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»*. News Dgest Monday, April 15,1996 Page 2 28 die in Israeli jet fighter attack BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israeli air craft bombarded guerrilla strongholds in Beirut and southern Lebanon on Sunday, doubling the tide of refugees to 400,000 and provoking guerrilla vows to turn northern Israel into a “fiery hell.” Undaunted by Israel’s four-day-old aerial barrage, Hezbollah guerrillas barraged northern Israel with rockets that, came crashing down every 20 minutes for seven hours. One person was wounded and an empty school and other property were damaged. Three Lebanese civilians were killed and seven were wounded in Sunday’s raids, Lebanese security sources said. All told, 28 people have been killed and 105 injured on both sides since the violence began last week. Israeli jet fighters knocked out a Beirut power relay station, cultingclec tricity to many parts of the capital and its suburbs. It was the first deliberate attack on an economic target since Israel launched its offensive against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah on Thursday. The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah op poses Arab-Israeli peacemaking and has been lighting for years to drive Israeli troops from the buffer zone they occupy in southern Lebanon. Daily skirmishes exploded last week into a major Israeli offensive meant to halt a recent wave of Hezbollah at tacks on Israel. About 190,000 panicked Lebanese residents fled the southern port city of Tyre and 41 surrounding vil lages Sun day after Israel warned it would attack the area at sundown to flush out guer rillas.^ Milhcm Hussein Milhem, an 80 year-old farmer, escaped with his fam ily of 12. “My children have not eaten for three days because of the Israeli air raids,” he said. Ghonwa Dhahini, 12, and 15 rcla tivcsheadcd north after what she called a “terrifying night of shelling.” “I didn’t get a single moment of sleep,” she said. Some 400,000 refugees — more than half of the population of southern Lebanon and about one-tenth of the country’s people—were headed north Sunday for the relative safety of Beirut. The mass exodus was reminiscent of the last major Israeli strike against Hezbollah, a wecklong olTcnsivc in July 1993 that killed 147 Lebanese, wounded about 500,and uprooted half a million people. With huge numbers of people on the move Sunday, Israeli aircraft struck again. The southern market town of Nabatiych and southeastern villages took the brunt of the raids, which de stroyed several houses belonging to Hezbollah commanders. Israel i aircraft also struck near Tyre, hitting a civil defense ambulance and injuring four paramedics. It was Israel ’ s second helicopter raid on an ambu lance in as many days. Saturday’s at tack killed six civilians, including three children. % The recent violence has engulfed not only the long-tense south but the capital, too, for the first time since Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to expel Palestinian guerrillas. Israel said Sunday’s attack on a major Beirut power station was in re sponse to Hezbollah rocket attacks that knocked out electricity in the north ern Israeli border town of Kiryat Shemona. Staccato bursts of anti-aircraft fire from Lebanese and Syrian troops sta tioned in Lebanon echoed across the capital as the jets swooped down to strike. Israeli aircraft also attacked Hezbollah’s stronghold of southern Beirut. Motorists raced off, tires screeching, and pedestrians dived for cover or cowered at street corners. Eight people were reported wounded. News g - in a \SM Minute" — \ Troop pullout to begin in Chechnya MOSCOW—Russian troops will begin gradually withdrawing from more secure parts of Chechnya on Monday, according to the head of Russian forces in the breakaway republic. The announcement by Gen. Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, reported by Russian news agencies Sunday, was in keeping with a peace plan proposed last month by Boris Yeltsin. The president is seeking rc clection in June, and is under pressure to resolve the war in Chechnya. “But if the situation deteriorates, these units may be ordered to stabilize the situation in the republic,” Tikhomirov told reporters Satur day in Chechnya, according to the Interfax news agency. The Kreml in has been hard-pressed to point to any concrete results of the plan, which also envisages talks with rebel leader Dzhokhar Dudayev through mediators, and a halt to Russian military olTcnsivcs in Chechnya. Dudayev has made Russian troop withdrawal from Chechnya a precondition for talks, and his representative in Moscow reiterated that stand Sunday. Dudayev’s other demands have included direct talks with Yeltsin and the firing of many of Yeltsin’s top ministers. Reno criticizes anti-terrorism bill WASHINGTON—A Republican anti-terrorism bill Congresshopes to have on President Clinton’s desk before Friday’s anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing falls short of what the administration wants, Attorney General Janet Reno said Sunday. Reno said the bill should contain provisions requiring taggants, or markers, on explosives and should adjust wiretapping rules to conform with changes in technology. A Republican compromise plan that could be announced as early as Monday drops both those provisions, although it does restore two other items the administration wanted—the ability to ban fund-raising in the United States by groups linked to terrorism and to expedite the depor tation of known terrorists. After the April 19, 1995, bombing of the federal building in Okla homa City that claimed 168 lives, Clinton urged Congress to give him a tough anti-terrorism bill within six weeks. But the legislation has been stalled by efforts to add on anti-crime measures and questions from both the right and left about federal intrusions into individual lives. “It is Congress that for almost a year now has not acted,” Reno said. Libya had help with poison-gas plant BONN, Germany — Companies from Switzerland, Italy, China and Thailand have provided Libya with components for a massive poison gas factory that could be completed this year, a German news magazine said Sunday. That information has been relayed to the German government by German intelligence, said the magazine Der Spiegel. U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry has hinted that Washington could order a military strike against the factoiy, which the U.S. govern ment says is being built beneath a mountain in Tarhunah, 40 miles southeast of Tripoli. Spiegel said German intelligence has discovered that Libya failed in attempts to buy equipment for the plant from German companies. But Swiss firms provided gas-purification equipment, mixers and other components, and Italy, China and Thailand were deliverers as well, the magazine said. Spiegel did not identify any of the companies. German intelligence fears the plant could begin producing chemical weapons before the end of the year, Spiegel said. U.S. to give back I land to Okinawa TOKYO—The U.S. military will give back to Okinawa about 20 per cent of the island property it uses for training, but only a small number of American troops will be withdrawn, Defense Secretary William J. Perry said Sunday. The land return is the biggest since the United States relinquished control of the island in 1972. Okinawa was captured by U.S. forces during World War II and remains a key to projecting U.S. air, sea and land power in the Pacific. “We have in no way backed off from our view that the U.S. military presence ... in Japan, in Okinawa, is critical to security in the region,” Perry said in an interview aboard his plane cn route to Tokyo from Washington. Later, in brief remarks before a meeting Sunday at the official resi dence of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, Perry said the United States was determined to make its military presence on Okinawa less of a burden on local citizens. “These actions taken on Okinawa are important, but even more impor tant, they are the path to revitalizing the entire security relationshipbet ween the United States and Japan,” Perry said. Hashimoto applauded the U.S. will ingness to address Okinawans’ con cerns about the intrusiveness of Ameri can military activities. He also told Perry Japan was willing to study the touchy subject of whether and how Japan could provide support for U.S. forces in the event ofan Asian conflict outside of Japan. Perry said President Clinton and Hashimoto on Wednesday would is sue a joint security declaration reaf firming the U.S.-Japan defense alli ance and a commitment by both gov ernments to kccping47,000 American troops based in Japan. In a comprehensive review of the al liance, Okinawa was by far the tough est problem. Many residents there re sent the U.S. presence and complain about noise and crime. The discontent exploded in anger last fall after a 12 year-old Okinawan girl was raped by three U.S. servicemen. The decision to return a large amount of land to Okinawan control was aimed at quell ing the rancor. Only a few hundred of the approxi mately 28,000 U.S. troops on Okinawa will be shifted to other posts in Japan and elsewhere, and about one dozen Harrier fighter jets will be moved back to the United States from mainland Japan, said a defense official traveling with Perry who spoke on condition he not be identified. Perry said the United States will return control of many parcels of land on Okinawa, including substantial por tions of a training range in the island’s northern region. That is in addition to the plan, an nounced on Friday, to return within five to seven years the land occupied by Futcnma Marine Corps Air Station. Deadly accidents increase after higher speed limits SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Deadly traffic accidents increased by more than 17 percent on California’s most traveled roads during the stale’s first 11 weeks of higher speed limits, an Associated Press review found. “It’s obviously a concern to us. We don’t like to sec the numbers go up at all,” said California Highjvay Patrol spokesman SteveKohler.“Wc’rc keep ing an eye on it.” Fatal car accidents had been de clining in California since 1987. Opponents of the speed increase, initiated after the federal government eliminated the 55 mph national speed limit, said they had expected more highway deaths. Supporters of the change said they didn’t believe the increase in acci dents had anything to do with the speed limit change. Highway patrol and state transpor tation officials said it was too early to blame the accident increase on the rise in speed limits, saying a 12-month period would have to be studied be fore any reliable conclusions could be reached. Crashes overall during the latest period for which statistics were avail able—Dec. 17,1995 to Feb. 29,1996 — were up 8.6 percent compared to the same period 12 months earlier, California Highway Patrol records show. The highway patrol was unable to provide a breakdown of whether the fatal accidcntsoccurred on roads where speed limits increased. Taxpayers sweat out final hours WASHINGTON—Taxpay ers sweating out the final hours before the midnight filing dead line will find more high-tech as sistance — but less old-fash ioned person-to-person help — available this year. Need a form at the last minute? Try down-loading one from the Internal Revenue Ser vice home page on the Internet. Or call on your fax machine. But an 1 lth-hour search for forms by taxpayers without ac cess to a computer or fax ma chine may prove difficult. The IRS has closed 93 walk-in assis tance centers and reduced hours at 442 others. Also, it’s stopped distributing forms at banks. Common forms still arcavail able at post offices and a wider selection at libraries, as well as IRS offices that survived the agency’s belt-tightening. The IRS home page also has tax information on a wide range of topics. Or taxpayers can lis ten to tapes on about 150 sub jects by calling 1-800-829-4477. That’s also the number to check on the status of refunds. Reaching an IRS employee by telephone just before the fil ing deadline may be next to im possible. During January, Feb ruary and March, the IRS an swered about one in five calls placed to its help line, 1-800 829-1040. But that ratio is sure to be a lot worse on Monday. Taxpayers who can’t get the information or forms they need should consider an all-out effort to locale just one—Form 4868. It grants an automatic filing ex tension until Aug. 15. However, it is not an exten sion of time to pay any taxes owed. Form 4868 filers should estimate how much they owe and include a check. If your es timate is too high, the IRS will send you a refund after you file your return. If you can’t pay all you owe, send as much as you can. You’ll still get the extension. And the IRS will bill you for the balance, plus interest and any penalty due. That amounts to about 14 per cent at an annual rate so it may be cheaper to get a loan and pay on time. Netiraskan Editor J. Christopher Hain 472-1766 Managina Editor Doug Kouma Assoc. News Editors Matt Waite Sarah Scalet Opinion Page Editor Doug Peters Wire Editor Michelle Gamer Copy Desk Editor Tim Pearson Sports Editor Mitch Sherman Arts & Entertainment Editor Jeff Randall Photo Directors Scott Bruhn Travis Heying Night News Editors Rebecca Oltmans Melanie Brandert Anne Hjersman Beth Narans http://www.unl.edu/DallyNeb/ FAX NUMBER 472-1761 - The Daily NebraskanfUSPS 144-080) is Kjblished by the UNL Publications Board, ebraska 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 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Tim Hedegaard, 436 9253,9a.m.-11 p.m. 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. 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