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Officials find fault with Serbian elections BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) — Serbia’s three presidential votes were all “fundamental ly flawed” by widespread potential for vote rig ging and state media coverage that favored the ruling Socialists, international officials said Tuesday. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the 54-nation group that oversaw the three ballots since September, said the Socialists denied other parties full access to the vote count, dominated election commissions and failed to publish detailed results. State TV did improve its coverage of oppo sition candidates, but its newscasts remained significantly biased toward Slobodan TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Before an audience of many Muslim leaders, Iran’s spiritual leader delivered a rebuke of the West on Tuesday, echo ing the tone of the Islamic revolution he helped lead while assuring wary Arab leaders that Iran posed no threat to its neighbors. Ayatollah Ali Khamanei also con demned the United States and urged Muslims to unite against Israel, but his promise that Iran would be a good neighbor was a striking departure from the government’s standing pledge to export its Islamic revolution. “Right now, we fear each other more than we fear the enemy,” Khamanei said in opening a three-day summit of the 55-member Organization of the Islamic Conference.” The politi -• cal designers of arrogance are breathing #heir poisonous breath to make our neighbors in the Persian Gulf fearful of Islamic Iran.” The summit at a gleaming confer ence center below the snow-capped Alborz Mountains drew 28 heads of state, prime ministers and crown princes. Many of them were making their first trip to a country they had feared since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The opening ceremony offered a telling sign, too, of the political fer ment in Iran, with Khamanei and President Mohammad Khatami offering strikingly different views of relations with the West and the way in which the Muslim world should deal with it. Khamanei, who leads the faction opposed to reconciliation with the United States, said in the West, “money, gluttony and carnal desires are made the greatest aspirations.” But Khatami, whose landslide victory in May electrified the coun Iran leader condemns US. try, called for dialogue and respect for the West. “Our era is an era of preponder ance of the Western culture and civi lization, whose understanding is imperative,” he said in a speech that followed Khamanei’s by just minutes. In many ways, the contrast between the two highlights of the struggle going on inside Iran. Khatami’s victory came from the many Iranians who resent the past two decades of suffocating control by Iran’s conservative clergy, but gov ernment hard-liners have sought to tie his hands. The summit itself was a remark able sign of Iran’s growing accep tance by its neighbors. Most surpris ing was the presence of the emir of Kuwait and crown prince of Saudi Arabia, two countries at odds with the Islamic republic since the 1980 88 Iran-Iraq War. Later Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah met Khatami and Khamanei separately on the side lines of the summit, ending nearly two decades of hostility between their nations. Official Tehran radio quoted Khamanei as telling Abdullah, “The government of Iran has the will to expand ties with Saudi Arabia.” Abdullah responded: “We should not look to the past when it comes to bilateral ties.... The climate exists to improve relations between the two countries.” Iranian officials said they would speak with Abdullah about the U.S. military presence in the Gulf, through which much of the world’s oil passes. He urged Muslim states “to bol ster and strengthen our ranks.” : i Editor: Paula Lavigne Questions? Comments? Ask for the Ed^>r: Julie Sobczyk appropriate section editor at (402) 472-2588 Associate News Editor: Rebecca Stone ' Assistant News Editor: Jeff Randall ore-maildn@unllnfo.unl.edu. Assignment Editor: Chad Lorenz Opinion Editor: Matthew Waite Asst Online Editor: Amy Pemberton Sports Editor: Mike Kluck General Manager: Dan Shattil A&E Editor: Jim Goodwin Publications Board Melissa Myles, Copy Desk Chiefs: Nancy Zywiec Chairwoman: (402) 476-2446 Kay Prauner Professional Adviser: Don Walton, Photo Director: Ryan Soderlin (402) 473-7301 Design Chief: Joshua Gillin Advertising Manager: NickPartsch, Art Director: Aaron Steckelberg (402) 472-2589 Online Editor: Gregg Steams Assistant Ad Manager: Daniel Lam Fax number (402) 472-1761 World Wide Web: www.unl.edu/DaiivNeb The Daily Nebraskan (USPS144080) is published by the UNL F?Sicatjons Board, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St, Lincoln, NE 685880448, Monday through Friday duming the academic yean weekly during the summer sessions.The public has access to the Publications Board. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by calling (402)472-2588. Subscriptions are $55 for one year. Postmaster Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St, Lincoln NE 68588-0448. Periodical postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL 60PYWdNT 1997 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Milosevic’s Socialists, an OSCE report said. Ambassador Gerard Stoudmann, who heads the group’s election monitoring office, also crit icized state media for reporting that die OSCE had certified Sunday’s vote as free and fair. “We are disappointed,” he said, noting that Tuesday’s assessment was the group’s first report on the presidential vote. “We would have ... expected more accurate reporting from state media.” Several irregularities were noted in the southern province of Kosovo, where the ethnic Albanians who form 90 percent of its popula tion always boycott Serbian elections, but rela tively high turnout was reported. Polling stations in Kosovo either opened or closed before the official hour, and non Socialists “were discouraged” from taking part in local electoral commissions, the OSCE said. “The overall election process was funda mentally flawed,” the OSCE concluded, urging Serbian authorities to open a “genuine political dialogue” to encourage all citizens to vote. Turnout has hovered around the 50-percent mark in all three votes, indicating many Serbs believe the elections will change little. Last winter, three months of daily protests against Milosevic failed to dislodge him. Although Milosevic was eventually forced to let the oppo sition take power in Belgrade and a dozen other cities, that democratic coalition has since dis solved, leaving many Serbs without hope in any political party. Final results announced Tuesday showed a Milosevic ally and an extreme nationalist were the front-runners in Sunday’s vote. But neither secured the 50 percent of votes needed to win, so they face a Dec. 21 runoff. Ultranationalist Vojislav Seselj won an October runoff against another Milosevic ally, but that vote was also invalid, attracting only about 48 percent of the 7.2 million eligible vot ers. In Sunday’s vote, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic, a Milosevic ally, won 43.7 percent of the vote. Seselj had 32.19 percent and Draskovic had 15.42. Turnout was 52.75 percent. Raising prices may curb smoking WASHINGTON (AP) — Increasing the cost of cigarettes by $1.50 a pack would reduce teen smoking only if combined with other anti-smoking measures, two of three specialists told a House subcommittee Tuesday. “There is no single magic bul let,” DePaul University psychology professor Leonard Jason told the House Commerce subcommittee on health and environment. “The best approach is a combination of tools, including restricting access and advertising, school-based pro grams and price increases.” Economic studies show that just a 10 percent price increase reduces overall smoking among - adults by about 4 percent and teen smoking by 7 percent, said Michael Eriksen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health. A third witness - Howard Beals, a George Washington University professor who’s worked as a consultant for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. - disagreed. He said the most effective approach would be educating teen-agers about the consequences of smoking and imposing penalties for tobacco use. Several members of Congress have introduced bills that would raise prices by $1.50 a pack, and anti-smoking groups have taken up the call in hopes that Congress will act next year on the tobacco settle ment reached between tobacco companies and state attorneys gen eral in June. Under the deal, tobacco com panies would pay $368 billion over 25 years, curb their advertising and pay fines of up to $2 billion if teen smoking, which has increased through the 1990s, doesn’t drop 30 percent in five years. In return, they would be protected against future lawsuits and win limits on government control of nicotine. The $1.50 increase was not part of the settlement. President Clinton has called for raising prices gradually if teen smoking doesn’t drop significantly over 10 years. However, the tobacco indus try has said the June agreement by itself would raise cigarette prices by a minimum of $ 1.50 a pack over 10 years. The R.J. Tobacco Co., the Lorillard Tobacco Co., U.S. Tobacco, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., and Phillip Morris Inc. released a financial analysis of the settlement in October. Beals said the single most important factor in teens’ decision to begin smoking is the behavior of their closest friends. “The odds that a teen whose best friends of the same sex all smoke (will be a smoker) are more than six times higher than for a teen with no smoking friends,” he said. “Teen-agers smoke because, judged by their own preferences, the benefits of smoking exceed the costs. To discourage teen-age smoking, policies must seek to reduce the benefits that teens derive from smoking or they must seek to increase the costs that teens who smoke must bear.” Beals also said that his research has failed to show a link between teens’ decision to smoke and tobacco advertising. Cigarette ads may influence a teen-ager’s choice of brands, he said, but they don’t # appear to entice them to begin smoking. But Eriksen said advertising plays an important rule by affect- > ing young people’s perceptions of .j the pervasiveness, image and func tion of smoking. CDC data show that teen-agers are nearly three times as likely1 ab1 \ adults to smoke the most heavily advertised brands of cigarettes, and j the glamorization of tobacco use in the media also appears to be a sub stantial influence, he said. “Young people give the follow- j ing reasons for smoking: to improve their image, specifically to impress peers and achieve a sense of identity,” Eriksen said. \ “These themes are reinforced by the images of tobacco advertising that portray smoking as a popular part of a positive, active and fun lifestyle.” Reno defends decision to Congress WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Janet Reno testily confronted Republican critics of her fund raising investigation Tuesday while the FBI director told lawmak ers his recommendation for an inde pendent prosecutor didn’t mean he believed a specific person had com mitted a crime. In a daylong congressional hear ing designed to air Republican anger over the failure to name an indepen dent prosecutor, Reno stood her ground. “This has all the appearances of an attorney general protecting the presi dent,” charged Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. Reno bristled at the suggestion she was hiding behind legal techni calities: “I’m not hiding... I’m trying to do my duty. “I will make the decisions based on the evidence and the law, and not on newspaper headlines, newspaper editorials, polls or threats,” she said. Freeh, who watched for hours as Reno was grilled, addressed his own widely publicized disagreement with Reno. Freeh had advocated naming an independent counsel, but he told lawmakers that did “not imply that I believe any particular person has committed a crime.” Freeh refused to say the basis for his decision. Freeh denied his disagreement had created any rift with Reno, who reject ed his advice last week. Hedid not deny that concern that Reno may have a con flict of interest in investigating her boss, President Clinton, was among his rea sons for advocating appointment of an independent counsel. “That I made a recommendation different from the ultimate outcome in this instance does not mean there is a professional rift between us,” he said. Though Republicans refused to allow Reno and Freeh to testify together, the two law enforcement officers flashed solidarity by jointly refusing to give the House panel a copy of Freeh’s memo outlining his disagreements with her. Both said they did not want; tcj compromise the investigation by dis closing crucial evidence or investiga tive strategies. ’• ^ Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said he was ready to vote to cite Reno for contempt of Congress for refusing to honor the committee’s subpoena for Freeh’s memorandum. Reno respond ed with evident exasperation, “What do you want? All the details of the investigation? “I wish I could sit down and say, ‘This is what we are doing,”’ she added. “But laying out for people what you’re going to do in an investi gation is the .dumbest thing you can do” because it tips off the targets. She repeated over and over that the inde pendent counsel decisions did not end the investigation or exonerate anyone from the broad probe under way. Reno also dismissed her disagree ment with Freeh, calling it “healthy.” “It promotes good investigative work and clear thinking about the law,” she said.