News Digest
Tuesday, October 18,1994 Page 2
f Jordan and Isreal make peace
AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan
and Israel initialed a draft treaty
Monday to end nearly a half-cen
tury of hostility, intensifying pres
sure on Syria to move toward end
ing one of the world’s longest-run
ning conflicts.
The accord, reached after an all
night session that resolved disputes
over water rights and borders, was
expected to be quickly ratified by
the Jordanian and Israeli legisla
tures. The Israeli Cabinet approved
it within hours after it was signed.
After Monday's ceremony, Is
raeli President Ezcr Wcizman said
Syrian President Hafez Assad
“should look around and sec... He
may be the last in line" to make
peace with Israel.
but in Damascus, wncrc gov
crnmcnt-run newspapers have said
daily that Israel was not to be
trusted. Syrian Foreign Minister
Farouk al-Sharaa said: “We hope
the Israeli government will real
ize the fact that without achieving
peace with Syria and Lebanon,
there will be no peace in the re
gion ... This is the reality.”
King Hussein of Jordan, who
maintained clandestine contacts
with Israeli leaders for years de
spite the state of war between the
two countries, insisted the treaty
" heralded a new era.
“Hopefully, it is a fresh begin
ning and a fresh start.” he said.
And Prime Minister Yitzhak
. Rabin of Israel called it a “histori
T cally unique moment.” and said he
hoped a full-fledged treaty would
be signed by the end of next week.
Israel TV said the full accord
would be signed Oct. 27 on the Jor
dan-Israci border and that Presi
dent Clinton had been invited to
take part. Clinton adminstration
officials said Clinton would prob
abl “ nd.
and Jordan signed a non
belligerency pact in Washington on
July 25, and since then had been
working to resolve differences that
stood in the way of a full-fledged
peace treaty.
“1 believe this peace is an im
portant achievement,” a weary
Rabin told reporters in Jerusalem
after returning from Monday’s ccr
Israel and Jordan sign draft for peace"
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan’s King Hussein
signed a draft of a formal peace accord Monday. They hope to sign
the actual pact by the eno of the month.
YITZHAK
RABIN
ZSZ
Once a Jewish
underground
leader. Has been
involved in Israeli
politics since the
nation was
established in
1948. Military
commander in ’67
war; prime minister
since 1992.
KINo
HUSSEIN
Ascended to
throne in 1953.
Opposed 79
Camp David
peace
treaty between
Egypt and Israel.
Has since
supported
U.S. efforts toward
peace.
Some forms of tho accord
Israel will return to
Jordan 152 square miles
of desert and farmland it
seized after the 1948
Middle East War.
Israel will lease certain
areas that include Israeli
settlements or farms.
The nations will start new
projects on tfie Yarmouk
River to increase water
flow to Jordan.
AP
cmony and the overnight meetings
in Jordan. “1 think it will also have
repercussions where Syria and the
Palestinians arc concerned.’'
Peace talks with Syria have
lagged over Damascus’ demand
that Israel relinquish the Golan
Heights captured in the 1967
Middle East war. Polls show most
Israelis oppose giving up the
Golan.
Monday's accord, signed by
Rabin and Prime Minister Abdul
Salam Majali of Jordan, came af
ter a rocky week for peace talks
with the Palestinians.
Israel suspended negotiations
with the PLO after Islamic mili
tants kidnapped an Israeli soldier.
The soldier was killed by his cap
tors Friday as Israeli commandos
stormed their hideout, but talks arc
to resume Tuesday in Cairo.
Clinton said he was “delighted"
by the developments in Amman,
adding: “This agreement reminds
us that moderation and reason are
prevailing." >•
Jordan is only the second Arab
country to make peace with Israel.
Egypt broke ranks to do so in 1979.
Jordan and Israel last fought in
the 1967 Middle East war, when
Israel seized the West Bank and
cast Jerusalem, but a state of war
has existed between the countries
since 1948.
Jordan's media did not report
it for four hours, apparently be
cause of concern it would trigger
protests by hard-line opponents of
peace with Israel.
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GM trucks
pose risk
says Pena
WASHINGTON — General Mo
tors C-K pickups, which have been
involved in several fatal fires follow
ing side-impact crashes, pose an “un
reasonable risk.” Transportation Sec
retary Federico Pena said Monday.
About 150 people have died as a
result of side-impact fires in the
trucks. Pena said, and many others
suffered serious burns.
He called a Dec. 6 hearing to de
termine whether the government
should require GM to recall the
trucks, made between 1973 and 1987.
which are sold with GM and
Chevrolet nameplates. The company
rejected an April 9. 1993, govern
ment request that it recall the tmeks
voluntarily.
I he trucks have been widely criti
cized because their fuel tanks arc
mounted outside the body, permitting
larger tanks, but making the tanks
vulnerable to crash damage.
A National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration study found 2.8 fire
related deaths per I million vehicle
miles in the GM pickups, compared
to 1.0 per million in Ford trucks.
Bruce G. MacDonald. GM's vice
president of communications, said the
trucks “have fully met the applicable
safety standards for fuel system in
tegrity in collisions ... There is sim
ply no legal or scientific basis oh
w hich to seek a recall of these tmeks
under the Vehicle Safety Act If nec
essary. we wflf defend their safety in
court.”
Aristide and military head
demonstrate reconciliation
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide preached again for rec
onciliation from behind his bulletproof shield
Monday, hours after a mob torched the family
home of Haiti’s new army commander.
Fifteen buildings were set afire and one man
killed in the coastal town of Gonaives after a
false rumor spread Sunday night that Maj. Gen
Jcan-Claudc Duperval had led a coup attempt
against Aristide.
After three years of army rule. Aristide faces
a major challenge in persuading his nation to
put aside the desire for vengeance.
Concern for Aristide's security has practi
cally made him a prisoner of the National Pal
ace.
The mob attack in Gonaives. 100 miles
north of Port-au-Prince, occurred after Aristide
summoned Dupcrval to the National Palace on
Sunday to discuss how to dismantle the mili
tary.
U.S. troops guarding the palace unloaded
Duperval’s normal sidearms, prompting un
founded rumors to spread that the army chief
had tried to topple Aristide.
At least 10 houses and five stores were
burned in the city of Gonaives, including one
belonging to Dupcrval’s mother and another
belonging to the grandmother of former junta
leader Lt. Col. Michel Francois. A grain de
pot owned by the Brandts, one of Haiti’s rich
est families, was looted.
Radio Signal-FM said U.S. and Haitian sol
diers arrested more than 100 people in putting
down the violence in Gonaives.
In a brief speech Monday at the National
Palace, Aristide urged “creating a state of law
like all modern societies."
Dupcrval joined the Haitian leader on thr
,M _
palace stairs and helped him hoist the the Hai
tian flag.
Then Dupcrval offered Aristide a crisp sa
lute and energetic handshake. The army chief
was promoted last week to replace coup leader
Raoul Cedras. who fled into exile.
Enthusiastic crowds briefly prevented
Aristide's motorcade from leaving the palace
to lay a wreath at Haiti's national museum to
commemorate the assassination in 1806 of
Jcan-Jacqucs Dcssalinc, one of Haiti's found
ing fathers.
Aristide's motorcade retreated, then used a
back exit to get to the nearby national museum.
Aristide officials sought Monday to put an
end to the violence. Information Minister
Herve Denis said anvone caught looting or tar
geting the homes or Aristide s political oppo
nents would be arrested.
violence has been compounded by the dis
appearance of many of Haiti's soldiers and
police, putting American troops and interna
tional police monitors in the middle of disputes
that arc difficult to decipher.
During one street dispute in Port-au-Prince
Monday, a pregnant woman told American
troops that a man had threatened her. A crowd
told the Americans she was using them to settle
a business quarrel.
The U.S. military said the bodies of two
slain men were discovered Sunday near the
Cite Soleil area. A spokesman. Navy Lt. Mark
McCaffrey, had no further detail.
A U.S. official said Monday that victims of
human rights abuses or their families will re
ceive shares in some of the Haitian state cor
porations to be privatized under Aristide’s new
economic plan.
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