News Digest
House gives Mexico chance
lo cooperate in drag battle
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
House voted today to give Mexico 90
days to fully cooperate in the anti-drug
war or lose its certification. President
Clinton is counting on the Senate to
protect his outright acceptance of
Mexico as a full partner in the anti-drug
war.
The 251-175 vote came on a bill
that originally called for Mexico’s im
mediate decertification — a proposi
tion that is losing ground in the Sen
ate. Even if the resolution wins Senate
approval, the House margin was far
short of the two-thirds required to over
ride an expected presidential veto.
“This is an effort on our part to help
the people of Mexico, to help the
people of Colombia and to help the
American people,” said House Speaker
Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. Clinton decer
tified Colombia but certified Mexico
as “fully cooperative” in fighting drugs.
The final vote was closer than the
overwhelming defeat the Clinton ad
ministration expected. The vast major
ity of Democrats turned against it be
cause it sharply criticized Clinton’s
anti-drug policies.
Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., who
supported the original bill, said the 90
day provision also would put Mexican
officials in a bind. Any effort to meet
the congressionally imposed goals
would be viewed as giving up on its
66
It puts President
(Ernesto) Zedillo
into a real box ”
Rep. Lee Hamilton
D-Ind.
sovereignty leading into a July 6 mid
term election.
“It puts President (Ernesto) Zedillc
into a real box,’’Hamilton said before
the House voted 212-205 cm the 90
day amendment.
Anarchy seizes
Albania; 12 dead
U.S. troops evacuate
Americans as citizens
take arms and flee
country.
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — U.S.
troops flew into Tirana to evacuate
Americans trapped in chaos as, one by
one, Albania’s few remaining tranquil
towns descended into anarchy Thurs
day. Gangs ransacked armories, civil
ians navigated tanks and children
played with assault rifles.
Helpless army commanders asked
for Western military involvement af
ter the unrest that has engulfed south
ern Albania for days spread north, east
and west, destroying the last semblance
of order and leaving at least 12 people
dead and 50 injured.
The president’s son and daughtei
and five other family members were
among the masses to flee Albania, ar
riving in Italy aboard a ferry, an Italiar
coast guard officer said.
Responding to the increasing threat
four U.S. military helicopters based or
warships in the Ionian Sea begar
evacuating Americans. Up to 2,00(
U.S. citizens are in the country, anc
State Department spokesman Nicholaj
Bums said the flights could continue
for days.
Bums told reporters in Washingtor
that U.S. Ambassador Marisa Lino ant
17 core embassy staff would remain ir
the capital for the moment. Italian he
licopters also airlifted 400 people frorr
Tirana, and Britain and other embas
sies hurried with plans to get their na
tionals out.
NATO’s top policy board met in
emergency session in Brussels, Bel
gium, later issuing a statement express
ing its “deep concern.”
In New York, the U.N. Security
Council issued a statement urging the
international community to provide
humanitarian assistance and for all
sides in Albania to work together to
ease tensions.
The unrest threatens to swamp
neighboring countries, particularly
Italy and Greece, with another flood
of refugees. Because there are sizable
ethnic Albanian populations in Serbia’s
Kosovo province and in Macedonia,
those chronically unstable areas also
are at risk.
Macedonian border guards said
they fired on seven armed Albanians
trying to cross the mountainous fron
. tier on Thursday
In Tirana, guards deserted the cen
tral prison, allowing 600 prisoners, in
cluding former President Ramiz Alia
' and another prominent leader of the
former Communists to get away.
\ Pressure was building on current
President Sali Berisha to leave office
i — the one move that might help re
store order.
The new eruption of violence left
virtually no community of any size
untouched. The weeks-long uprising
J was sparked by the collapse of high
risk investment schemes, draining the
savings of thousands of Albanians, and
has grown into anti-government pro
1 tests.
Israeli school girls
slain by soldier
during field trip
NAHARAYIM, Jordan (AP)
— A Jordanian soldier opened
fire with an automatic rifle today,
killing seven Israeli junior high
school girls who were on a field
trip to the “Island of Peace” h
the Jordan River.
The gunman, who chased af
ter the students while firing,
wounded six other eighth-grad
ers before being overpowered by
other Jordanian soldiers.
Initial reports said the soldier
started firing from a watch tower,
but Israel TV reported he was in
a jeep. That report said he
grabbed a wen non from a fellow
soldier, shot him and then
opened fire on the terrified stu
dents who were 50 yards away.
He changed clips in his weapon
and fired more shots before he
was overpowered by other sol
diers, who shouted “Madman!
Madman!” at him.
The soldiers said the attacker
was mentally unstable, but Is
raeli leaders linked the shooting
to the this week’s harsh Jorda
nian criticism of Israel over the
impasse in the Mideast peace
talks.
The soldier, identified as
Lance Cpl. Ahmed Yousef
Mustafa, 22, opened fire while
about 80 students stood near a
Jordanian watch tower on a
grassy hill on the island of
Naharayim. A sign at the en
trance reads “The Island of
Peace.”
Israeli Defense Minister
Yitzhak Mordechai ordered the
. site off-limits to Israelis until an
investigation into the shooting is
completed.
Massacre in Egyptian village
makes second attack this year
CAIRO, Egypt (AP)—Gunmen
opened fire on civilians walking
along a dirt road in a mostly Chris
tian village in southern Egypt
Thursday, killing at least 12 men.
Islamic militants were suspected of
carrying out the massacre.
About an hour after the shoot
ing, assailants shot at a Cairo-bound
train 12 miles south of the village,
killing a 40-year-old Egyptian
woman and wounding six men, the
Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The train was traveling from the
tourist city of Luxor to Cairo.
The village shooting was the
second major attack in Egypt this
year and is likely to further embar
rass the government, which has
boasted in the past that it has put an
end to extremist attacks.
11 was also one of the highest
death tolls since Muslim militants
began a violent campaign in spring
1992 to oust Egypt’s secular gov
ernment.
The attack occurred in Nag
Dawoud village near Nag Hamadi,
an industrial center 300 miles south
of Cairo.
Gunmen emerged from a sugar
cane plantation and began shooting
randomly at people in the mostly
Coptic Christian village, security
officials said.
Last month, gunmen stormed
into a church charity meeting in
southern Egypt, killing nine Copts.
Following the killing, angry
clergymen and human rights activ
ists demanded better security for
Coptic establishments. y
Police identify suspect
in Ennis Cosby slaying
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Rus
sian teen gunned down Bill Cosby’s
son in a random robbery attempt, po
lice said Thursday, confirming his ar
rest came after a tipster called the Na
tional Enquirer in hopes of claiming a
$100,000 reward.
Mikail Markhasev, 18, who came
to the United States eight years ago,
acted alone and “there was no indica
tion that there is any Russian gang or
Russian mob ties at all,” police Chief
Willie Williams told a news confer
ence.
“It appears that robbery was the
motive. It was happenstance,” Will
iams said. “This was a random stop as
far as we know now.... It happened to
be a man in a car and the defendant
who is now under arrest happened to
come by.”
Williams also said investigators
seized a knit, woolen cap believed
worn by the suspect and the gun used
in the Jan. 16 slaying of Ennis Cosby,
who was shot along a roadside as he
changed a tire on his $130,000
Mercedes convertible.
Ballistic tests confirmed the gun
was used in the killing, Williams said.
He said the gun, which he did not de
scribe, and the cap were found last Fri
day after a thorough search of the area
with help from recruits from the Los
Angeles police academy.
The chief noted that nothing ap
peared to have been taken during the
robbery attempt and that Markhasev
drove to and from the crime scene.
Markhasev, who was arrested
Wednesday night at his suburban North
Hollywood home, will be charged with
one count of murder. He has “some
criminal history,” Williams said, de
clining to elaborate.
Two other people brought in for
questioning Wednesday night—a man
and a woman—were released.
Markhasev came to this country
legally as a Russian refugee in 1989
and is not a U.S. citizen, a federal offi
cial speaking on the condition of ano
nymity told The Associated Press.
The primary witness was a woman
Ennis Cosby apparently was going to
visit the night of the slaying. After
Cosby had the flat tire, she went to the
scene in her car and came face to face
with the suspect.
Williams confirmed the tip came
first to the National Enquirer’s reward
tip line and was passed on to the po
lice department’s press relations office.
Enquirer editor Steve Coz said the
tipster called within days of the killing
and provided a reporter with a pager
number. The number and name were
relayed to police. The tipster told the
tabloid there was a Russian crime syn
dicate connection, and the Los Ange
les Times reported the same link on
Thursday, but Williams emphasized
Markhasev apparently wasn’t part of a
gang.
Cosby family spokesman David
Brokaw talked to Bill and Camille
Cosby and said, “I sense a real sense
of triumph, exuberance and something
along the lines of some sort of closure.”
In a statement, the couple thanked
police and said they “felt certain and
had every hope that they would find
the suspect and that the process of ju
risprudence would unfold.”
States may invoke HIV disclosure
WASHINGTON (AP) — States
would be required to alert people of
possible previous contact with HIV
infected individuals under a bill be
ing supported by a Republican con
gressman. ,
The measure also would create a
national reporting system for the vi
rus, require testing of anyone accused
of a sex crime, require insurers to dis
close HIV test results to applicants and
allow disclosure of HIV status of chil
dren up for adoption.
Rep. Tbm Cobum, R-Okla., said
the provisions would protect those
who aren’t infected and help those
who are learn of their status as soon
as possible so they could take advan
tage of new, life-prolonging treat
ments.
The American Medical Associa
tion, which represents the interests of
doctors, supports the measure and
many of the bill’s provisions.
But the Human Rights Campaign,
a gay political group, said the bill
would do nothing to help at-risk indi
viduals change their behavior.
The bill would:
■ Require confidential, national
reporting of new HIV cases to the
Centers for Disease Control and Pre
vention. States currently report new
AIDS cases, and 26 states report new
cases of the virus.
■ Require states to notify people
that they may have been exposed to
HIV by a current or past partner. The
CDC currently requires states to es
tablish procedures for partner notifi
cation fen* AIDS cases. ,
■ Require HIV testing for accused
sex offenders.
■ Require insurers to reveal HIV
test results to applicants, and permit
people to learn die HIV status of chil
dren they may adopt.
The Human Rights Campaign said
evidence has shown that notifying
partners is a costly and ineffective way
of controlling the disease. It also ques
tioned mandatory testing of accused
sex offenders, noting that it takes at
least six months after exposure for the
virus to show up in the blood.
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