News Digest
/jr
House limits Clinton’s power
■ A divided House voted to require that the
president obtain congressional approval
before sending ground troops into Kosovo.
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a challenge to President Clinton
over Kosovo, a divided House voted Wednesday to limit his
authority to use ground forces in Yugoslavia despite his appeal for
the nation to speak “with a single voice.”
The Republican-sponsored measure, approved 249 to 180,
would require Clinton to obtain congressional approval before
sending “ground elements” to Kosovo or other parts ofYugoslavia.
Clinton told lawmakers he still considers a ground campaign
unnecessary - but promised to seek congressional approval if he
changes his mind.
Even as Congress debated limiting the war, the Pentagon
announced the Air Force had alerted B-52 crews in the United
States to be prepared for the possible deployment of 10 additional
bombers to Europe to join the NATO air campaign.
They would be among nearly 300 additional aircraft - mostly
fighters, refuelers and other support planes - that NATO comman
ders have requested in order to accelerate the bombing of
Yugoslavia.
Suggesting the House-passed legislation was a veto candidate,
Democratic leaders said the “ground elements” wording was so
vague it could even apply to forces already in the region, or to the
use of U.S. Apache helicopters in Albania.
Republicans said the measure was intended only to apply to
ground combat missions.
“We should not even be in the Balkans,” said Rep. Floyd
Spence, R-S.C., chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
“The national security of this country is not at stake.”
The Senate has not acted yet on the measure, although it voted
last month to support the airstrikes.
Meanwhile, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman
Jesse Helms, R-N.C., scheduled a hearing before his panel for
today to vote on a measure by a bipartisan group of senators led by
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to authorize Clinton to use “all means
necessary,” including ground troops, to prosecute the war.
At a White House meeting shortly before the House vote, law
makers said Clinton told them he would seek congressional
approval if he decides a ground campaign is needed.
“I can assure you that I would fully consult with the Congress,”
he later told House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., in a letter.
Republican leaders said they wanted to hold him to his word -
and fulfill their constitutional responsibility for warmaking.
But Democrats said the vote, during the first extended debate
on the crisis since the NATO bombing campaign began on March
24, interfered with Clinton’s role as commander in chief and would
send a message of mixed U.S. resolve.
Milosevic fires deputy premier
who criticized Yugoslav policies
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) - A
deputy premier who dared criticize
Slobodan Milosevic was fired Wednesday
in what NATO said was a sign of growing
dissent in Yugoslavia over the Kosovo cri
sis.
Vuk Draskovic, a former Yugoslav
opposition leader who in recent days
denounced the Milosevic government and
even Milosevic’s politically powerful wife,
was dismissed because of “public state
ments which were contrary to the govern
ment stands,” the Tanjug state news agency
said.
Speaking after his ouster, the 52-year
old Draskovic said: “I don’t know what
precipitated my removal. I haven’t spoken
to Milosevic.”
The firing came the same day that
NATO said it was seeing signs of serious
discontent inside Yugoslavia.
Draskovic had said the Yugoslav lead
ership should stop lying to its people about
the situation in the country after weeks of
bombings and recognize “we cannot defeat
NATO.”
Draskovic, however, is the only official
who has spoken out against the regime dur
ing the airstrikes, and his firing cast doubts
about any significant weakening in the
government.
NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said “it
does President Milosevic a dishonor that
once again he reacts to any criticism or any
opposing views by immediately firing
those who are connected with these opin
ions.”
Brave voices such as Draskovic’s are
starting to speak out against Milosevic’s
policies, publicly blaming Belgrade for the
NATO attacks and calling for political
change, Shea said without elaborating.
But Draskovic, a maverick who joined
the government only in January, sounded a
it
I don 11 know what
precipitated my
removal. I haven’t
spoken to Milosevic.”
Vuk Draskovic
former Yugoslav opposition leader
nationalistic tone after his dismissal and
denied any rift.
“Maybe some people in the West
believed that I could be the man of tomor
row with whom NATO could cooperate,”
he said.
“No! NATO is the aggressor.... We are
victims of this blind revenge against a
whole nation.”
The latest exodus of ethnic Albanian
refugees from Kosovo, meanwhile, has left
overcrowded camps “on the verge of riot
ing,” a spokesman for the U,N. refugee
agency said.
Tent cities in northern Macedonia are
heavily overcrowded, facing unrest as well
as disease outbreaks, said Kris Janowski of
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees,
said.
More than 4,000 Kosovo refugees
crossed into Macedonia, telling of a height
ened Serb campaign to flush them from the
province.
“We may be seeing some sort of final
push here,” said Ron Redmond of the U.N.
refugee agency.
Over the past 24 hours, 4,000 refugees
also entered Albania, where at least
350,000 of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians on
the run have taken refuge.
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Three teens cleared in shooting
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) - Three teen
agers detained outside Columbine High
School during last week’s massacre have
been cleared as suspects in the investiga
tion, a sheriff’s spokesman said
Wednesday.
Investigators also said that the 18
year-old girlfriend of one of the gunmen
bought three of the weapons used in the
April 20 attack that left 15 dead. Sheriff’s
spokesman Steve Davis said the young
woman bought two shotguns and a semi
automatic rifle.
On Tuesday, Sheriff John Stone told
The Associated Press that the three
young men who were taken into custody
in combat fatigues were “subjects of our
investigation.” Davis said Wednesday,
however, that they have been questioned
at least twice and are not considered sus
pects.
“These three people ... have now
been cleared,” Davis said. He added that
Stone had outdated information when he
made his comments to the AP.
Meanwhile, a Marine Corps
spokesman said Wednesday that 18
year-old gunman Eric Harris had tried to
enlist but was told by a recruiter visiting
his home on April 15 that he had been
rejected for a medical reason.
The Marines refused to discuss the
medical reason, but a Harris family
friend, Victor Good, told The New York
Times that the teen had been taking psy
chiatric medication - a potentially dis
qualifying factor - and seeing a psychia
trist.
The sheriff for the first time laid out a
timeline for the attack at the Littleton
school. He also said a school surveil
lance camera filmed the bloody scene in
the cafeteria, where no one died but
wounded students were found strewn
about the floor.
Harris and Dylan Klebold, 17, killed
12 classmates and a teacher before turn
ing their guns on themselves. In a field
outside, three young men in dark jackets
and combat-style boots were stopped by
sheriff’s deputies as TV cameras broad
cast the scene nationwide. They were
frisked and taken off for interrogation.
They carried no weapons.
Stone said he has questioned for days
whether the gunmen acted alone.
“There’s too much stuff in there,” he
said. “You can’t walk in there blazing
with more stuff than you can carry.”
The three young men, who Stone
said knew the gunmen and had previous
ly been associated with their “Trenchcoat
Mafia,” have maintained their inno
cence. Investigators tested them for gun
residue after the shootings and found no
evidence that they had fired guns.
All three claimed to have heard of the
slayings on the radio - and were able to
name the gunmen - before the names
had been released, Stone said. He said
one had been expelled from Columbine
High.
One killed in
Alberta, Canada
school shooting
TABER, Alberta (AP) -
One student was killed and
another wounded Wednesday
when a gunman opened fire at a
high school in the Canadian
province of Alberta.
Other students said the
shooter carried a .22-caliber
rifle and identified him as a for
mer student at the school.
A police spokeswoman
confirmed two boys were shot
at W.R. Myers High School in
Taber but gave no details.
Mark Gregory, a
spokesman with the Lethbridge
Regional Hospital, said one of
the victims was dead and the
other was in surgery.
A secretary at the school
said one person was in custody
after the shooting, which
occurred around the lunch
hour.
Taber is a farming commu
nity about 185 miles southeast
of Calgary, 50 miles north of
the U.S. border.
I Wortiimmtwn 1
DATELINES ]
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■ Washington, D.C.
Percentage of traffic deaths
blamed on alcohol is down
The Associated Press - The pro
portion of traffic deaths blamed on
alcohol use has fallen from 57 per
cent to 39 percent since the states
started cracking down on drunken
driving in the early 1980s, according
to a government-sponsored study
released Wednesday.
The study covers 1982 through
1997. Over that same span, the per
centage of the United States popula
tion living under a. 10 blood-alcohol
drunken driving limit has increased
from 32 percent to 98 percent.
■ Washington, D.C.
Amendment banning flag
desecration may fly high
The Associated Press - A consti
tutional amendment banning flag
desecration appears to have its best
chance of passage in years, thanks to
a change in Senate membership and
second thoughts by some lawmakers
opposed in the past.
Activists predict one to three
votes could determine the outcome.
The proposal fell three votes short in
1995.
■Texas
Dragging death trial
moved out of Texas town
JASPER (AP) - The judge in the
second trial over the dragging death
of a black man agreed Wednesday to
move the case out of Jasper after the
defense argued the town may be
inclined to convict the white defen
dant to salvage its image.
Where Lawrence Russell
Brewer will be tried won’t be made
public until May 14. Judge Monte
Lawlis said jury selection may not
begin until July.
Brewer, 32, is one of three white
men accused of chaining James
Byrd Jr. to a pickup truck last June
and dragging him to death.
■ Illinois
Man kills bicyclist
in attack of road rage
CHICAGO (AP) - A man was
charged with killing a bicyclist by
running him over in a sport utility
vehicle in a fit of road rage.
Camell Fitzpatrick, 28, surren
dered to police and was being held
Wednesday on $200,000 bond. He is
charged with murder for the inci
dent.
Witnesses told police that
Fitzpatrick cut off the cyclist,
Thomas McBride, 28, and then
McBride pounded on the side of
Fitzpatrick’s vehicle with his fist.
■ Cambodia
Khmer Rouge official
resurfaces regretful
PHNOM PENH (AP) - Long
presumed dead, the secret police
chief who directed a notorious tor
ture center for the Khmer Rouge has
resurfaced, a convert from commu
nism to Christianity who was living
freely in western Cambodia.
The man known as Duch (pro
nounced dookh), told reporters he
was deeply sorry for his actions and
willing to face justice, the Far
Eastern Economic Review reported.
Freelance photographer Nic Dunlop
discovered Duch by chance in west
ern Cambodia.
