-7862. Subscription price is $50 for one year. Postmaster Send address changes to the Dally Nebraskan. Nebraska Union 34.1400 R St.,Lincoln. NE 68588-0446. Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1993 DAILY NEBRASKAN
