By The
Associated Press
Edited by Michelle Garner
NewsQgest
Monday, February 12,1996 Page 2
Bomb rocks Bahrain hotel;
Islamic group takes blame
MANAMA, Bahrain — A bomb
exploded in the lobby of a luxury
seafront hotel in Bahrain on Sunday,
injuring at least four people. An Is
lamic organization claimed responsi
bility for the attack.
The blast followed weeks of anti
government unrest in the Persian Gulf
island state, a financial hub in the re
gion and a key U.S. Navy base.
A government source, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said a bomb
exploded at 9 p.m. (1 p.m. EST) at the
15-story downtown Diplomat Hotel,
which overlooks the Gulf.
Two security sources, who also
spoke on condition of anonymity, said
at least four people were injured and
that the bomb was placed in the lobby,
between the reception desk and the
elevators.
Witnesses said several employees
of the hotel were rushed to hospitals
in ambulances. A Pentagon spokes
man said he had no reports of Ameri
can casualties.
A man claiming to speak for the
Islamic Front for the Liberation of
Bahrain, the most militant of the
groups opposing the government,
claimed responsibility for the blast in
a telephone call to The Associated
Press. v
r
“This was our last day
here, and we carry
sweet memories of this
country, though the bad
one will always remain
with us. ”
CAROL MASON
American guest at bombed hotel
“We put a bomb in the Diplomat
Hotel 20 minutes ago,” the man said,
speaking in Arabic-accented English.
“Tell the government, which has ar
rested 2,000 people, that after the
feast, we will destroy every place.”
He was referring to the three-day
feast ending the current Muslim holy
fasting month of Ramadan. The feast
begins Feb. 19 or 20, depending on
the sighting of the crescent moon.
Guests at the Diplomat said they
heard a deafening blast, then were
showered with glass and ceiling tiles
as the lobby filled with smoke.
Guests streamed out of the hotel,
crying and hugging each other.
Carol Mason, an American guest,
said she and her husband just “grabbed
our luggage and ran” as the lobby
filled with smoke.
“This was our last day here, and we
carry sweet memories of this country,
though the bad one will always remain
with us,” she said.
Police have arrested hundreds of
people in the current wave of unrest
that flared in January. On Jan. 17, a
small bomb exploded in a ground
floor toilet at the plush Royal Meridien
Hotel, but there were no casualties.
Opposition leaders say the protest
ers want the restoration of parliament,
suspended in 1975 for criticizing the
government. They also want freedom
of speech, more job opportunities and
the release of all political prisoners.
Bahraini authorities accuse Iran of
inciting the violence, which has
largely involved the emirate’s Shiite
Muslim majority. Iran, whose popu
lation is overwhelmingly Shiite, de
nies that.
The Islamic Front for the Libera
tion of Bahrain, a Shiite group, is the
only one of the opposition groups that
regularly calls for the overthrow of the
royal family. Believed to be Iranian
backed, irregularly issues statements
from its London and Beirut offices that
lambast the ruling A1 Khalifa dynasty.
Netiraskan f
Editor J. Christopher Hain Night News Editors Rebecca Oltmans
472-1766 Melanie Branded
http://www.unl.edu/DailyNeb/
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Mandela celebrates
six years of freedom
ROBBEN ISLAND, South Af
rica — Celebrating the sixth anni
versary of his freedom, President
Nelson Mandela returned Sunday
to the island prison where he spent
most of his 27 years as a prisoner
of the former apartheid govern
ment.
“This was my home for 18
years,” Mandela told the visiting
Norwegian prime minister, stop
ping in front of one of the 6-by-8
cells on Robben Island.
Mandela used the occasion to
thank Norway — as well as Cuba
and Libya — for supporting his
African National Congress while he
was detained or imprisoned from
1962 to 1990.
Mandela walked out of prison on
Feb. 11,1990, to launch the nego
tiations with apartheid leaders that
eventually made him South Africa’s
first black president.
Speaking from the quarry where
he smashed limestone for years,
damaging his eyes, Mandela said
Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi, the
former Soviet Union and Scandi
navian, African and Asian nations
“rallied around the liberation move
ment in this country.”
“It is through that support that
we are in power today,” Mandela
said. “We will never renounce our
friends, no matter how unpopular
they may be.”
Mandela said he was thinking of
inviting a visit from Gadhafi, whom
the United States accuses of harbor
ing terrorists. Mandela already has
invited Castro to come to South Af
rica this year.
Strong ties with Cuba and Libya
could strain relations with the
United States, though no serious
dispute seems likely. South Africa
and the United States have set up a
joint Cabinet-level committee to
facilitate cooperation.
Iowa
Continued from Page 1
from former President Reagan.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Dole
supporter, predicted “a huge turnout”
at Monday’s precinct caucuses—pre
dicting up to 150,000 voters, up from
110,000 in 1988. Good weather was
forecast across the state.
Forbes told a luncheon crowd in
suburban Des Moines he was under
“vigorous, vicious” attacks from his
rivals as aides worked to play down
expectations for his showing.
Asked what would be an acceptable
finish, campaign manager Bill Dal Col
said: “Anywhere in the top four.”
Forbes himself said, “All 1 want is a
credible showing.”
A new poll by the Des Moines Sun
day Register showed that 46 percent
of likely GOP caucus voters now view
Forbes in generally unfavorable terms
— an increase in 20 points since the
question was first asked in a poll pub
lished Dec. 3.
A day earlier, the paper published
a poll showing Dole with a 28 percent
lead, with Forbes second at 16 percent,
conservative commentator Pat
Buchanan with 11 percent, Alexander
at 10 percent and Gramm at 8 percent.
That same poll showed 19 percent
of likely GOP caucus voters were un
decided.
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