News Digest
Wednesday, October 26,1994 Page 2
Clinton arrives for 6-nation Mideast tour
CAIRO, Egypt—President Clinton made
a post-midnight visit to the tomb of Egyp
tian President Anwar Sadat on Wednesday
to start a six-nation Mideast mission he said
was “inspired by a dream of peace.”
The visit to the grave of an assassinated
leader underscored a dream still disturbed
by discord and threats of violence.
Clinton will attend the signing of an
Israel-Jordan peace agreement today, meet
with President Hafez Assad in Syria on
Thursday and call on Friday on U S. troops
rushed to the Persian Gulf earl icr this month
after Iraqi troops were seen massing near
Kuwait’s border.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
greeted Clinton upon his arrival at the air
port here. The two leaders, accompanied by
their wives, Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Suzanne Mubarak, headed immediately for
the tomb of Sadat, who led the move toward
Egypt’s 1979 treaty with Israel. There were
no public statements.
Clinton bowed his head and seemed to
say a brief prayer as he stood before the
tomb. Sadat’s white grave sits with the
black tomb of Egypt’s unknown soldiers
under a pyramid-shaped monument near
where the Egyptian leader was slain by
members of the extremist group Jihad, or
Holy War, on Oct. 6, 1981.
Secretary of State Warren Christopher
cautioned against overly high expectations
from Clinton’s upcoming controversial visit
to Syria.
His first stop was Cairo.
“I would urge that the best way to evalu
ate ... the president’s trip is to look back on
it six months form now, not to try to evaluate
it in present-day terms,” Christopher said
aboard Air Force One.
Asked whether the United States was
prepared to take Syria off the list of terrorist
nations, Christopher said it would not hap
pen as a result of this trip.
“We look for action,” he said.
Christopher said Clinton would not have
embarked on the trip if officials did not feel
they could ensure adequate security.
As he left for the five-day trip, Clinton
sought to coax other nations in the region to
follow the example of Israel and Jordan and
bury ancient hostilities.
“This trip is more than a celebration of
another important step toward peace; it’s an
opportunity to pursue new steps,” Clinton
said in comments that appeared to be di
rected mainly at Syria.
, The trip is Clinton’s fourth overseas trip
this year, and offers him a chance to turn
attention away from a contentious midterm
election season at home in which his party
is expected to suffer heavy losses.
“The time has arrived for all parties to
follow the brave and hopeful inspiration of
Israel and Jordan,” Clinton said in daybreak
remarks at the White House before heading
to nearby Andrews Air Force base for the
10-hour flight to Cairo.
“Today I embark on a mission inspired
by a dream of peace—a dream as ancient as
the peoples I will visit, a dream that, now,
after years of struggle, has a new chance of
becoming a reality.”
The region has been rocked repeatedly by
violence, including last Wednesday’s deadly
bus bombing in Israel.
In addition to the signing ceremony, in a
former minefield at Aqaba, Clinton was to
address both Jordanian and Israeli parlia
ments and walk the violence-prone alleys of
the Old City of Jerusalem.
Israeli security officials warned of pos
sible violence by Hamas, the Muslim group
that has carried out a series of recent terror
ist attacks.
Clinton’s plans have prompted Israeli
police to design one of the largest security
operations ever, with up to 20,000 officers
deployed nationwide and 6,000 for the
Jerusalem stretch alone.
Clinton mentioned the violence: “For all
the progress toward peace, indeed, because
of that progress, we have witnessed a new
wave or terrorism and violence. No step on
this long journey requires more patience,
more discipline, more courage, than the
steps still to come.”
Among recent presidents, Richard Nixon,
Jimmy Carter and George Bush all traveled
to the region:
- Bush visited Egypt and Saudi Arabia in
1990 during the U.S. buildup before the
Persian Gulf War. He also met Syrian Presi
dent Assad on that same trip but in Geneva.
- Carter, an architect of the Israeli-Egyp
tian peace agreement, went to the Mideast
in early 1978 in an effort to prod both sides.
- Nixon visited the Mideast in June 1974,
just two months before he resigned his presi
dency over Watergate. “I was fully aware
that the success or failure of this trip might
make the decisive difference in my being
able to continue to exercise presidential
leadership,” Nixon later wrote in his mem
oirs.
Clinton said before leaving, “With so
much at stake, it is more important than ever
for the United States to stand shoulder to
shoulder with those who are taking risks for
peace.”
The president noted that the agreement
to be signed today is only the second full
peace accord between Israel and one of its
Arab neighbors. The agreement between
Israel and Egypt was signed in Washington
15 years ago.
Chemical companies agree
to pay for property damage
TRENTON, N.J. — Three of
the nation’s largest chemical com
panies have agreed to pay at least
$750 million to settle a lawsuit
alleging their chemicals used to
make plastic plumbing pipes and
fittings caused damage to systems
in homes nationwide.
Hoechst Cclanese Crop., issued
a terse statement Monday announc
ing the class-action lawsuit settle
ment but giving few details. Also
named as defendants in the lawsuit
are Shell Oil Co. and DuPont Co.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said
the settlement would cost the three
companies $750 million or more,
making it the largest property-dam
age class-action settlement in U.S.
history.
Trial Lawyers for Public Jus
tice, which filed the lawsuit in Sep
tember 1993, said Celanesc, Shell
and DuPont produced resin prod
ucts, including polybutylene, that
were used to manufacture plumb
ing fittings and pipes.
The pipes and fittings corroded
and leaked when exposed to chemi
cals in much of the nation's drink
ing water, causing millions of dol
lars of property damage, the group
said.
The settlement was filed Mon
day in District Court in Houston,
where it must be approved to be
come effective.
“This is a landmark achieve
ment in consumer protection," said
Mary A. Parker, ofParker & Allen
in Nashville, Tenn., and president
of the lawyers’ group.
The three companies will pay
homeowners nationwide to replace
leaking plastic plumbing systems
and to compensate owners whose
property has been damaged by the
leaks, the lawyers’ group said.
Several cases of rabies traced
to kittens sold from net store
CONCORD, N.H.—Doctors gave
rabies shots Tuesday to the first of
what could be hundreds of people
possibly exposed to the deadly dis
ease by pet store kittens.
About 40 people received shots at
Concord Hospital.
And hundreds of people who might
be at risk because they played with
kittens at the store called the hospital
and Hitchcock Clinic asking whether
they should get shots.
“That’s the problem with kittens
— they’re adorable,” Public Health
spokesman Steve Tomajczyk said.
“People like to handle them. That’s
why we’re concerned, because the
cats had free access to the store.”
Authorities said 32 kittens may
have been exposed to rabies at the
Concord Aquarium and Pet Store
since Sept. 19. All but five were sold.
One kitten died of rabies over the
weekend, alerting authorities to the
threat. Another three kittens that died
this month are believed to have been
infected.
Health officials were waiting for
test results on 14 kittens and search
ing for nine others that were sold.
Five kittens still in the store were not
“You don’t want to
make things too
sensational, but you
want to make people
■ aware of a potential
health problem. ”
■
RICHARD ROSS
Doctor
infected. The only way to test an
animal for rabies is to kill it and
examine its brain.
No cases of rabies in humans have
been reported.
Rabies is almost always fatal to
people who don’t get shots.
“You don’t want to make things
too sensational, but you want to make
people aware of a potential health
problem,” said Dr. Richard Boss, the
clinic’s medical director.
Barbara Morgan took hertwo sons,
JL
ages 13 and 8, to get shots at the
hospital.
‘*It’s kind of scary but little boys
always have open cuts and blisters on
their hands,” she said. “That’s all it
tikes.”
As public health officials spread
the word about possible infection,
doctors geared up for mass immuni
zations.
Concord Hospital scheduled spe
cial clinics Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday morning and set up a 24-hour
telephone line for patients.
“If there is any doubt, get the shots,”
said one clinic nurse who was coun
seling patients. “There is nothing else
we can do.”
The store acquires kittens from a
few local families, said owner Tim
Jandebeur.
Each is inspected by a veterinar
ian, but cats cannot be vaccinated
against rabies until they are at least
16 weeks old, and kittens are often
sold before then, he said.
People can get rabies by being
bitten by an infected animal or hav
ing an infected animal’s fresh saliva
get into broken skin, like a scratch, or
into their mouth, nose or eyes.
few obey Ito s order
to avoid news media
LOS ANGELES — A 60-year-old
woman was kept in the O. J. Simpson
jury pool Tuesday after saying she
watched only recorded movies and
avoided TV at work since the judge’s
ban on all media and bookstores.
Her answers were much different
than those from other prospective ju
rors a day earlier who were rejected
after admitting they watched football
on TV, read a newspaper sports sec
tion and listened to a radio traffic
report.
“I appreciateyou taking the court's
order so seriously,” said Superior
Court Judge Lance Ito, who seemed
disturbed that others disobeyed him.
The woman said she had seen "ab
solutely nothing” about the case since
Oct. 18, when Ito halted jury selec
tion for two days because of the re
lease of a book about Simpson ’ s former
wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. At that
time, Ito ordered a group of roughly
80 possible jurors to avoid all media
and bookstores.
Simpson is on trial for the June 12
slayings of Ms. Simpson and her
friend Ronald Goldman.
When asked about the book, the
woman said she had seen very little.
On Oct. 17, she saw a snippet of a
news report about it while watching a
soap opera, which she had recorded
earlier in the day.
“I fast-forwarded past it,” she said
of the news report.
The woman, who was told to re
turn for more questioning Nov. 2,
said she has been watching only re
corded movies and co-woniers have
teased her for refusing to eat lunch in
a recreation room that has a TV.
Jury selection began Sept. 26 and
f
is expected to last up to six months.
About 300 people who made it
past the first screening were divided
into three groups.
The first wave of about 80 people
returned to court Oct. 12 for in-depth
questioning about their beliefs, bi
ases and exposure to publicity in the
case.
Since then, the selection has been
intermittently delayed because of pre
trial hearings, illness and Ito’s con
cern about the book, “Nicole Brown
Simpson: The Private Diary of a Life
Interrupted ”
The two remaining groups have
yet to appear for in-person question
ing.
More than half those questioned
so far; 23 out of 44, have been dis
missed, many because they disobeyed
the judge’s media ban.
“The jurors are doing their best,
but the jurors, like everyone else,
have been exposed to a tremendous
amount of media coverage,” Simpson
attorney Robert Shapiro said as he
entered the courthouse. “It’s made
the task very hard for all of us.’’
Shapiro has said he doesn’t think
Simpson can get a fair trial.
Deputy District Attorney William
Hodgman said the new process of
individual questioning, which Ito
began after the book’s release, is work
ing well. Hodgman said he is confi
dent 12 jurors and eight alternates
can be found.
“Thejurors arc more comfortable,”
Hodgman said. “I think we arc going
to be able to get a fair panel, but we
have to proceed very cautiously, very
carefully and we are monitoring the
situation day by day ”
--
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