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News Digest Page 2 Daily Nebraskan Monday, September 25,2000 Police arvest 25 for Jakarta bombing attacks ■ The U.S. Embassy is secure afterthe suspect of Jakarta's explosion is caught. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesian police announced Sunday they had arrested 25 peo ple suspected of carrying out a spate of bombings in the capital and said the next target would have been the U.S. Embassy. The suspects were implicated in attacks including a blast at the Jakarta Stock Exchange that killed 15 people,, said Brig. Gen. Dadang Garnida. One suspect, armed with a grenade, was detained on his way to attack the U.S. Embassy and a crowded department store near by, the officer said. U.S. Embassy officials declined to comment Sunday. The U.S. State Department warned last week that American companies and interests might be targeted by the bombers. Police officials said most detainees were from the north western province of Aceh, wracked by decades of bloody fighting between separatist guer rillas and Indonesian troops. All were arrested in the capital, and police were seeking more sus pects. No military or police person nel were arrested, despite specu lation that disaffected elements within the armed forces, loyal to former dictator Suharto, might have been responsible. President Abdurrahman Wahid installed a new national police chief Saturday, ordering him to take quick action to stop the attacks, which he claimed were designed to undermine his reformist 11-month-old govern ment The first suspect was arrested Saturday, police said. After his interrogation, 24 others were detained Sunday. “They are suspected of being responsible for all the bombings in Jakarta,” Garnida said. “One suspect said he was going to bomb the U.S. Embassy and Sarinah (department store) next." Among those arrested were four men believed to be the ring leaders of the bombing opera tion, said Senior Superintendent Saleh Saaf, deputy national police spokesman. “The people arrested have no links to military or police,” he said. “We suspect terrorist groups from Aceh are behind the bomb ings. Most of those caught are Acehnese.” The troubled province’s main rebel group, the Free Aceh Movement, denied any involve ment in the Jakarta bombings. “It’s impossible those arrested are our members because we have no forces in Jakarta,” said Ayah Muni, a separatist spokesman. The Free Aceh Movement has been fighting for independence from Indonesia since 1975. Although Indonesia is mostly Muslim, the rebels want to intro duce Islamic law and re-establish the feudal Sultanate of Aceh. The arrests coincided with peace talks at which rebel repre sentatives and Indonesian diplo mats in Switzerland agreed Sunday to extend a three-month truce until January and enter “exploratory talks” aimed at achieving a lasting peace. Fighting in Aceh has contin ued despite the June 2 truce. Supt. Abadan Bangko, a local police chief, said security forces killed a guerrilla fighter in a gun battle Saturday in the north of the province. Rebel spokesmen Sayed Adnan confirmed the clash, but claimed the victim was an innocent bystander. In the regional capital, Banda Aceh, a man was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Saturday, Bangko said. The series of explosions in Jakarta coincided with develop ments in a corruption case against former president Suharto, leading to speculation that they were the work of his supporters. Suharto’s family and lawyers deny the accusation. They also maintain that Suharto, 79, is too weak after three strokes to attend his trial. He went through a court ordered medical evaluation Saturday. Wahid’s replacement of the national police chief came after officers failed to carry out his order to arrest Suharto’s youngest son, Tommy, in connection with the bombings. Police cited a lack of evidence. Voting eccentricity concerns Yugoslavs THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BELGRADE, Yugoslavia - With the opposition claiming vic tory, Slobodan Milosevic was locked in a bitter election race Sunday that could spell the end of his 13 years in power, after Yugoslavs turned out in large numbers in chaotic voting. Hours after polls closed, it appeared the best that Milosevic could hope for was to head into a runoff Oct 8 against his strongest challenger, Vojislav Kostunica. Kostunica’s supporters claimed he had won outright and accused Milosevic of trying to manipulate the vote count to force a runoff “There is no doubt that we overwhelmingly won on all lev els,’” said opposition campaign manager Zoran Djindjic. On Sunday night, the state election commission suspended the official count for the night without announcing any results. Kostunica’s supporters said they would offer proof that their candidate had won the election, while political parties issued dif fering figures they said were based on their poll watchers’ reports. Milosevic’s Socialist Party claimed the president was lead ing Kostunica by about 46.87 per cent to 38.6 percent based on returns from 754 polling stations. During Sunday’s voting, monitors reported that some boxes were stuffed with Milosevic ballots, prominent opposition members were dropped from registration rolls and voters were forced to cast ballots publicly. The White House said it had “a lot of concerns about this elec tion.’” Deputy Press Secretary Nanda Chitre pointed to the monitors’ reports, saying, “These types of things show a pattern of irregularity that really brings into question the integrity of the whole process.” The United States - which has invested millions of dollars in an attempt to organize the tradition TODAY Partly cloudy high 66, low 49 TOMORROW Mostly sunny high 74, low 46 ‘There is no doubt that we overwhelmingly won on all levels Zoran Djindkoc Kostunica‘s campaign manager ally fractured Serbian opposition - has made ousting Milosevic a major goal, believing there can be no stability in the Balkans so long as he remains in power. If Milosevic loses, he risks extradition to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, which indicted him last year for atrocities committed by his troops in Kosovo. He may also risk massive revenge by Yugoslavs tired of being an impoverished pariah country after a decade of his rule. The European Union has piuiuidcu uiasdi v c aiu iu Yugoslavia if Milosevic loses. Montenegro, the smaller republic that along with Serbia forms present-day Yugoslavia, said it would hold an independence ref erendum if Milosevic wins. The Center for Free Elections and Democracy reported a turnout of 74.6 percent in Serbia. Milosevic made no statement about the seemingly unfavorable returns. Earlier Sunday, he brushed aside accusations that he would rig the vote to stay in power, predicting prosperity after he wins and his troubled country is "cleared up” politically. Kostunica, a 56-year-old law professor, said after voting that he expected to win. The Center for Free Elections and Democracy reported major voting irregularities. They includ ed opposition representatives being kicked out of polling sta tions or not allowed to inspect voters’ lists, voting boxes and bal lots. The government’s electoral commission said the vote passed without irregularities, “despite Western propaganda.” Most of die examples cited by the monitoring group could not be confirmed. However in Kosovo, Western reporters saw cases where polling stations were never opened, where prominent opposition members were told their names were not on registration rolls or where voters had no privacy to mark their ballots. Adam Pretty/Newsmakers Miguel Martinez of France pedals his way to a gold medal in the men's cross country mountain biking event Sunday at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. ; U.S. crew teamunsuccessful ■The defeat of the men's and women's eight shows the need for improvement. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PENRITH, Australia - The U.S. men’s eight crew thought it had fixed all its problems. A fifth place finish in the Olympics proved otherwise. It was a huge failure for a boat that won the last three world championships, one that was supposed to revive an American tradition in racing's most glam orous event. Instead, they wound up Sunday with the same finish as in 1996. “This past week has been the toughest of my life,” said Dave Simon, the only new crew mem ber on a boat carrying four mem bers of all three world champions and four from the last two. "We thought we had our problems fixed, but with such little time...” The women’s eight was almost as big of a flop as the men’s, finishing last by more than 10 seconds. After the finish, three crew members laid on their backs and another put her head in her hands, all wondering how their silver-medal squad from last year's worlds did worse than their fourth-place finish in Atlanta. “It never came together," said Amy Fuller, a member of the last three U.S. womens eight. “I can’t even pinpoint wh^t Went wrong. In ’92, when we go/the silver, it was a lot of w#pk but it just clicked off froiH the start. Both in '96 and today, it felt off from the first stroke.” The lone saving grace Sunday was a bronze medal in the light weight women's double sculls. Even that was a bit disappointing - Christine Collins and Sarah Garner led for the first half of the race, then saw Romania and Germany zip by. “We pushed out in front and just tried to hold on,” said Collins, ofWorcester, Mass., who has her first Olympic medal to go along with four world champi onships. “We just didn’t have the same kick at the end as they did.” The U.S. was the only country to qualify in all 14 events and nine of them made the finals. Only three won medals - one sil ver, two bronze - for the worst performance since 1972. So instead of leaving Sydney with the most medals since tak ing eight in Los Angeles, the United States will go to Athens looking for their first gold medals since the boycott-tainted 1984 games and their first against a full field since ’64. That '64 crew won the men’s eight. It was the 11th U.S. victory in 14 tries, including nine of 10. All the surviving members of that squad visited, called or “We pushed out in front and just tried to hold on. We just didn't have the same kick at the end as they did. ” Christine Collins U.S. crew member wrote this year’s team to help gear up for their moment of glory. But things were out of whack from their first race at the Sydney International Regatta Center. They were second in a first round heat and barely won a sec ond-chance race to qualify for the finals. Over the ensuing days, they moved from the athlete’s vil lage to a hotel closer to the venue and tested out various seat changes. Jeff Klepacki ended up replacing Chris Ahrens as the stroke, but it didn’t help. The Americans were last after 500 meters and only passed one boat the rest of the way. They finished as close to sixth as they did to fourth. “I thought what we needed was to step back, get our rhythm going again,” Coach Mike Teti said of the new lineup. “In the race, we got a little bit behind early, felt some pressure and started trying too hard - probably way too hard.” £to7)'Nebraskan Ij-!0r5 c3r^ ®a*^er. Questions? Comments? Managing Editor: Bradley Dav.s Ask for the appropriate section editor at Associate News Editor: Dane Stickney (402) 472-2588 Associate News Editor. Kimberly Sweet or e.maj|; dn@un,.edu Opinion Editor: Samuel McKewon Sports Editor Matthew Hansen Arts Editor Josh Nichols General Manager: Dan Shattil Copy Desk Co-Chief: Lindsay Young Publications Board Russell Willbanks, Copy Desk Co-Chief: Danell McCoy Chairman: (402)436-7226 Photo Chief: Heather Glenboski Professional Adviser: Don Walton, (402) 473-7248 Art Director: Melanie Falk Advertising Manager: Nick Partsch, (402) 472-2589 Design Chief: Andrew Broer Assistant Ad Manager Nicole Woita Web Editor Gregg Stearns Classified Ad Manager: Nikki Bruner AssistantWebEditon Tanner Graham Circulation Manager: ImtiyazKhan Fax Number: (402) 472-1761 World Wide Web: www.dailyneb.com The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during the academic year; weekly drying 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. f Subscriptions are $60 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. Periodical postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 2000 DAILY NEBRASKAN Jerusalem negotiations continue THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JERUSALEM-Rolling back expectations of a final deal by next month, Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that he is prepared for a partial agreement with the Palestinians - a prospect the Palestinians said is out of the question. , Barak told the Israeli cabinet that he does not rule out the possibility that “a comprehensive agree ment will be achieved on most of the issues, while a time limit will be set for agreement on a very small part of them," his office said in a news release. Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Qureia, also a senior peace negotia tor, rejected the idea of another interim agree ment. “There has to be agreement on every issue or there will be no agreement at all,” he told reporters. Until recently, Barak has said a full-fledged agree ment would be the prefer able outcome of intensive negotiations, and has given “50-50” chances to achiev ing a deal by next month. Barak’s statement Sunday confirmed that approach. The Camp David talks broke down over rival Palestinian and Israeli claims to east Jerusalem, in particular the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam and also the site of the Jewish temple, sacked in 70 AD. by the Romans. The issues of borders and the future of the Palestinian refugees also remain unsolved, although considerable progress has been achieved in those areas. Israel media reported that Barak hopes to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to bridge some of the gaps. Qureia said such a meeting would be welcome “as long as it is not for public relations." The Associated Press ■Wyoming MO travelers stranded after snowstorm surprise RAWLINS - Thousands of stranded motorists sought shelter as a snowstorm shut down 200 miles of Interstate 80 and caused a 12-car pileup east of Laramie on Saturday. Interstate 80 was closed between Rock Springs and Cheyenne for a second day after cars slid and crashed on the icy asphalt Hotels quickly filled with trav elers waiting for the interstate to reopen. The American Red Cross expected 2,600 people in two shelters in Rawlins and 200 peo ple at a shelter in Rock Springs. The storm draped a swath of snow up to 15 inches deep from Encampment to Casper before heading southwest into Colorado late Saturday night. It was expect ed to taper off by Sunday, leaving behind temperatures in the 50s and 60s. ■Texas Bush operatives accuse Gore of having campaign spy AUSTI - Vice President A1 Gore declared Sunday that he doesn’t know how his campaign ended up with a bootleg video tape of George W. Bush rehearsing for next month’s debates. But, he told reporters, “If somebody in the Bush campaign keeps sending confidential inter nal data to us, we'll keep turning it over to the FBI.” That comment, in a confer ence call with reporters, came as the two camps traded new accu sations over die mysterious pack age - and whether there is a Gore spy in Bush’s campaign. Bush operatives seized upon the Gore campaign’s suspension of a junior staffer in the matter to hurl new accusations at Gore’s Nashville, Tenn.-based operation. The Gore staffer, Michael Doyne, 28, was suspended after he acknowledged boasting of a “mole” planted in Bush’s cam paign. Doyne now insists the “mole” was a product of his imagination and Gore spokesman Mark Fabiani said campaign officials do not believe there is any such Democratic spy. ■California Decision to tap stockpiles stabilizes gas prices CAMARILLO -Gasoline prices remained steady over the past two weeks, with no immedi ate impact from President Clinton’s decision to tap 30 mil lion barrels of oil from emergency stockpiles, an analyst said Sunday. The Lundberg Survey of 10,000 stations nationwide found that the average price of all grades, plus taxes, was $1.62 per gallon Friday. It was a tenth of a cent per gallon lower than prices the survey found two weeks ago, but 28 cents per gallon higher for the same period a year ago. Analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that prices likely wouldn’t drop to 1999 levels any time soon. Clinton’s announcement Friday may have had some “psy chological effect” on retail prices, but the oil won’t hit the market until next month, Lundberg said. Rising energy costs are becoming an issue in the presi dential campaign as winter heat ing bills are expected to be as much as 50 percent higher than last year’s. Crude oil is selling for more than $34 per barrel, a 10 year high. ■ Peru Govemmentquestioned after spy chief alludes arrest LIMA, Peru - Peru’s ousted spy chief fled Sunday to Panama, triggering opposition demands that President Alberto Fujimori’s government explain how the for mer top aide eluded arrest and prosecution over a bribery scan dal at home. Fujimori said nothing about Vladimiro Montesinos’ pre-dawn flight from the country, carried out in secrecy. Instead, he attend ed an annual ceremony honoring the armed forces and praised the intelligence services and military, where Montesinos has placed allies in many of the top posts. Montesinos, who was at the center of a bribery scandal that is cutting short Fujimori’s presiden cy, arrived in Panama early Sunday, the Panamanian govern ment confirmed.