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Monday, September 13,1999 Page 2 U.N. to aid devastated Indonesia JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Under intense international pressure, Indonesia announced Sunday it would allow an international peacekeep ing force to restore order to the devastated territory of East Timor. It was unclear what type of force would be sent to the territory, and how soon it would arrive. Until now, Jakarta - and particularly its hard line military - had defiantly refused to permit out side forces into the former Portuguese colony, insisting as late as Saturday night that it could quell the violence itself. That stance crumpled under pressure from gov ernments around the world horrified by the slaugh ter sweeping East Timor. In a national television address, President B.J. Habibie said he wanted to end the crisis that began Aug. 30, when East Timor voted to become inde pendent from Indonesia. That kicked off rampages by pro-Indonesian militias and Indonesian troops that have killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of East Timorese. “Too many people have lost their lives since the beginning of die unrest - lost their homes and secu rity. We can wait no longer. We have to stop the suf fering and the mourning immediately,” Habibie said. Indonesia’s troops had tried to stop the violence, but had been affected by psychological problems in dealing with a “very complex problem,” he said. Global leaders applauded the decision, which came a day after 50 U.N. ambassadors condemned Indonesia for letting East Timor slide into anarchy. “This is a very positive development and repre sents a stepping back from the brink for Indonesia,” said Sandy Berger, the U.S. national security advis er.i Indonesia has not made clear whether it wants an official U.N. peacekeeping force, or whether it wduld accept an international force sent to East Timor with the. blessing of the U.N. Security Council. Recruiting and deploying a U.N. peacekeeping force usually takes several months, but an interna tional force could deploy as soon as the Security Council gives the authorization. The force is expectedto include soldiers from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, France, Thailand and the Philippines. In addition, Canada said Sunday it will send between 500 and 600 troops. The United States has offered mainly logis tical support. Habibie made his announcement Sunday after he talked by telephone with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He said he would immediately dis patch Foreign Minister Ali Alatas to the United Nations to work out the details of the peacekeeping force. Alatas was to arrive today. Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 as it was gaining independence from Portugal. Indonesia has We can wait no longer. We have to stop the suffering and the mourning immediatelyf B^F. Habibie Indonesian president ' ' - • ? been accused ofhuman rights abusesin suppressing independence efforts since th?n. Habibie agreed in May to allow a U.N.-super vised vote on independence in the territory. However, the recent bloodshed started after 78.5 percent of East Timorese voted to break away from Indonesia in the ballot. Aid agencies estimate that between 600 and 7,000 people have been killed and as many as 300,000 have fled their homes. A priority for the peacekeepers wilLbe the dis armament of anti-independence militias and sepa ratist guerrillas. It threatens to be difficult and dan gerous work. Anti-independence leaders have accused the United Nations of rigging the indepen dence vote and have threatened to shoot foreign troops. Buchanan leaning toward third party WASHINGTON (AP) - GOP presidential contender Pat Buchanan came closer Sunday to quitting the Republican race and campaign for the Reform Party’s nomination. “The door really is wide open,” Buchanan said. “We are very close to making that decision.” The (Reform Party’s Jesse Ventura, Minnesota’s governor, dis counted suggestions the party should nominate Buchanan for president. Ventura has said the party, found ed by Ross Perot, is based on conser vative economic principles, not Buchanan’s social conservatism on abortion and other issues. As recently as Friday, the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill published an interview in which the governor ruled out “a retread from another campaign or another party” as the Reform Party’s candidate. But Buchanan, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said his sis ter and campaign adviser, Bay Buchanan, is “talking... to people in j the Reform Party” for him. “We are taking a hard look at leaving the Republican nomination run and running for the Reform Party nomination,” Buchanan said. “The decision has not been made yet... but I tell you honestly we are leaning in that direction right now.” A telephone call to the party chairman-elect, Jack Gargan of Cedar Key, Fla., went unanswered Sunday. Buchanan said he is being swayed by die belief that “my party at the national level has become a Xerox copy, basically, of the Democratic Party.... I think what we have is a one-party system in Washington that is masquerading as a two-party system, and I think what we need is a real opposition party.” The idea of a third-party candida cy by Buchanan is making the Republican front-runner, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, nervous, Time magazine reported in its issue on newsstands today. It said a private poll conducted by Frank Luntz, a GOP consultant, found Buchanan would win 6 per cent of the vote in a three-way contest with Bush and Vice President A1 Gore, leader for the Democratic nomination. Two-thirds of the Buchanan vote, the poll indicated, would come from Bush supporters. Last week, Bush aides discussed “how to make Buchanan feel wanted in the GOP” and a senior Bush advis er told Time: “We’re surrounding him with love.” I ASK ror me appropriate section editor at (402) 472-2588 ore-maildn@uni.edu. during the academic year; woek^dunngj^g.sumg^^&e^KDns.The public has access Readers are encouraged to submit stor^ idep and comments to the Daily Nebraskan Postm^t|. plr^i^Sfeidffi^oln!^^0’ 14°° i ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1999 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Editor: Josh Funk Managing Editor: Sarah Baker Associate News Editor: Lindsay Young Associate News Editor: Jessica Faigen Opinion Editor: Mark Baldridge Sports Editor: Dave Wilson A&E Editor: Liza Holtmeier Copy Desk Chief: Diane Broderick Photo Chief: MattMiller Design Chief: Melanie Falk Art Director: Matt Haney Web Editor: Gregg Steams Asst. Web Editor: Jennifer Walker General Manager: Daniel Shattil Publications Board Jessica Hofmann, Chairwoman: (402)477-0527 Professional Adviser: Don Walton, (402)473-7248 Advertising Manager: Nick Partsch, (402)472-2589 Asst. Ad Manager: Jamie Yeager Classifi&l Ad Manager: Mary Johnson Probe into Waco siege broadens t ■ GOP wants to find who is responsible and works for Reno’s ouster. WASHINGTON (AP) - GOP law makers angered by the Justice Department’s failure to produce crucial documents, promised Sunday a broad er investigation of the 1993 Waco siege. Top Republicans continued to press for Attorney General Janet Reno’s ouster while the administration pledged its support Meanwhile, former Sen. John Danforth, the Missouri Republican appointed by Reno to lead the indepen dent investigation, said he would try to avoid a political inquiry. The chairman of a House Government Affairs Committee, which will review the government’s role in Waco, said Danforth will look for possible criminal activity while “we’re going to be taking a broader look.” “We need to find out who’s respon sible,” Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We don’t want people in charge of things like Waco if they’re not doing their job properly.” Danforth, appearing on five Sunday news programs, saidhis inves tigation would have a narrow focus and seek to avoid politics. Asked about lessons learned from Kenneth Starr’s investigations of the Clintons, Danforth said “this cannot be absolutely open-ended where one issue sort of morphs into another issue .” He said he would work with Congress, but “what I would like to do is to wait until the very end to issue a report and not have a running commen tary between now and then.” Last week, Reno asked Danforth to determine whether there was a Cover up and the government was involved in die killings.. The renewed criticism *of the Justice Department and Reno was prompted by the? news that an FBI report the department turned over to Congress years ago lacked one page that mentioned the use of military-style incendiary tear gas against the religious cult A department spokesman has said the key page was given to lawyers in criminal and civil cases involving Waco survivors, and the special coun sel will have to look into why it never reached Congress* Burton, in a letter to Reno made public Sunday, said the omission of the critical page “raises more questions about whether this committee was intentionally misled during the original Waco investigation.” Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, who has suggested Reno stepdbwn because of issues other than Waco, said someone must be held accountable for department missteps. “There’s so little confidence in die administration and Justice Department,” he said. But the White House remains con fident Reno can do her job, said John Podesta, President Clinton’s chief of staff. Reno was asked Sunday by Burton to provide interviews this week with three Justice officials, including attor ney James G. Touhey, Jr. Earlier this month, Touhey wrote a memo detailing his discovery that some copies of the 49-page FBI lab report, including the copy sent to Congress, did not include the last page, which mentioned the use of military rounds. in apartment explosion MOSCOW (AP) - A Chechen warlord denied Sunday that the Islamic militants he commands were responsible for an explosion that rocked a Moscow apartment building Thursday, killing scores of people. Several officials have linked the blast to fighting in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, where government troops are battling Islamic rebels who have occupied several villages. “We had nothing to do with the explosion in Moscow. We will never kill civilians. This is not our style,” Shamil Basayev, a former Chechen field commander, told The Associated Press. ✓ Central Bahamas prepares for brush with hurricane NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) - Storm-weary residents in the Bahamas braced for a brush with Hurricane Floyd as it swelled and powered up to a major storm packing 120 mph winds on Sunday. Forecasters said the hurricane would approach the central Bahamas, the same area blasted by Hurricane Dennis in August. Meteorologists said the storm was unlikely to hit land before Tuesday and posed no immediate threat to the mainland United States. Still, they recommended people along the southeast coast monitor the storm’s course. ■ New Zealand Asia, Pacific leaders ask when millennium will begin AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) - Asian and Pacific heads of state began their first full session of meet ings Sunday by tackling a profound philosophical question: when to cele brate the new millennium. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart, briefing reporters after ward, said a lively discussion ensued over whether the celebration should come on Jan. 1,2000-or a year later. Calendar purists contend that the 21st century does not begin until Jan. 1,2001. But politicians are seldom known for embracing purism. “After some discussion, I think the leaders came to the conclusion that since their public, td which they all like to be attuned, will be celebrating in 2000, they will start celebrating in 2000,” Lockhart said. - • -• - ■ ^ Explosion leaves at least five dead, dozens missing MOSCOW (AP) - An explosion 4estroyed an apartment building early today in Moscow, killing at least five people and leaving dozens of residents missing and unaccount ed for. The pre-dawn blast wrecked an eight-story apartment building in the southern district of Moscow, just four days after an explosion shattered a similar building in the Russian capi tal. The blasts were in areas about four miles apart. Police said at least five people, four adults and a child, were killed in the blast, which they suspected was caused by a bomb. The Interfax News Agency said eight bodies had been pulled from the wreckage.