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By The Associated Press Edited by Deb McAdams Friday, September 23,1994 Page 2 -7' jjL Serb attack on peacekeepers provokes swift NATO reprisal SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — NATO jets struck at a Serb tank near Sarajevo on Thursday in retali ation for a Serb attack on U.N. peace keepers. The attack followed a Bosnian Serb assault on an armored person nel carrier manned by French peace keepers in a northeastern district of the capital and two other attacks on French soldiers. One French soldier was seriously wounded in the attack on the APC. Brig. Gen. Andre Soubirou, U.N. commander of Sarajevo, told report ers that new attacks on U.N. person nel “will be met with the appropriate and proportional military force.” In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher praised the NATO action. “I think it’s a very posi tive thing that NATO has responded. They’ve always been ready to re spond... and the response was quick and determined.” U.S. and British planes attacked the Serb tank at sunset about seven miles west of Sarajevo, NATO offi cials said. It had violated an agree ment to keep heavy weapons out of a 12.5-mile exclusion zone around the capital. Two British Jaguars each dropped a 1,000-pound bomb on the target and a U.S. A-10 Fired a 30mm cannon, NATO spokesmen in Naples, Italy, said on condition of anonymity. They said the object of the attack was de stroyed. Gen. Bertrand de Lapresle, com mander of U.N. troops in Bosnia and other former Yugoslav republics, told Cable News Network that an empty tank was purposely targeted so as not to cause loss of life. Bosnian Serb TV, monitored in Sarajevo, claimed the NATO planes attacked a civilian target in the vil lage of Dobrosevici. The report men tioned no casualties but said Bosnian Serb soldiers would retaliate by at tacking U.N. personnel. Soubirou said U.N. commanders asked for the strike after Bosnian Serbs fired a projectile, from an 82mm anti-tank recoil less gun, at the A PC. The peacekeepers were observ ing fighting between Muslim-led government troops and Serbs in the area of Sedrenik, just northeast of Sarajevo. In a second incident Thursday, one French soldier deployed in downtown Sarajevo was wounded in the leg by a small bullet, said U.N. spokesman Col. Bertrand Labarsouque. The ori gin of the fire was unknown. Another French A PC was shot at southeast of the city and returned fire. The United Nations is authorized to call on NATO jets for protection any time peacekeepers are attacked by any of the warring sides. NATO jets destroyed a Bosnian Serb anti-tank gun Aug. 5, after the Serbs seized weapons from a U.N. guarded compound near Sarajevo. NATO is also authorized to attack any heavy weapon not under U.N. control within the weapons-free zone. Both Bosnian Serbs and govern ment forces defending the city agreed in February to remove heavy weap ons from Sarajevo’s immediate vicin ity, but violations have increased in recent weeks. NATO launched two previous air attacks April 10-11 on Serb targets around the eastern Muslim enclave of Gorazde, after besieging Serbs ig nored repeated U.N. warnings to stop attacks there. The attacks endangered peacekeepers and other U.N. person nel. Tensions have been on the rise in Bosnia since neighboring Serbia sev ered all ties to Bosnian Serbs last month and cut off all supplies except humanitarian aid. NATO strikes back Defense contests seizure of evidence LOS ANGELES — A tape of a TV movie for which O.J. Simpson was coached on killing with a knife was seized from his mansion along with a note from his ex-wife saying she only wanted to speak to him in an emergency. Detective David Martin said even though the items weren’t specified in a search warrant, he took them from Simpson’s house because he believed they might link Simpson to the June 12 stab bing deaths of his ex-wife and a friend of hers. With Simpson’s trial scheduled to begin Monday, his lawyers are challenging the June 28 search as too broad and want the evidence thrown out. The note, read in court by de fense lawyer Gerald Uelman, said Nicole Brown Simpson would only call in an “absolute emergency” and would only leave a message with “Cathy,” believed to be Simpson’s secretary Cathy Randa. “O.J., I understand that this is probably too late, but I have to do it for myself and the kids or I would never forgive myself,” said her handwritten note, attached to a yellow envelope containing tapes of their wedding and their daughter’s birth. Police seized the note and the videotapes during the search. It was unclear when the note was written. Martin testified that the items appeared to be “part of a perma nent breakup. ... I felt that those particular items would lend them selves to the motive.” “It was a grazing and browsing expedition in which district attorneys and officers were looking for whatever might help them. ” ■ GERALD UELMAN defense attorney Defense lawyer Robert Shapiro noted that investigators spotted the videotapes in Simpson's home, used his VCR to watch them, then seized them as evidence. He said they included scenes from Simpson’s new movie “Frogmen” and highlights of Simpson’s foot ball career. “It was a grazing and browsing expedition in which district attor neys and officers were looking for whatever might help them,” said Uelmen. Uelmen said authorities also hauled off Simpson’s Bentley au tomobile although “the affidavit was devoid of any probable cause that there was evidence of a crime in the Bentley.” He said, there were insufficient warrants for repeated searches of Simpson’s Ford Bronco and his business office. Judge Lance Ito said if the war rant was used as “a subterfuge for a general search,” all evidence seized could be thrown out. Troops permitted to use force to halt Haitian violence In Port-au-Prince a American forces are dismantling the Haitian force s heavy weapons. U.S. Special Forces began sharing barracks with Haitian soldiers south of Port-au-Prince. ■ U.S. light armored vehicles are patrolling the city ■ 1,000 military police are an route. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The United States muscled toward total military control of Haiti on Thursday, breaking up the army’s heavy weapons, guarding pro-de mocracy activists and giving U.S. troops more leeway to use force. American forces also planned to move into the countryside and take over the training of rural police forces notorious for their harsh re pression of civilians. In the northern city of Cap Haitien, Marines parked armored personnel carriers in front of sev eral police stations. “There should be no misunder standing by now that the Marines will intervene if necessary to pre vent violence,” said Maj. Steve Little, a Marine spokesman. “We’re still alive so I can’t com plain. I am very happy to collabo rate," said a Haitian soldier who would not give his name. “If there was any sense in fighting we would have. There is no reason to fight our American brothers.” Ruling Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras Is balking at leaving the country and parliament remained divided over proposed amnesty for the military. Cedras, a key leader of the 1991 coup that overthrew elected Presi dent Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and the other military leaders have to surrender control under the U.S. Haiti accord, but he isn’t required to leave the country. About 11,000 U.S. troops were expected in Haiti by Thursday night, more than two-thirds of the total planned deployment of 15,000. The earliest they could begin to withdraw would be after the Haitian parliamentary elections in December, Defense Secretary William Perry said. Asked about Cedras’ remarks that he would stay in Haiti after stepping down. Perry said he be lieved all the coup leaders would decide to leave “when it comes right down to it.” U.S. Army Col. Barry Willey, a spokesman for the joint military task force overseeing the operation to restore democracy to Haiti, said Thursday that American soldiers should use their discretion in us ing force. Since tear-gassing and beating people bloody on Tuesday, Haitian police have shown more restraint in dispersing crowds that come to the port to watch the arrival of more and more American troops. In the capital Thursday, U.S. troops occupied the capital’s mili tary airfield just north of La Sa line, the slum where Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest, once preached at his parish church. The 100 Haitian soldiers on duty did not resist. A convoy of nine Bradley fight ing vehicles and six HumVees ar rived at at Haiti’s only weapons depot in the suburb of Petionville Thursday morning to begin taking “There should be no misunderstanding by now that the Marines will intervene if necessary to prevent violence. ” MAJ. STEVE LITTLE a Marine spokesman the army’s heavy weapons apart. The weapons company helped spearhead Aristide’s ouster. To be dismantled are decades-old, poorly maintained heavy equipment in cluding six V-150 armored ve hicles, anti-aircraft weapons and heavy artillery. The United States also sent out troops to guard pro-democracy Haitian leaders including Port-au Prince Mayor Evans Paul, former campaign manager for Aristride, Schrager said. “We wili secure them as long as necessary until we establish a stable and secure environment,” he said. Most Haitians seem to welcome the more than 9,000 U.S. troops that had arrived by Thursday morning. As many as 15,000 U.S. troops are eventually to be de ployed. Haitian volunteers began clean ing up and repairing downtown streets, and most of the shops that have been closed in recent months began opening their doors. Street vendors clogged the streets. The volunteer crews recalled those that helped clean up the capi tal after dictator Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier fled the coun try and during Aristide’s presiden tial campaign and before his inau guration. The United States will help re turn exiled lawmakers to Haiti to approve an amnesty for the lead ers and supporters of the 1991 coup, Schrager said. • Haitian radio on Thursday broadcast a statement by de facto President Emile Jonassaint’s gov ernment saying he intends to con voke lawmakers as soon as possible to vote on the matter. Human Rights Watch and the National Coalition for Haitian Ref uges on Thursday deplored the amnesty, saying that it “tells the abusers there is no penalty to pay, and does nothing to dispel the temptation to disregard the law in the future.” They also called on President Clinton to oppose any amnesty law in Haiti that would prohibit the prosecution of those accused ot gross human rights abuses.