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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1995)
By The Associated Press Edited by Jennifer Mlratsky News Qgest Friday, January 13, 1995 Page 2 U.Si soldier, Haitian killed PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A U.S. soldier and a Haitian were killed Thursday in a shooting at a Haitian checkpoint in the coastal city of Gonaives, U.S. officials said. Another U.S. soldier was wounded in the incident in Gonaives, about 100 miles north of the capital, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Stan Schrager. It was the first U.S. combat fa tality in Haiti since American troops were deployed in Haiti last fall. One U.S. soldier died in an accident and three Americans have committed suicide since the mis sion began. Schrager said a white pickup truck rammed the army checkpoint* and the passenger came out shoot ingwhenU.S. Special Forces troops stationed in the vicinity ran over to investigate. One soldier was seriously wounded and died a short time later at a mobile army hospital set up by the U.S.-led multinational forces in Haiti, Schrager said. The second was undergoing surgery for a wounded arm. “Our troops returned fire, kill ing the guy who fired upon them,” he said. The other Haitian was being questioned. “Apparently it was a criminal activity and not directed at the U.S.,” Schrager said. MajT Cindy Si to, a military spokeswoman, told Cable News Network that the shooting was an “isolated incident.” The soldiers’ names were not immediately available. They were part of the Special Forces contin gent that has been deployed in the outlying towns of Haiti, U.S. soldiers were deployed in Haiti to lead a multinational force that removed Haiti’s military lead ers from power in September, al lowing for the return of elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The fall of the dictatorship has uOur troops returned fire, killing the guy who fired upon them. ” ■ STAN SCHRAGER U.S. Embassy spokesman brought a crime wave, often attrib uted to the gunmen who enforced the military’s brutal rule and now are looking for another way to make a living. Clinton administration officials earlier this week said the U.S. mili tary would transfer authority to a United Nations force by mid-March. At the height of the intervention last fall, there were 21,000 U.S. soldiers in Haiti. About 6,000 re main in the 8,000-member multi national force. 1 Rebel forces near collapse in Grozny GROZNY, Russia — Russian forces bombarded the capital of Chechnya on Thursday with their fiercest attack yet, showering the dis integrating city with waves of artil lery and rockets as rebel resistance neared collapse. Demoralized bands of haggard Chechen fighters resisted the fero cious new onslaught. Incoming Rus sian troops vowed to take the capital and end the month-long fighting in the secessionist republic. Rebels retreated house by house from Russian forces closing relent lessly on the battered presidential palace in the city’s heart. Russian helicopters sounded overhead for the first time. Chechen fighters, who had talked in recent days of defeating the Rus sian army, were visibly worried and exhausted. Large units had dwindled to a few men, and some groups were seen moving out of the city. Among the latest refugees were members of President Dzhokhar Dudayev’s government, who contin ued to arrive in neighboring Ingushetia, the Russian government press service said. They planned to fly abroad, it said. Dudayev’s whereabouts were not immediately clear. Russian troops poured into Chechyna, a mostly Muslim republic of 1.2 million in the Caucasus Moun tain, on Dec. 11 to crush its indepen dence movement. They encountered fierce resistance, but Chechen zeal has flagged this week. Rebel officers claimed Thursday that their forces retained the palace, but they acknowledged the fight was not going well. Associated Press cor respondents got to within about 500 yards of the devastated building, but furious shelling kept them from see: ing who held it. Rebels were short of ammunition. Several men in their 60s, armed with pistols and daggers, helped fill posi tions. Hundreds of Russian tanks, ar mored personnel carriers and troop trucks were moving on several roads toward Grozny. In villages along the route, Chechens tried desperately to Cause of plane crash unknown tsuuu I A, Colombia—A 9-year old girl may be the only person who can tell investigators about the crash of a DC-9 that killed the other 52 people aboard. Aviation officials ques tioned today whether the plane ^>lew up in the air as initially believed. Civil Aviation Director Alvaro Raad Gomez said it would be “prema ture and irresponsible” to speculate on what caused the the Intercontinen tal Aviation plane to crash Wednes day evening as it approached the Car ibbean resort city of Cartagena. The pilot of another plane told authorities he saw an explosion rip through the plane as it flew at an altitude of about 14,000 feet, Raad Gomez said. Authorities said when they sought details from the pilot, he no longer claimed to have seen an explosion. “A few hours after saying he saw a mid-flight explosion, he did not stick to that story,” said Civil Aviation assistant director HumbertoFonnegra. No explanation was given for why the unidentified pilot changed his story. “We’re discarding the idea that there was a mid-flight explosion,” Fonnegra said. “If there had been an explosion that high, the plane would have come down in thousands of pieces, not two.” Police, soldiers, civil defense crews and local farmers recovered all 52 bodies by this morning, finding some by floodlights before dawn and the rest after the sun rose over the field. The bodies were loaded onto trucks and taken-to a makeshift morgue at a sports arena in Cartagena, 10 miles from the crash site, media reports said. “The scene at the disaster site is terrible,” one of the farmers helping recover bodies told RCN radio. The farmer described a site strewn with decapitated and mutilated bodies. “The girl seems to be the only survivor,” said Raad Gomez. “She said she fell out of the plane when it broke up and fell into a swamp.” A witness on the ground said the plane hit the ground with an explo sion. organize defense units but had only rifles and no heavy weapons. Some Russian soldiers who would not give their names said they would take Grozny with the latest offensive. Russia clearly has interpreted as a sign of weakness Dudayev’s admis sion that his fighters could not defeat the Russian army. On Wednesday, the war’s one-month mark, Dudayev said he was ready for peace talks. Overnight, the Russian air force dropped dozens of bombs on Grozny, which was nearly deserted Thursday except for small bands of rebel sol diers. On Thursday night, a shell appar ently set fire to a natural-gas pipeline in an outlying neighborhood. The Interfax news agency said a fountain of flames as high as 10 feet was leaping from the ruptured line. Thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the war, al though casualty estimates vary wildly. The ground assault on Grozny be gan New Year’s Eve and has turned the city into a smoking ruin littered with corpses and rubble. NefcJraskan Editor Managing Editor Assoc. News Editors Opinion Page Editor Wire Editor Copy Desk Editor Sports Editor Arts & Entertainment Editor Photo Director Night News Editors Art Director Jeff Zeleny 472-1766 Jeff Robb DeDra Janssen Doug Kouma Matt Woody Jennifer Miratsky Kristin Armstrong Tim Pearson Rainbow Rowell Jeff Haller Ronda Vlasin Jamie Karl Damon Lee Pat Hambrecht Kai Wilken FAX NUMBER 472-1761 The Daily NebraskanfUSPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board. Nebraska Union 34.1400 R St.. Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during 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 Km. Monday through Friday. The public also is access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Tim Hedegaard, 436 9258. Subscription price is $50 for one year. Postmaster; Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St.,Lincoln, NE68588-0448. Second-dass postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1995 DAILY NEBRASKAN Malcolm X s daughter awaiting trial MINNEAPOLIS—A daughter of slain Black Muslim dissident Malcolm X was indicted today, charged with trying to hire a hitman to kill her father’s rival, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Qubilah Shabazz, 34, who was with her father when he was mur dered nearly 30 years ago and whose family has long suspected Farrakhan !s involvement in the assassination, sur rendered this morning. She faces charges of using the telephone and crossing state lines in the course of trying to hire the hitman, U.S. Attor ney David Lillehaug said. Shabazz was scheduled to make an initial court appearance this after noon before a federal magistrate. The nine-count indictment against her follows a seven-month FBI investiga tion. If convicted, she could be sen tenced to 90 years in prison and fined $2.25 million. Because Shabazz herself has been cooperating with authorities, pros ecutors had no plans to insist that she be held until trial. “We have been in contact with her and her attorneys this last week,” Lillehaug said. “She has voluntarily checked into the courthouse each day. She surrendered voluntarily today. In light of that, we will not be asking this afternoon at her initial appearance that she be detained pending trial.? Shabazz, 34, formerly of New York City, has lived in Minneapolis since September. The nine-count indictment follows a seven-month investigation by the Minneapolis bureau of the FBI. The indictment said eight phone conversations occurred in July and August 1994 and that Shabazz trav eled from New York to Minnesota. I-— After arriving in Minnesota, she made a partial payment to the person she hired to kill Farrakhan, the indict ment said. The indictment said the killing was to occur in Illinois, where Farrakhan lives. Malcolm X’s daughter charged A daughter of the late Malcolm X was charged Thursday with trying to hire a hitman to kill her father’s rival, Black Muslim leader Louis Farraknan. It's the latest explosion in the controversial Nation of Islam. Malcolm X His black nationalism contrasted with—and became a popular alternative to—the civil rights movement. He beoime the voice of the Nation of Islam until he was exiled in 1963. He was fatally shot Feb. 21,1965, while giving a speech. Three Black Muslims were convicted. Louis Farrakhan ASKinea orator, he is praised for advocating self-reliance, discipline and clean living. But Farrakhan preaches separatism . and, many oeneve, ana- mammmmmmm Semilism. He has called Judaism a - “gutter religion." Seeds of conflict Malcolm X recruited Farrakhan into the Nation in 1555. Malcolm grew critical of leader Elijah Muhammad and was exiled; Farrakhan replaced him as leader of the Harlem temple. In 1964, Farrakhan wrote of Malcolm, "...such a man is worthy of death." Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcolm X, said last year she believed Farrakhan was involved in her husband's death. Farrakhan denied he was involved, but admitted he had helped "create an atmosphere" of anti-Malcolm sentiment The accused Qubilah Shabazz, 34, is charged with using the telephone and crossing state lines to hire a hitman. She allegedly brokered a deal during July and August and made a partial payment. Qubilah was about 5 and was in the Harlem audience when her fatter was shot AP D News... M' in a Minute Grinch opens corporate theme Dark , fne jpaaie-nt characters will be featured at Universal’s new $3 billion theme park expansion, Universal Islands of Adventure. The Dr. Seuss portion opens in 1999; the park is expected to be completed within a decade. Seuss Landing will use rides, shows and 3-D attractions to present the magic and merriment of Theodore S. Geisel, who as Dr: Seuss captivated millions of kids and their parents for half a century. Geisel died in 1991 at age 87. Man takes a drive on bombing range FORT BRAGG, N.C.—A civilian who got his truck stuck on a Fort Bragg bombing range was lucky to get out alive. The truck won’t get out at all. It will become another target Soldiers were about t9 open fire when Glen Woodcock, 31, drove his Ford Bronco into the middle of the range Monday night, then walked out when the four-wheel-drive vehicle got stuck, officials said. The range is littered with thousands of rounds of unexploded ammunition, Woodcock was arrested by military police after he approached some soldiers and asked for help moving his truck. He was charged with trespassing and told that his truck was irretrievable. Col. Woodrow Wilson, Fort Bragg’s garrison commander, said the range is pockmarked with bomb craters and is clearly marked. “Why or how he did not step on something and blow himself totally up is a miracle,” Wilson said.