EBER 11, 1998__
Sniper, police officer
shot, killed in St Joseph
$T. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) - A
sniper opened fire downtown
Tuesday night, killing a police officer
and wounding at least three others
before authorities fatally shot the
gunman.
Witnesses told police the man
began firing while walking up the
street, shooting randomly at people
as he walked toward the Calvary
Baptist Church, Lt. Jim Connors
said.
The first officer to respond to the
scene was shot as soon as he got out
of his car, authorities said.
The officer was pronounced dead
* soon after he arrived at Heartland
Regional Medical Center, hospital
spokeswoman Kelly Stuck said. One
bystander was in stable condition,
and another was in surgery Tuesday
night, Stuck said.
The sniper was shot and killed by
police at the scene, Connors said.
Connors said police shot the gun
tnan after cornering him behind the
churc^i. The gunman had continued
firing at them, he said.
Michael Boone, a grocery store
night manager, said he saw the sniper
walking toward his store.
“We just heard all kinds ofgun
■ fire, and people were running inside
* the store for cover,” Boone said. ‘*We
' tried to move them all into the back
where there could be safe, but people
were really scared.
“There were a lot of bodies lying ,
in the street ”
Vietnam Memorial wall
to appear on Internet site
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
58,196 names etched on the Vietnam
Memorial wall will be posted on the
Internet together with the spoken
memories of their families, Vice
f President A1 Gore said Tuesday.
{ Users will be able to visit the Web
site, http://www. thevirtualwall. org,
click on a deceased veteran’s name
and in many cases hear audio remem
brances from family members or
friends.
In January, Web site visitors will
be able to experience a “virtual wall,”
a recreation of the look of the
Vietnam Memorial wall at its loca
tion near the national mall.
More warships sent to Persian Gulf
■ Defense Secretary
Cohen warns that Iraq
has been put on notice.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
* Pentagon stepped up the movement
of warships to the Persian Gulf on
Tuesday, and the Clinton administra
tion swept aside the idea of negotia
tions with Iraq over U.N. weapons
inspections.
Defense Secretary William
Cohen warned that if Saddam
Hussein continues to refuse the U.N.
inspections, ne usks striKes tnat
would cause a “significant degrada
tion” of his military strength.
“Iraq is on notice,” Cohen said.
“The military option is still on the
table”
President Clinton met for 90
minutes with his top national securi
ty advisers, reviewing military and
diplomatic options. He also worked
the phones, conferring with leaders
in Britain and Israel.
State Department spokesman
James P. Rubin said there were limits
to diplomacy.
“What is not needed, and there is
no plan for it, is negotiations with
Saddam Hussein,” Rubin said. “We
have no doubt many governments
are conveying that message.”
With inspections suspended, “he
will be able ta reconstitute his
weapons in a matter of months, not
years,” hesaid.
“This cannot go on indefinitely.
Saddam Hussein is not an abstract
threat”
The latest standoff began after
Iraq announced Oct. 31 it was halt
ing cooperation with the U.N.
Special Commission, which is
responsible for overseeing the
destruction of Iraq’s chemical and
biological weapons and long-range
missiles.
Iraq must get rid of its weapons
of mass destruction before the
Security Council will lift the sanc
tions that were imposed on its sale of
oil following the Gulf War.
uonen, speajang ai a rentagon
photo session with Singapore’s
defense minister, Tony Tan, said he
has decided to hasten the movement
of the USS Enterprise aircraft carri
er and a group of Marine warships
into the region in case the United
States chooses military action.
Asked what airstrikes might
achieve, Cohen said the goal would
be to make sure Iraq, in the absence
of U.N. inspections, was not recon
stituting its weaponry.
“We’d consider the possibility of
degrading his capability of manu
facturing the weapons of mass
destruction, or the means of deliver
ing them, of posing a threat to the
region.... It would be a significant
degradation of his capacity,” Cohen
said, adding that he hoped it would
not be necessary to take such steps.
At present, there are 23,500 U.S.
troops, 23 ships and 173 aircraft in
the Gulf region. Eight of the ships
are loaded with long-range
Tomahawk cruise missiles, believed
to be a top choice for hitting poten
tial Iraqi targets, should a strike be
ordered.
■ _ .{
: VrX' j
Iraq hopes for support
from other Arab nations
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP)-Iraqis
reaching out for Arab support in its
dispute with U.N. weapons inspec
tors in hopes of leaving toe United
States isolated in its campaign to
rally backing for the use of force
against toe Iraqis.
Iraq’s foreign minister,
Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf,
chose an Arab television station -
Qatar's Al-Jazeera - for his first
interview on toe dispute.
Al-Sahhaf warned that “any use
of military force against Iraq would
lead to destabilizing toe region.”
In mobilizing support for Iraq,
the country’s trade minister,
Mohammed Mehdi Saleh, said
Tuesday that America “will lose
from any strike that takes place, and
Iraq will gain.”
Asked how, Saleh said “politi
cally.” It reflected Iraq’s thinking
that sympathy for toe Iraqis - espe
cially in Arab nations - would leave
the United States isolated in its
campaign against the Baghdad
regime.
Saleh made his comments at
the closing ceremony of a 10-day
trade fair in Baghdad that drew del
egations from 30 countries, 17 of
them Arab or predominantly
Muslim.
There already are hints Iraq is
prepared to go further in spite of
U.S. and British threats of military
action. i
Al-Thawra, a newspaper pub
lished by Saddam’s ruling Baath
Party, said in an editorial Monday
that “the language of threats will
make it legitimate for Iraq to review
everything concerning its relations
with UNSCOM and the Security
Council”
Western diplomats said this
implied that Iraq could reject long
term U.N. monitoring of its
weaponry or payments of war repa
rations, as required under U.N. res
olutions.
Netanyahu prepared
to ratify peace accord
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
announced Tuesday he would convene
his Cabinet to ratify the Mideast peace
accord signed in Washington last
month, indicating he is now satisfied
with Palestinian security assurances.
Netanyahu has postponed the
Cabinet debate three times, saying he
needed more clarifications from the
Palestinians about their campaign
against Islamic militants.
Last Friday, the ministers had just
begun their second day of debate
when the militant Islamic Jihad group
carried out a suicide bombing in
Jerusalem’s market, killing the two
bombers and wounding 21 Israelis. ,
In response, Netanyahu broke off
the Cabinet meeting and said he
would not reconvene the ministers
until the Palestinian Authority out
lined how it would prevent attacks
against Israelis.
On Tuesday he said new guaran
tees led him to believe that Yasser
Arafat’s Palestinian Authority would
take “practical steps” against Islamic
militants. >
The Cabinet was scheduled to
meet in Jerusalem today.
Both the United States and the
Palestinians welcomed the announce
ment
Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright had urged Netanyahu to stick
to the original 12-week timetable of
the accord under which Israel is to
withdraw from 13 percent of the West
Bank by the end of January, in
exchange for a Palestinian anti-terror
campaign.
If the Cabinet ratifies the agree
ment, Israel might still be able to meet
its first commitment Nov. 16, an ini
tial troop pullback from 2 percent of
the West Bank.
“I hope that the agreement will be
ratified tomorrow and that they will
begin to make up for lost time,” said
senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb
Erekat. He said the delays have
already held up, among other things,
the opening of the Palestinian airport
and the establishment of several com
mittees stipulated in the accord.
The Wye agreement, signed in
Washington on Oct. 23, says the
Palestine National Council and other
Palestinian organizations will meet in
mid-December to “reaffirm” a
January letter by Arafat to President
Clinton that lists the PLO charter
clauses considered annulled.
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1996
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Storm strikes Nebraska;
power out, roads blocked
The Associated Press
It was supposed to be a practice
winter storm dnll for Nebraska weather
officials Tuesday, but that was post
poned. Instead, they had to deal with the
real tiling.
The first major storm of the fall
winter season smacked Nebraska with
relatively light snow totals but with bliz
zard-force winds and subzero wind
chills. There were reports of scattered
power outages, downed trees and traffic
problems so treacherous that highways
woe closed or travel restricted on roads
from central Nebraska into the north
east
Many motonsts were stranded,
schools closed or class starts delayed,
businesses shut down, and some resi
dents woe left in the dark.
Wind chills dipped to 20 below in
northwest Nebraska early Tuesday in
Ihe aftermath of the storm that hit the
area with snow and blowing snow late
Monday afternoon.
Northeast and north-central
Nebraska received a shot Tuesday after
into ice and snow. Snowfall totals of 3 to
4 inches were reported in the Norfolk
area. Three inches fell in Brewster and 2
in Anselmo, Eustis andHyannis.
The problem, however, was the
wind.
The National Weather Service
reported winds gusting over 50 mph in
Omaha, Fremont, O’Neill, Ainsworth,
Ogallala, Cohrmbus, Tekamah, Ord and
Aurora at midmoming. O’Neill had a
gust that hit 62 mph and Tekamah offi
cials said gusts hit 61 mph there. That
left single-digit wind chills above and
below zero fiom one aid of the state to
die other
Workers at the Nebraska Public
Power District were busy Tuesday
morning repairing power lines affected
by the storm.
Betti Boesch, NPPD regional man
ager in Norfolk, said employees started
working at 2 a.m. to restore power lost
by an estimated 1,000 customers in an
18-county area.
“We.had crews responding from
Valentine all the way tell Dakota City and
Ponca,” Boesch said.
The outages, she said, were due to
strong winds and ice on power lines.
Also having an impact were leaves still
left on die trees, which made die ice
laden branches heavier and caused
some to snap, taking power lines with
them.
Les Mann of rural Wayne said he
was stuck on U.S. Highway 275 for two
hours on his drive to work at Norfolk
before he decided to turn back home.
“There was a string of cars at least
two miles tong in front of me,” he said.
“I never saw the front end of it”
Mann said he drove by at least 50
westbound vehicles that were blocked
by the incident, and he expected
Highway 215 to be blocked most of
Tuesday morning.
■ ~ •- .... •
«-—
There was a string
of cars at least
two miles long
in front of me.
I never saw the front
end of it.”
LesMann
stranded motorist
