News Digest
Partisans hit campaign trail in final days I
■ Democratic and Republican
surrogates step up attacks and
address key constituencies.
THE ASSOC1ATH? PRESS
AUSTIN, Texas — George W.
Bush was kicking off a barn
storming tour by fellow
Republican governors Sunday
while A1 Gore campaigned in his
rival’s home state.
Both sides sent surrogates to
the airwaves and highways to
rally support in the homestretch.
With just over two weeks
until the Nov. 7 election, 28 GOP
governors were joining Gov.
Bush in Austin to begin a nation
al tour of battleground states.
Gore addressed ministers in
Dallas.
Groups of both Republicans
and Democrats were hitting the
road to appeal to a dwindling -
but electorally critical - band of
independent voters.
President Clinton also is
ready to campaign for his vice
president "in some key places,”
although his role will be largely a
supporting one, said White
House chief of staff John
Podesta.
Gore strategists said they’ll
cap the campaign with "a relent
less focus" on the issues in a
series of seven speeches on top
ics ranging from health care to
the environment
“Right up until the last
minute of the last day, he'll be
talking about the issues," said
spokesman Chris Lehane even
as aides debated in Nashville
whether Gore should intensify
his criticisms of Bush.
On Saturday, Gore attacked
Bush for advocating a dimin
ished U.S. peacekeeping role in
Europe, saying it demonstrated
a “lack of judgment and a com
plete misunderstanding of his
tory.”
The vice president held back
on Sunday from any personal
criticism of his rival.
At Potter’s House Ministries
in Dallas, Gore shared the stage
with Coretta Scott King and
delivered a scripture-packed
speech focusing on his agenda
for families.
“An abundance of prosperity
in the spirit cannot be measured
in dollars and cents,” Gore said,
adding that he was underscoring
“something more basic than all
our budget debates.”
But on the airwaves,
Democrats intensified efforts on
the Sunday talk shows to chal
lenge the Texas governor’s com
petency. Republicans character
ized the line of attack as desper
ation as some national polls
show Bush with a lead, while
other surveys show a continued
close race.
“My white, male friends tell
me he is a good old boy just like
me. But I want a good presi
dent,” Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb.,
told CBS' “Face the Nation.”
When Americans look at
Bush, they see “a person who’s
unsure of himself, and therefore
a person who is unacceptable to
become president of the United
States,” Sen. John Breaux, D-La.,
told “Fox News Sunday.”
Republicans said Democrats
are “floundering around trying
to come up with some sort of
issue that might be able to move
voters back,” New York Gov.
George Pataki told Fox.
But as they denounced the
Democratic attacks on Bush’s
competency, Republicans
pressed their own assault on
Gore’s credibility.
GOP activist Bill Bennett said
he believed Gore to be a “habitu
al liar.... It’s not easy to say, but
the record says it,” the former
education secretary and author
of a best-selling book on ethics
told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
On the same show, the Rev.
"My white, male friends tell me he is a good old
boy just like me. But I want a good president
Bob Kerrey
_D-Neb. Sen.
Jesse Jackson, a one-time
Democratic presidential con
tender, dismissed Bennett as a
“Republican hit man" and issued
a warning to both parties.
"It does not sit any of us well
for us to be calling these men
liars, because one of these men
will be our next president,”
Jackson said.
Podesta, asked how much
Clinton would campaign for
Gore, said the president can
“play very much a supporting
role” in key places and try to
motivate core Democratic vot
ers.
“But it's the vice president
and his voice that’s going to con
vince voters to take the course
he’s laid out....” he said on CNN’s
“Late Edition.”
Gore is striving to be seen as
his own man, but Clinton has
indicated a willingness to cam
paign - and some top Democrats
have suggested he could lend
important help at this crucial
stage.
Michigan Gov. John Engler
said Republicans would wel
come a Clinton role.
“I’ve been certainly enjoying
the Democratic angst over what
to do with Bill Clinton,” Engler
said on CNN. “I mean, love him
and hate him.”
“I think that by the end A1
Gore's going to be begging Bill
Clinton to come in and help him
out,” he added. "I think A1 Gore
will be trying anything in the
end. These are desperate folks.
They can feel it slipping a little
bit more each and every week.”
Ed Rendell, general chair
man of the Democratic National
Committee, told CNN, “In terms
of enthusiasm, it’s coming. Our
voters always get enthusiastic
late in the day.”
“It's going to roll now as peo
ple get serious about the elec
tion,” said the former
Philadelphia mayor, who was
embarking on a bus tour with
labor and other Democratic
leaders.
Ads: Race
leaves out
singles
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ORLANDO, Fla. — In their
first debate, A1 Gore said the word
“family" 13 times and “parents”
four times. George W. Bush
referred to “families” twice and
“parents” once.
Neither said “single" or
“unmarried,” so it’s no wonder
that many Americans feel left out
Single, childless people are
casualties of the battle between
Democrats and Republicans over
which party can wave the family
values flag higher, said Thomas
Coleman, executive director of
the American Association for
Single People, a Los Angeles
based advocacy group.
Having been cast as opposing
family values in past presidential
races and tainted by the Monica
Lewinsky scandal, Democrats feel
they have to “look more family
oriented and say "families’ more,”
Coleman said.
Almost 80 million people, or
about 40 percent of people over
age 18, are widowed, divorced or
have never married, according to
the U.S. Census Bureau.
To rectify the situation, the
American Association for Single
People has launched a $114,000
advertising campaign drawing
attention to unmarried, childless
voters. Ads have run in USA Today
and the Los Angeles Times.
“Are you one of the 80 million
single or unmarried adults
ignored by the George W. Bush
and A1 Gore campaigns?” the ad
says. “How many ways are we dis
criminated against? Let us count
them for you.”
According to the ad, single
people receive fewer job benefits,
such as health insurance for
spouses and children; they are
often lumped into a “high risk”
class by insurance companies
and are charged a higher rate than
married co-workers; and they are
denied “family” discounts for
roommates or partners.
Albright pursues N. Korean breakthrough
■ The Ginton Administration
is seeking a legacy of stability
in Northeast Asia.
WASHINGTON —
Embarking on a journey that
seemed highly improbable just a
few months ago, Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright flew to
North Korea on Sunday in hopes
of advancing her goal of a ten
sion-free Northeast Asia for the
first time in decades.
Albright left Washington
shortly after midnight on the 17
hour journey, and was to land
Sunday in the capital of
Pyongyang, a city U.S. forces
reduced to rubble during the
Korean War. It is now a metropolis
with tall buildings and broad
boulevards, although with
scarcely any traffic.
If Albright’s talks with North
Korean leader Kim Jong 11 go well,
President Clinton will follow her
to Pyongyang as part of an Asia
trip next month, administration
officials said.
Albright’s main concern is
North Korea’s missile develop
ment program and its export of
missiles to Iran and Syria. She will
confer with Kim on those issues
but officials said no agreements
are expected.
The United States is consider
ing the creation of a national mis
sile defense, partly out of concern
that North Korea may some day
direct ICBM's at American cities.
North Korea has for years
ignored American efforts to stop
exporting missiles, and the possi
bility that the Pyongyang regime
may now be listening to these
concerns has generated excite
ment among arms control advo
cates.
“North Korea may be the
most historic and important trip
of her (Albright’s) tenure,’’ says
Joseph Cirincione, of the
Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace.
In Clinton’s quest for a foreign
policy legacy worthy of the histo
ry books, his initiative with North
Korea seems more promising
than any other, a turn of events
few would have predicted six
years ago when the two counties
seemed close to war.
Clinton has shown patience
and diligence in seeking an
accommodation with North
Korea. His initiative has pros
pered, at least for the time being,
because of a surprise willingness
of Kim to reciprocate.
Kim, perhaps motivated by
economic catastrophe, has
scrapped North Korea’s policy of
reclusiveness and has been
reaching out not only to the
United States but to other coun
tries, most notably South Korea.
In the process, Kim has shed
the stereotypical view of him.
Don Oberdorfer, a Korea expert at
the John Hopkins School of
International Studies, said Kim
was depicted in intelligence
reports as an awful man who was
“introverted and strange.”
But he showed himself to be
“very confident and very poised"
when in June he had his historic
encounter with South Korean
President Kim Dae-jung.
Joel Wit, a former State
Department official who has vis
*North Korea may be
the most historic and
important trip of her
(Albright’s) tenure.”
Joseph Cirincione
Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace.
ited North Korea 14 times, agreed
that Kim has not lived up to his
reputation as being "a little bit
crazy.”
Still, conservative groups are
concerned that Clinton may be
taken in by the newly amiable
North Korean leader.
After two days of discussion
in Pyongyang, Albright will fly
across the Demilitarized Zone to
Seoul to report on her talks to
senior officials from Japan and
South Korea, both of which con
tinue to be nervous about North
Korea's military. As a deterrent,
the United States maintains
37,000 troops in South Korea.
Arab summit sends mixed messages
■The door for peace with
Israel is left open as conference
concludes in Cairo.
CAIRO, Egypt — An Arab
summit called to confront a
frightening and deadly upsurge
in Israeli-Palestinian violence
ended Sunday with a declara
tion that Arabs may consider
cutting ties with Israel, but did
not insist they do so.
Among ordinary Arabs, the
outcome was likely to fuel criti
cism already being heard: that
Arab leaders are divided and
unwilling to confront Israel. The
first Arab summit in four years
followed the collapse of a cease
fire Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak and President Clinton
helped broker last week at
Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheik resort.
A carefully worded final
summit declaration addressed
what had emerged as the most
contentious issue before the
leaders meeting in Cairo:
Whether ties several have with
the Jewish state should be
reconsidered.
Libya had walked out
Saturday, the first day of the
two-day summit, saying it was
frustrated that the gathering
would not clearly call for an end
to ties with Israel.
In Israel, Prime Minister
Ehud Barak praised summit
host Mubarak for making “con
siderable effort to maintain a
balanced approach, which calls
for peace and restraint, instead
of an extremist stance.” But he
also said Israel "rejects the
threatening language” used in
the final declaration.
That left the door open for
Egypt, the first Arab country to
sign a peace treaty with Israel, to
continue acting as a regional
mediator, a role the United
States looks to it to play. Egypt
called the Cairo summit and was
the main voice of moderation
during its proceedings.
Arabs “hold Israel responsi
ble for any steps taken in regard
to relations with Israel by Arab
countries, including their can
cellation,” said the final Arab
summit declaration, read by
Arab League Secretary-General
Esmat Abdel-Meguid to a live
television audience across the
region.
Referring to establishing
new ties, the summit declara
tion said: “Arab leaders assert in
the light of the collapse of the
peace process their commit
ment to standing up to Israeli
attempts to infiltrate the Arab
world under any name and to
the halting of establishing any
relations with Israel.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister
Amr Moussa said Egypt had not
yet had time to consider
whether they would end or
reduce ties with Israel.
Libya had said cutting ties
was the least Arabs could do in
response to more than three
weeks of Israeli-Palestinian vio
lence that have left some 120
dead - the vast majority
Palestinian.
Moderates at the summit,
though, warned against doing
anything that might make
future negotiations difficult.
Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab
countries with peace treaties
with Israel, insist negotiations
are the only way to bring lasting
peace to the region.
Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat said Saturday: “Our
choice is the choice of perma
nent, just and comprehensive
peace.”
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1 Arctic winds slow Kursk salvage
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MURMANSK, Russia —With the seas
around them increasingly rough, Russian
and Norwegian divers on Sunday pierced
the inner hull of the sunken Kursk nuclear
submarine in a laborious, precarious bid to
TODAY
Showers
high 65, low 55
TOMORROW
Showers
high 70, low 53
recover the bodies of 118 sailors inside.
Winds above the site mounted through
out the day and were expected to pick up
overnight, threatening the operation.
Working nonstop in teams since Friday,
the divers carved into the outer hull
Saturday, the first step in the planned recov
ery operation. The divers hope to cut seven
holes through both hulls of the submarine
to retrieve bodies or body parts from their
tomb in the Barents Sea.
After some struggle overnight, the divers
sliced through the sturdy rubber layer
between the hulls, said Capt. Vladimir
Navrotsky, chief spokesman for the Russian
Navy's northern fleet.
Later Sunday, they cut a four-inch hole
in the steel of the inner hull leading to com
partment No. 8, in the rear of the submarine,
Navrotsky said. Throughout the day, they
gradually enlarged the hole a few millime
ters at a time.
The Associated Press
■ Bosnia-Herzegovina
Kostunica's first trip to country
causes stir among leaders
SARAJEVO —Yugoslavia's
new president averted a diplo
matic debacle Sunday by meeting
Bosnia’s political leaders, defus
ing anger over his decision to use
his first trip to the country to
attend a ceremony that some said
had ethnic overtones.
Vojislav Kostunica’s visit was
the first a Yugoslav leader has paid
to Bosnia, a former Yugoslav
republic, since the 3Vfe-year war
ended half a decade ago.
He spent part of the day in the
small southern Bosnian town of
Trebinje before flying off to
Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, for
the meeting.
Kostunica’s stop in Trebinje
seemed simple enough: He was in
town to attend a reburial service
for a prominent Serb poet But in
Bosnia-which fought to separate
itself from Serb-dominated
Yugoslavia in 1991 and was
ripped apart by ethnic warfare
between Serbs, Croats and
Muslims - the visit caused an
uproar.
The Croat and Muslim mem
bers of Bosnia’s three-person
presidency considered it an insult
that the new Yugoslav leader, who
is a Serb, would choose an event
with nationalistic Serb overtones
for his first visit
Afterward, Kostunica put a
positive spin on the meeting,
describing it as a first step toward
the establishment of diplomatic
relations between the countries.
■ Washington, D.C
Washington Post editorial
endorses candidate Gore
The Washington Post on
Sunday endorsed Vice President
A1 Gore for president, citing his
experience and judgment and
calling him a “a man of good char
acter.”
“In a dangerous world, as we
have recently been reminded this
is, Mr. Gore offers leadership
without need of on-the-job train
ing,” the newspaper stated in an
editorial.
The newspaper approved of
Gore’s support for gun control,
abortion rights, affirmative
action, the environment and pay
ing down the national debt
While the Post credited Gore’s
rival, Texas Gov. George W. Bush,
with trying “to move the
Republican Party toward racial
inclusiveness and tolerance,” it
faulted him for his lack of foreign
policy experience.
Three tailed, 30 injured in
grenade explosion
KARACHI —An explosion
ripped through a rally of Islamic
militants in southern Karachi on
Sunday, killing three people and
injuring 30, some critically, police
and hospital officials said.
Several hours after the attack
on the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba rally,
unidentified gunmen opened fire
on another group of militant
Muslims, killing one person and
injuring 13 others, said police.
' In die first attack, a grenade
was fired with a launcher from
outside the rally site, which was
surrounded by tight security, said
Yahya Mujahed, a spokesman for
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba hardline
Islamic group. It hit a stage where
the group's leadership was sched
uled to sit
■ South Dakota
Four arrested for alleged party
at governor's mansion
PIERRE —TWo female pris
oners and two men face criminal
charges after allegedly throwing a
party at the governor's mansion
while the governor and his staff
were away.
Gov. Bill Janklow said Friday
that the two prisoners regularly
helped prepare meals at the man
sion as part of a work-release pro
gram, and the women had invited
the men in while the governor
was out Sept 30.
He said the men were in the
mansion for about 25 minutes
and gave methamphetamine to
one of the prisoners.
The two men fled after a secu
rity officer surprised them during
a routine check, Janklow said.
He said the four would proba
bly be charged with second
degree burglary.
The governor had approved
their unsupervised work on Sept
30 while their supervisor made
funeral arrangements for a family
member.
