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WASHINGTON (AP) - Offering its [first defense in the Senate impeachment trial, the White House argued Monday that the charges against President Clinton should be dismissed because they “do not rise to the levetof high crimes and misde meanors.” The president’s lawyers, however, won’t force a vote on dis missal at the outset of the trial, offi cials said. In a 13-page response to the trial summons Clinton received last week, White House lawyers argued that the impeachment articles accusing the president of perjury before a grand jury and obstruction of justice don’t “meet the constitutional standard” and are “too vague to permit conviction and removal.” The president “denies each and every” allegation in the impeachment articles, which were approved by the House in a historic vote last month and stem from Clinton’s effort to con ceal his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. “The charges in the articles do not rise to the level of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ as contemplated by the Founding Fathers, and they do not satisfy the rigorous constitutional standard applied throughout our nation’s history,” the lawyers argued. “Accordingly, the articles of impeach ment should be dismissed.” While striking an aggressive tone in the document, the lawyers have decided not to make any motion before the trial starts, including one requesting dismissal of the charges, said White H#use spokesman Joe Lockhart. That is in deference to Democratic lawmakers’ wishes to begin the proceeding in bipartisan fashion. “We respect the prerogative of the Senate to set the rules, and we will wait until the time that they have des ignated to deal with any motions we might file,” Lockhart said. White House officials said it was likely the president’s lawyers, or a Senate Democratic ally, would make a motion to dismiss the chaiges after the opening presentations. House prosecutors, who are slated to open the trial Thursday, met in small groups Monday to hone their presen tation. They had until day’s end to decide if they wanted to file any pre trial motions. House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde, the lead prosecutor, said the 13 Republicans were going over their statement to make sure it was “coher ent and comprehensive.” Hyde, who plans to begin the pros ecutors’ opening arguments, said this was “not the time to get angry with the Senate” over its decision to delay the demand for witnesses. He predicted the Senate would be in a “more gener ous mood” to allow witnesses after the presentations but added the prosecu tors “wouldn’t want to hang our hat just on the question of witnesses.” Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., said he will follow Hyde with an opening statement that “will be action-packed” and take less than an hour. Other prosecutors will speak to the Senate on legal issues and the evi dence. Weapons inspector vows return to Iraq Butler: U.N. agency may be less intrusive WASHINGTON (AP) - Chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler declared Monday his agency is “not dead” and will return to Iraq, possibly as a less intrusive monitoring system. “We’ll be back under this new dis pensation,” said Butler, noting it may take months for the U.N. Security Council and member states to approve such a plan and work out the details. Iraq stopped cooperating with the U.N. Special Commission, or UNSCOM, last year, prompting the U.S.-British airstrikes Dec. 16-19 against Iraqi weapons sites and mili tary and command centers. Since then, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has challenged other U.S. and U.N. controls, including “no fly” zones Western planes patrol over northern and southern Iraq. In the latest U.S.-Iraq confronta tion, U.S. Air Force planes fired mis siles at two Iraqi air defense installa tions in separate incidents Monday after determining they were about to be attacked. The incidents happened at about the same time -10:45 a.m. Iraqi time, or 2:45 a.m. EST - near the city of Mosul. In the first case, two U.S. F 15E strike aircraft patrolling the northern “no-fly” zone were illumi nated by radar from an Iraqi surface to-air missile installation, said Army Col. Richard Bridges, a Defense Department spokesman. The F-15Es fired two AGM-130 air-to-surface missiles in response. In the other case, a U.S. F-16 fired one anti-radar missile after being tar geted by Iraqi radar at a separate air defense installation. None of the U.S. planes came under Iraqi fire, Bridges said. It was the fifth *no-fly” clash involving missiles since Dec. 28. President Clinton has vowed to continue patrolling the “no-fly” zones as part of a strategy of keeping Saddam contained. The Clinton administration also backs maintaining robust U.N. weapons inspections, although U.S. officials haven’t ruled out a revamped UNSCOM. State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said U.N. resolutions requiring disarmament of Iraq before monitoring can begin “can’t be leapfrogged.” But he added, “We have always been open to ideas to improve the professionalism, the competence and the effectiveness of the U.N. Special Commission’s regime and we will continue to be willing to discuss any such ideas with our partners in the Security Council.” 9 r Editor: Erin Gibson Questions? Comments? Managing Editor: Brad Davis Ask for the appropriate section editor at Associate News Editor: Sarah Baker (4021172 Associate News Editor: Bryce Glenn - or e-mail dnO.unl.edu. Assignment Editor: Lindsay Young Opinion Editor: Cliff Hicks Sports Editor: Sam McKewon General Manager: Dan Shattil A&E Editor: Bret Schulte Publications Board Jessica Hofmann, Copy Desk Chief: TashaKelter Chairwoman: (402)466-8404 Asst. Copy Desk Cheif: Heidi White Professional Adviser: Don Walton, Photo Co-Chief: Matt Miller (402) 473-7248 Photo Co-Chief: Lane Hickenbottom Advertising Manager: NickPartsch, Design Chief: Nancy Christensen (402) 472-2589 Art Director: Matt Haney Asst Ad Manager: Andrea Oeltjen Web Editor: Gregg Steams Classifield Ad Manager: Mary Johnson Asst. Web Editor: Amy Burke Fax number: (402) 472-1761 World Wide Web: www.unl.edu/DailyNeb The Daily Nebraskan (USPS144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday duming the academic year; 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 Dally Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St., , Lincoln NE 685800448. Periodical postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1999 r THE DAILY NEBRASKAN ■ ■ I v.- ' Assassins kill aide to top Albanian leader PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - An aide to Kosovo’s top ethnic Albanian leader was assassinated outside his home Monday, hours after hard-line Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic set a deadline for rebels hold ing eight Yugoslav soldiers hostage. The shooting of Enver Maloku worsened the already explosive atmos phere in Kosovo, where the guerrillas are fighting for die Albanian-majority province’s independence from Serbia, the main republic in Yugoslavia. A European official who met with Milosevic on Monday said the Yugoslav leader has set a deadline for die release of the soldiers, who were seized Friday after their convoy strayed into rebel held territory. Knut Vollebaek, the Norwegian for eign minister who heads the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, warned that Kosovo will explode into bloodshed unless the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army releases the soldiers immediately. “There is very litde time left, and we have to see an immediate release of die hostages if we should avoid a major conflict,” Vollebaek said in Belgrade. He did not specify the time limit for Milosevic’s deadline. . The OSCE said die captive soldiers were being treated well in a heated building near Stari Trg, a coal-mining u “There is very little time left, and we have tp see an immediate release of the hostages if we should avoid a major conflict.” KnutVolleraek Norwegian foreign minister village 30 miles northwest of Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. Maloku, the head of the Kosovo Information Center, was shot Monday afternoon in front of his home in Pristina, and OSCE officials said he was pronounced dead shortly afterward Initial reports said Maloku was tar geted by a sniper, but the sources later said he was hit by semi-automatic gun fire from three assassins as he was about to leave his car. Maloku had escaped an earlier assassination attempt in November. He is a close associate of Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova, a moderate who has been at odds with the rebel KLA. Wyoming patrol officer shot; two Lincoln men arrested \ - * ' V' - DOUGLAS, Wyo. (AP) - Two Lincoln men were arrested after a Wyoming Highway Patrol officer was shot in the face following a routine traffic stop Monday, authorities said The officer is expected to survive. Arrested after a 90-minute chase were the driver, Michael Bilderback Jr., 22, and Shawn Wimberly, 20. Both have criminal records, authorities said. The patrolman, Howard Parkin, 28, underwent surgery to remove a bullet that lodged near his skull. “The doctor says there should not be any lasting problems, but he might have some nerve damage,” said Capt. Ken Galbraith, support services offi cer for the Wyoming Highway Patrol. The bullet, fired from a .25-cal iber automatic pistol, entered near the left side of Parkin’s mouth and “tracked just inside his flesh, tracing right along the skull from his mouth toward his ear,” said Galbraith. A gun of that caliber was recovered, he said. Parkin had stopped a 1991 Ford Explorer for speeding on Interstate 25 near Douglas around 8 a.m., and was shot before a dispatcher could tell him the vehicle had been stolen in Columbus on Friday. Although seriously wounded, Parkin “returned fire and may have hit a mirror on the vehicle,” according to Garth Oldham, Wyoming Department of Transportation spokesman. As vehicle sped away, Parkin called for help. He was taken to Converse County Memorial Hospital as the chase was continuing.. The suspects were apprehended near the small community of Bill by Converse County Sheriff John Bey without any more shots being fired. ■England LONDON (AP) - The House of Lords appointed a new panel of senior judges Monday to hear Gen. Augusta Pinochet’s appeal against his arrest for crimes against humanity. The hearing, scheduled to start Monday, marks the former Chilean dictator’s second appeal. In an unprecedented move, the House of Lords last month set aside a ruling that denied immunity to Pinochet because one of the judges failed to disclose his ties with Amnesty International. ■ Israel JERUSALEM (AP) - Despite the urges ofYasser Arafat’s visitors not to declare an independent Palestinian state on May 4, fearing it will spark violence and hurt chances for real independence, Arafat is not saying what he will do. In response to the most recent appeals by Rep. Tom Lantos, D Calif., and Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, the Palestinian leader simply said Monday that May 4 is a spedal occa sion that needs to be marked. > ■ Colombia SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN (AP) - President Andres Pastrana’s government presented a 10-point agenda Monday during peace talks with leftist rebels. The plan called (or a cease-fire and a halt to kidnappings. The armed groups should stop targeting noncombatants as negotia tions proceed, Victor G. Ricardo, the government peace commissioner, told reporters. ■South Africa JOHANNESBURG (AP)-The ' South African policemen who killed anti-apartheid leader .Steve Biko might be tried for murder, a top pros ecutor said Monday. The trial would be a landmark event in South Africa, whose post apartheid government created a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to expose apartheid’s horrors and offer amnesty to those who fully confessed to politically motivated abuses. ■Japan TOKYO (AP) - Inching closer to forming a coalition government, Japan’s ruling party Monday accept ed an opposition demand to stop unelected bureaucrats from speaking on behalf of Cabinet ministers. The deal between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Liberal Party will allow ministry bureaucrats to speak in Parliament only when specifically requested to do so, Liberal Party offi cial Takeji Kono said. ■Haiti PORT-AU-PRINCE (AP) - Demonstrators set fire to tire barri cades Monday and threw stones at buses in Haiti’s capital, demanding that the president carry out a threat to dissolve parliament. A power struggle between President Rene Preval and lawmak ers has blocked the appointment of a new prime minister for more than a year and a half. Last week, Preval said he would fire the legislators if they didn’t approve his fourth nomi nee, Jacques-Edouard Alexis, by Monday.
