The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, March 13, 1995, Page 2, Image 2
News Digest IRA-allied party leader praises Clinton NfcW YORK — The leader of the IRA-allied Sinn Fein party urged the British government Sunday to recognize his U.S. fundraising trip as a step toward peace in Northern Ireland. Half a world away, British Prime Minister John Major criticized the St. Patrick’s Day meeting between Gerry Adams and President Cl inton, the first between an ally of the Irish Republican Army and a U.S. presi dent. Adams, who arrived in the United States on Saturday, said that being allowed to raise funds would legitimize Sinn Fein in the eyes of Americans. “The president of the United States did the right thing, again, when he accorded Sinn Fein equal ity of treatment,” he told a cheering crowd of about 400 Irish-Ameri cans at a rally in New York City. “That’s what we need to see in our own country.” Adams says any money raised during his 10-day trip would be used for political activities. Major was in Jerusalem as part of his pledge to contribute to Mid east peace through closer trade ties to Israel and aid to the Palestinians. He was asked why he would not welcome a meeting between Clinton and Adams, if he was willing to meet with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. “Terrorism has now been re nounced by Chairman Arafat. I’ve not seen it comprehensively de nounced by Mr. Adams,” he said. “I’m afraid the Sinn Fein is directly associated with a fully formed ter rorist organization.” Adams said Sinn Fein was look ing for a British government that “instead of being petulant, seems to be progressive... generous and flex ible.” “The British government sees this visit as a victory for Sinn Fein and a defeat for them, but I don’t think that’s the way they should be looking at it,” he said. “This isn’t keeping score-one up, one down.” The IRA began a cease-fire Sept. 1, in its campaign to end British rule of Northern Ireland. Rival pro British gunmen began their own truce in mid-October. All parties are studying peace pro posals offered by the governments of Britain and Ireland as a basis for talks on Northern Ireland’s future. Flooding paralyzes California cities, claims at least eight SAN FRANCISCO — Floods washed out all roads into the Monterey Peninsula on Sunday as waterlogged California struggled to recover from storms that battered two-thirds of the state. At least eight people died in five days of flooding, and five more are missing after driving into a rain-swol len creek when an Interstate 5 bridge collapsed in central California. In Monterey County, thousands of people left their homes overnight as the Salinas and Pajaro rivers inun dated some of the nation’s richest farm lands, the site of John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.” The flooding cut off the communi ties around Monterey, about 100 miles south of San Francisco. “At this point all roads are closed the Monterey Peninsula is literally isolated,” said county emergency of ficer A1 Friedrich. California Highway Patrol officials said roads may remain closed until Monday. Many people were rousted from their homes early Sunday as flood waters rushed into low-ly ingriverside communities overnight. “Police went down the streets with their sirens telling people to please leave,” Friedrich said. “It’s a scary thing to hear in the dark.” In the farming town of Pajaro, resi dents were in shock. “People walked in here in tears. They looked like they were caught completely off-guard,” said Salvation Army Maj. Joan Souders. “We saw people walk in here with no shoes, no socks or with water lines up to their thighs.” From the Oregon state line down to Mexico, rain, wind and snow wreaked havoc across 40 of California’s 58 counties. “It’s the most widespread geo graphic storm in California in this century,” said James Bailey of the state-federal Flood Operations Cen ter in Sacramento. The storms may also be the most expensive in California history, he added, costing up to $2 billion in a state already burdened with January’s Pacific storms, as well as a series of earthquakes, fires and mudslides. Sunday was rain-free for most of California. The National Weather Ser vice said showers were expected again Monday, but not the downpours of last week. In Coal inga, about 50 miles west of Fresno, teams were back at the scene of a fatal 1-5 road bridge collapse on Califomia’smain north-south freeway. Four cars drove into a rain-swol len creek Friday night when the over pass suddenly dropped into the wa ter. One man was rescued, but six people were believed to be in the other three cars. Rescue crews pulled the body of a teen-age girl from one car Sunday, said highway patrol spokeswoman Karen Barrows. Searchers found the last two cars. We don t know yet whether there are bodies inside,” she said. Survivor Wayne Johnson, 45, said he saw too late that something was wrong. As he approached the span in the rain and darkness, he saw a flash light waving. “I thought that perhaps the road was flooded so I started to slow down ... then I went up and down at an angle, and I was airborne, Evel Knievel style,” he said. He got out of his truck, but was stuck in a tree for several hours before being rescued. A chain-link fence was being erected around the entire Ventura County town of La Conchita, where a collapsing coastal bluff that destroyed nine homes a week earlier survived the latest onslaught of rain. Mud flowing through the streets may have made a mess, but damage wasn’t significant. “Residents are returning little by little to their homes to see what’s left,” said sheriffs Deputy Patti Dreyer. “It’s a beautiful day here except for the mud.” Nebraskan FAX NUMBER 472-1761 The Daily NebraskanfUSPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Ne ^.braska Union 34, 1400 fi 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 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has 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, NE 68588-0448. Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1995 DAILY NEBRASKAN 5 Nation of Islam owes debt to IRS CHICAGO — The Nation of Islam’s financial empire is saddled with debt, failure and fraud alle gations, yet leader Louis Farrakhan and some of his rela tives live lavishly, according to an investigation by the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper reported in its Sunday editions that the Internal Revenue Service has filed $354,588 in liens against a Nation-linked se curity company based in Washing ton. The IRS also is trying to collect $93,000 in taxes from a Nation linked soap-distribution company, which, the Tribune said, owes an other $15,000 to creditors. Furthermore, the Chicago build ing that Farrakhan calls his Sales and Office Building owes more than $1 million in property taxes, and three other Chicago buildings carry an additional $50,000 in unpaid property taxes, the Tribune re ported. The newspaper-which based its findings on land and court docu ments, government contracts, cor porate records and interviews-said Farrakhan, his aides and family did not respond to more than a dozen requests for interviews and infor mation. Although Farrakhan has said he personally owns nothing, the Tri bune said records show he and his wife own Chicago property, includ ing a mansion and luxury cars. The Nation of Islam shares at least five separate financial accounts and has other ties with a half-dozen private security firms, three com panies that sell soap and cosmetics, a publishing company and two clothing firms. The paper said two of the most lucrative Nation-affiliated ventures - the clinic and the security compa nies - have won federal contracts worth more than $15 million since 1991. Farrakhan named the soap pro gram POWER Inc., an acronym for People Organized and Working for Economic Rebirth. It was launched in 1985 with a $5 million loan from Libyan dicta tor Moammar Gadhafi, and Farrakhan pledged to use POWER profits to create jobs and invest in black hospitals and universities. Croatia agrees to keep U.N. force COPENHAGEN—Facing strong international pressure, Croatia’spresi dent agreed Sunday to keep a U.N. peacekeeping force to prevent another war, but said he wants its size cut by more than half. President Franjo Tudjman said he wants the 12,00(>-member force re duced to 5,000 soldiers. U.N. officials say the final number could be closer to 6,000. Mediators were worried that Tudjman’s order for the peacekeep ing force to leave when its mandate expires March 31, would result in renewed warfare with rebel Serbs who have held a third of Croatia since a 1991 civil war. “This is very good news,” Vice President A1 Gore said at a joint news conference with Tudjman. “The de parture of the U.N. presence from the scene now would lead to full-scale war between Croatian Serbs and gov ernment forces.” Croatia claims the U.N. force has created a permanent partition of the country. Gore pledged “full U.S. support” for restoring Croatian control over land lost to the Serbs, but he provided no details for ways to dislodge them. Despite the optimism, difficult ne gotiations lie ahead on deciding just what the U.N. peacekeepers’ role will be. Croatia’s Serbs might try to pre vent any new agreement, especially since Gore indicated U.N. troops could be placed on Croatia’s borders with Serbia and Bosnia. The Serbs said that would be equal to recognizing Croatian authority over Serb-held regions. Cutt ing the force ’ s size in half rai ses questions about its effectiveness in the tense region. The Croatian government and U.N. officials have started talks on a new mandate for the peacekeepers. Chris Gunnes, a U.N. spokesman in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, said the Security Council “is expected to consider the issue next week.” For the past two months, U.S. and European officials had been shuttling between Croatia’s capital,Zagreb, and the Yugoslav capital, Belgrade, to defuse the crisis over the peacekeep ers. The Serbs already have said they won’t accept any changes in the U.N. orders defining the peacekeeping op eration in Croatia. Tudjman’s announcement tempo rarily stole the spotlight at the world poverty summit, where he and Gore joined national leaders from around the globe. Haris Silajdzic, the prime minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina, used his seven-minute speech at the world fo “The departure of the U.N. presence from the scene now would lead to full-scale war between Croatian Serbs and government forces. ” ■ AL GORE U.S. Vice President rum to invoke again the tragedy ol former Yugoslavia. “How can we talk about reaffirm ing human dignity after concentration camps, rape camps and cattle wagons full of living skeletons were displayed on our (television) screens?” Silajdzic asked. He said that 17,000 children have been killed in Bosnia in three years ol fighting. “Those living, some with gray hair and eyes and hearts of old men, are hardly children any more,” Silajdzic added. Tudjman said U.N. troops could stay in Croatia for a “limited period of time’ but did not specify how long. He said there was no deadline for a new agree ment regarding U.N. peacekeepers. Gasoline prices continue to fall LOS ANGELES — Gas prices at the nation ’ s pumps dropped one-fourth of a cent a gallon during the past two weeks, continuing a decline that be gan in early January, an oil industry analyst said Sunday. The average price of gasoline, in cluding all grades and taxes, was 117.33 cents per gallon on Friday, according to the Lundberg Survey of 10,000 stations nationwide. Altogether, prices have fallen 2.25 cents since early January, analyst Trilby Lundberg said. Still, she said, the price is 7.5 cents higher than the same time last year. Nationwide average retail prices at self-serve pumps were: 110.58 cents for regular unleaded, 121.04 cents for mid-grade unleaded, 129.53 cents for premium unleaded and 115.84 cents for regular leaded. At full-service pumps, the average prices were: 146.87 cents for regular unleaded, 155.51 cents for mid-grade unleaded, 162.86 cents for premium unleaded and 141.79 cents for regular leaded.