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Russia, NATO mending ties MOSCOW (AP) - After nearly a year of tension over the wars in Yugoslavia and Chechnya, Russia and NATO announced Wednesday that they are restoring their ties. “I see this as being the turning of a page of the disagreements we have and are moving forward now to a deeper and broader agenda,” NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said after meeting with acting President Vladimir Putin and other top officials. Over the past year, Russia had all but cut its ties with .NATO and shut down work on the Permanent Joint Council - where the sides consult on matters of mutual interest - in response to NATO’s bombing cam paign in Yugoslavia last year. During that time, NATO has con demned the war in Chechnya. Tension also was aggravated by Russia’s adop tion of a new national security doc trine broadening the circumstances under which it could envision using nuclear weapons. Russia also remains unhappy about NATO’s eastward expansion and opposes the drive of the former Soviet Baltic republics to become members of the Western alliance. , Robertson noted that disagree ments remain, saying at a news con ference with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov that the resumption of relations meant, “We’ve moved from permafrost to slightly softer ground.” Ivanov said the sides viewed each other as important strategic partners for providing security in Europe and the world as a whole. The current aim of Russia and NATO “is to restore trust and define spheres of interaction where we can cooperate effectively in the interests of stability and security,” he said. By agreeing to restore relations with NATO, Putin is sending a mes sage that he is not anti-Western, according to Dmitry Trenin, a defense analyst at the Carnegie Institute for {{ We understand why Russia acted in Chechnya, but we have strongly disagreed with what Russia did about that in Chechnya.” Dmitry Trenin defense analyst International Peace in Moscow. “Putin wants to reach out to the West, and NATO has been knocking at his door for some time,” Trenin said. “This is a piece of political currency he can use, and he doesn’t have to fear a nationalist backlash at home” by being seen as a liberal lacking the will to pursue the war in Chechnya. Robertson said NATO’s stance on Chechnya had not changed, though it understood the problems Russia faced in the breakaway republic. “We understand why Russia acted in Chechnya, but we have strongly dis agreed with what Russia did about that in Chechnya,” Robertson said. “The Russian side today robustly answered the points I made... in what was quite a strong exchange of views.” Demonstrating thaf it was not bowing to NATO, Russia on Wednesday dispatched a reconnais sance vessel to watch alliance vessels in the Persian Gulf. A Russian tanker was recently detained in the Gulf for allegedly violating the international trade embargo against Iraq. Irish faction talks yield no answers LONDON (AP) - The British and Irish governments, seeking to extricate Northern Ireland’s peace process from a deepening crisis, failed Wednesday to narrow the divisions between key par ties in the province’s suspended Protestant-Catholic administration. As they departed British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s London resi dence, the rival leaders of the Ulster _ Unionist Party and Sinn Fein traded angry accusations over Britain’s deci sion last week to strip authority from the Belfast power-sharing Cabinet. “We’ve come such a long way, I simply cannot believe that we are going to let this chance slip away,” Blair said. Northern Ireland’s four-party coali tion took shape just two months ago in fulfillment of the 2-year-old Good Friday peace accord. After Wednesday’s deadlocked talks, it looked unlikely to return to power soon. Sinn Fein, which is linked to the Irish Republican Army, emphasized the IRA would make no disarmament commitments, as the governments demand, until Sinn Fein regained its two posts within the 12-member Cabinet. “At the moment, the Good Friday agreement is lying in a wastepaper bin,” said Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, a former IRA comman der who was the Cabinet’s minister for education until Britain resumed direct control Friday. “The British govern ment needs to get it back out, put it back together again and get serious about the process of conflict resolu tion.” But Ulster Unionist Chief David Trimble, the Protestant who agreed to form the administration in expectation that the IRA would disarm in response, said his supporters wouldn’t stomach resumed power-sharing with Sinn Fein until the IRA made a firm commit ment. The Good Friday accord anticipat ed the IRA’s total disarmament, along with that of pro-British paramilitary groups, by May. The IRA, which is 31 months into a cease-fire, has never promised it would gradually scrap its stockpiled weapons in cooperation with the province’s inde pendent disarmament commission. And the IRA retaliated Tuesday for Britain’s resumption of direct rule by breaking off talks with the commission and withdrawing a vague proposal hinting at the outlawed group’s eventu al disarmament. But Trimble emphasized the IRA’s withdrawn plan - which suggested the group’s hidden arsenal could be “placed beyond use” following unspecified political progress - was nowhere near what Ulster Unionists required. “We’re not interested in cobbling together formulae of words, which allow the process to stagger on for another week or two,” he said. r % $ % Wim .:??. |p ar- '^P ^*KK JfeqgjS*'---1 Hi Alt tfc Vs w v.v.'. .•av v'«aagla &i * -1.1 ».!is.-.BItl]I»i jjf| Snow Snow showers high 34, low 24 high 29, low 15 - Mark Wil^nn/Npwsmiitpr^ ATTORNEY GENERAL Janet Reno, left, and FBI director Louis Freeh testify on Capitol Hill about the recent problems with Internet hackers in Washington, O.C., on Wednesday. Officials cite leads in finding hackers « RICO was intended to get gangsters. Now, it’s getting a bunch of kids in black concert T-shirts.” Jennifer Granick defense attorney Net^raskan Question? Comments? Ask for the appropriate section editor at (402) 472-2588 or e-mail dndunl.edu. Fax number: (402) 472-1761 _ World Wide Web: www.dailyneb.com The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Nebraska Union 20,1400 R St.. Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday dunng the academic year, weeW^durincj the summer sessions.The public nas access Readers are encouraged to submit story ideasand comments to the Daily Nebraskan ALL MATfeHIAL COPYRIGHT 2000 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN t .i. ■ . . ■■ — ' ■ ■ Editor: Josh Funk Managing Editor: Lindsay Young Associate News Editor: Diane Broderick Associate News Editor: Dane Stickney Opinion Editor: JJ. Harder Sports Editor: Sam McKewon A&E Editor: Sarah Baker Copy Desk Co-Chief: Jen Walker Copy Desk Co-Chief: Josh Krauter Photo Chief: Mike Warren Design Co-Chief: Tim Karstcns Design Co-Chief: Diane Broderick Art Director: Melanie Falk Web Editor: Gregg Steams # Asst. Web Editor: Jewel Mlnarik 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 Cl&ssifield Ad Manager: Nichole Lake WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation’s top law enforcement officials acknowledged on Wednesday serious challenges finding the electronic vandals who shut down major Internet sites last week, but they also described “fast developing leads.” “I would simply say that we are tak ing the attacks very seriously and that we will simply do everything in our power to identify those responsible and bring them to justice,” Reno told a Senate panel. FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, who also testified, said there were “fast-devel oping leads as we speak, and hopefully we can provide more details in coming days.” The FBI urged Congress on Wednesday to consider expanding use of federal racketeering “RICO” laws - tra ditionally used against the mafia and drug cartels - to apply against organized and persistent hackers. It also urged Congress to lower the $5,000 minimum in damages that victim companies must suffer before attackers can be prosecut ed under federal computer crime laws. Freeh said lawmakers should con sider “whether some of this activity, which goes beyond a single episode of fraud or hacking, gets into the realm of enterprise criminal activity.” “RICO was intended to get gang sters,” said Jennifer Granick, a California lawyer who has represented hackers. “Now, it’s getting a bunch of kids in black concert T-shirts.” The testimony from Reno and Freeh followed President Clinton’s meeting Tuesday with technology experts about ways to improve Internet security. —--~— ■Russia Russian warplanes fire at rebel bases ALKHAZUROVO, Russia (AP) -The foothills of southern Chechnya shook with explosions Wednesday as Russian artillery fired shells around the clock into the mountains where thousands of rebels have strongholds. Warplanes roared over Alkhazurovo and other foothill vil lages as they headed on combat mis sions into the mountains. The air and artillery attacks aimed at softening rebel positions ahead of a planned full-scale drive into the mountains that Russia claims will be its decisive assault on rebels. After a rebel exodus this month from the republic’s capital, Grozny, fighting increasingly has focused on the southern mountains. Most of the rebels who survived the flight from Grozny are believed to have joined comrades; Russian officials estimate that up to 8,000 rebels are based in the mountains. ■ Washington, D.C. Clinton rejects national moratorium on death penalty WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton rejected calls for a national moratorium on capital punishment Wednesday but urged the nation’s governors to “look very closely” at their death-penalty systems to make sure innocent people are not executed. He said it was courageous of Illinois Gov. George Ryan to impose a freeze on executions after the exoner ation of 13 death-row inmates in his state over two decades. Clinton said deat- penalty sup porters - including himself - have “an especially heavy obligation” to make sure there is no question of guilt for condemned prisoners. ■ Germany Scandal forces conservative party chairman out of office BERLIN (AP) - Helmut Kohl’s hand-picked heir as chief of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union fell victim Wednesday to the financial scandal that has devastated the party since the former chancellor admitted hiding illegal donations while in office. Wolfgang Schaeuble, the party chairman and parliamentary faction leader, was forced out in a putsch by fellow conservatives convinced that only a dramatic break with the old leadership would save the party from self-destructing - especially with two important state elections coming up soon. “The CDU’s crisis must not be allowed to become a crisis for democ racy,” Schaeuble said in announcing his decision to relinquish both posts. “This goal overrides all others.” ■ Lexington UNI professor found not guilty of first-degree sexual assault LEXINGTON (AP) - A jury on Wednesday found an assistant profes sor of agronomy at the University of Nebraska not guilty of raping a woman he met on the Internet. John Lindquist, 34, of Lincoln, was charged with first-degree sexual assault in a July encounter that took place at a wildlife area near Overton. The encounter was arranged through an Internet chat room conversation. The 18-year-old woman, from Perry, Okla., testified Tuesday that Lindquist forced her to have sex with him. Defense attorney Toney Redman of Lincoln said the two had sex, but it was consensual.