Change in prime minister likely for Israel
Arid Sharon, the
right-wing can
didate in Israel's
upcoming spe
cial elections,
addresses a
campaign
Sunday in the
central Israel
townofHolon.
Sharon seems
set to win the
prime ministeri
al race against
incumbent
Prime Minister
Ehud Barak.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM — An angry and dejected Israeli
electorate faces a stark choice this week between
Prime Minister Ehud Barak; and his push for a final
peace deal with the Palestinians, and the hawkish
front-runner Ariel Sharon, who won a boost Sunday
when he was endorsed by Israel’s ultra-Orthodox
bloc.
The deck seems heavily stacked in favor of
Sharon, a 72-year-old ex-general vtfho promises to
quash the four-month Palestinian uprising and cede
no more land. He has led in all the polls for weeks by
about 20 points - a massive spread in a country that
for decades has been deeply divided more or less
down the middle.
Sharon received more good news when newspa
pers representing Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox parties,
composed of Jews of European background, pub
lished announcements from the religious leadership
calling on people to vote for him.
A victory for the burly ex-general in Tuesday’s
election would be an astounding rehabilitation for a
man whose leadership hopes were widely considered
dashed when a government commission indirectly
blamed him for a 1982 massacre of hundreds of
Palestinian refugees in Beirut, Lebanon, and forced
him to resign as defense minister.
It also would appear to slam the brakes on the
current peace process.
Sharon has made clear that he opposes Barak’s
offers to the Palestinians and would withdraw them
in favor of less ambitious interim deals emphasizing
security for Israelis.
Sharon has been vague about his plans. However,
he is a lifelong hawk who has opposed the land-for
peace idea and has been a leading patron of the
Jewish settler movement. A Sharon plan leaked to
Israeli media last month envisions giving the
Palestinians no more land-but also building no more
settlements.
Barak has predicted a peace accord is within
reach despite the recent setbacks - but he also has
warned that if the Palestinians don't soften their
demands, he will forgo efforts to reach agreement
and unilaterally redraw the map, dismantling some
settlements arid keeping others.
Many observers believe that whoever wins will
have difficulty maintaining a majority coalition in the
fractured parliament, and that general elections for
prime minister and parliament are almost inevitable
within ayear.
Sharon has said that if he wins he would make
every effort to bring Barak’s Labor Party into a more
stable centrist coalition - but has not explained how
najointplat
the two parties could possibly agree©
form.
Russia warns U.S.about arms
■ Representatives from both countries
differ on whether a missile defense
system would affect a 1972 treaty.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MUNICH, Germany—A top Russian
security official sternly warned the new
Bush administration Sunday that a planned
U.S. national missile defense system would
trigger a new arms race that would eventu
ally extend into space.
Sergei Ivanov, secretary of President
Vladimir Putin’s powerful security council,
told an international conference of defense
ministers and experts that the system would
by definition abolish the 1972 Anti-Ballistic
Missile Heaty.
“And the destruction of the ABM treaty,
we are quite confident, will result in the
annihilation of the whole structure of strate
gic stability and create prerequisites for a
new arms race - including one in space,”
Putin said.
Bush’s new defense secretary, Donald H.
Rumsfeld, sought to reassure concerned
European allies during the conference
Saturday that the missile defense system
would threaten no one except aggressors.
Rumsfeld also said that while the United
States would consult with its allies, it would
not be dissuaded from the project
However, Russia and the United States
expressed clearly different views on the
1972 ABM treaty during the weekend con
ference. Ivanov said the importance of the
treaty “has not faded"
By contrast Rumsfeld, who returned to
Washington Saturday, called it “ancient his
tory."
Supporting that view, U.S. Senator
Joseph Lieberman told delegates Sunday
that die treaty “is an expression of a bipolar
world
“We are in a multipolar world, and
therefore we need new documents that will
indeed express what strategic interdepend
ence means today.”
The United States wants the missile
defense system to defend itself against
rogue nuclear threats - and has strenuously
countered Russian fears that it is being con
structed against Russia.
Ivanov urged in his speech that the
rogue threat would be more effectively
countered with politics - pointing out
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progress in the last year in normaliz
ing relations between communist
North Korea and South Korea.
Former U.S. Secretary of State
William S. Cohen shot back that pro
liferation of Russian weapons tech
nology to countries like Iran provid
ed impetus to the national missile
defense. “One way to deal with the
problem is to stop proliferating.
Russia must cease and desist in that
regard,” Cohen said.
Cohen also confronted Ivanov
with Russian suggestions of U.S.
involvement in the sinking of the
Kursk submarine.
“The Kursk was a great tragedy.
Many, many Russian sailors were
doomed to death. We continue to see
accusations, however faint or indi
rect, that somehow it was caused by a
collision with an American subma
rine. That again is a complete fabri
cation. There was no collision with
an American submarine."
Weather
TODAY
Mostly cloudy
high 50, low 31
TOMORROW
Partly cloudy
high 34, low 17
Bush speaks to Democrats,
presents plan to cut taxes
■ Die president met with the party in
hopes of gaining their support for the
bills he will be proposing this week.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FARMINGTON, Pa. — President Bush
said he got a cordial hearing from skepti
cal Democratic lawmakers Sunday, but
would have to wait to gauge his success in
winning any of them over to his proposals
for tax cuts and other matters on his agen
da.
"I think they listened," Bush said as he
left the two-hour session, which had been
scheduled to last just over an hour. "I have
no idea until the votes come. They were
very cordial. These are professionals who
want to serve their nation.”
Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said
the president spoke for about eight min
utes and spent the rest of the time
responding to questions. The meeting was
closed to the press. Approximately 300
people attended, about half of them
Democratic House members.
“Hopefully we can exceed expecta
tions,” Bush told the Democrats, accord
ing to the spokesman. “The expectation is,
because of the closeness of the election,
nothing will get done.”
He said much of Bush’s remarks
focused on improving civility in
Washington.
1 nope people can disagree in an
agreeable way,” he quoted the president
as saying. “Bipartisanship is going to
require more than words to put forth good
public policy.”
Bush added that he believed “the right
thing to do is to do what you said you were
going to do,” according to McClellan.
Echoing previous remarks to lawmak
ers, the spokesman said Bush told them
he was concerned about national debt but
also about consumer debt, which he said
tax cuts could help alleviate.
He said the Democrats questioned
Bush on a wide range of issues, including
his tax plan, abortion and election reform.
Bush made no firm promises on elec
tion reform but said “we ought to do
something about it. Absolutely,”
McClellan quoted the president as saying.
McClellan characterized the tone of
the questions as “respectful” and said
“there was a commitment on both sides to
work together.”
The centerpiece of the Bush agenda is
his proposed 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut,
which he plans to submit to Congress on
Thursday.
“I’m feeling good,” Bush said as he and
chief of staff Andrew Card strode into the
“The expectation is, because
of the closeness of the
election, nothing will get
done.”
President Bush
---1
Democratic gathering at the snow-cov
ered Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and
Spa about 60 miles south of Pittsburgh.
Also at Bush’s side was his brother-in-law,
Bobby Koch.
Bush said he was delivering a message
to Democrats “about having a civil tone of
discourse, (and) about an agenda” that
includes tax cuts, Social Security and
Medicare reform and improving schools.
“And I’m going to answer some ques
tions. And then I'm going to head on home
and take a nap,” he said with a smile.
The president planned to devote
much of his energy this week to building
public support for the tax reductions. On
Monday, he was bringing to the White
House four families who would benefit
from his proposed tax reductions because
they would fall into lower tax brackets.
He has moved aggressively to win over
lawmakers, especially the Democrats who
are suspicious of his proposal.
Bush said the tax cut was necessary to
stave off a recession, and many
Democrats agree, though some believe a
smaller cut of less than $1 trillion over 10
years is in order.
me two camps arew stanc Dame lines
over the weekend, when Bush warned of
“troubling” economic signs in his
Saturday radio address, and Democrats
responded that Bush's cut would dispro
portionately help the wealthy.
Senate Democratic leader Tom
Daschle of South Dakota charged that
Bush’s tax-cut plan “shortchanges work
ing families." Daschle’s comments, deliv
ered in his own Saturday radio address,
came a day after Bush made a personal
pitch to Democratic senators at their
gathering on Capitol Hill.
Bush attended a joint House and
Senate Republican retreat in
Williamsburg, Va. on Friday.
Many Democrats have questioned
whether Bush can afford to cut taxes and
deliver on other costly campaign promis
es, such as rebuilding the military, reform
ing Medicare and Social Security and
improving the nation’s schools.
The Democrats fear that those pro
grams, combined with revenue reduc
tions from tax cuts, would return the
nation to deficit spending.
World/Nation Briefs
The Associated Press
■ Nebraska
Mayor Daub takes back plan
to give Nugent key to city
OMAHA. —Ted Nugent won't
be getting a key to this city. And
the “Motor City Madman” isn't all
that broken up about it
Nugent was scheduled to get
an honorary key on Saturday at an
annual outdoor show, but Mayor
Hal Daub changed his mind
when harsh criticism of the out
spoken rocker began to circulate.
Daub said the decision was
not personal. “The decision was
clearly made when I was
informed Thursday that this was
going to be potentially divisive,”
he said.
Ingrid Newkirk, president of
People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals, had sent Daub a letter
asking the mayor to reconsider
his plans.
“With violence in our society
more out of control than ever,
what on earth are you doing giv
ing a key to the city to Ited Nugent,
one of today’s most visible sym
bols of bigotry, hatred and
destruction?” Newkirk wrote.
Nugent adamantly denied
Newkirk’s accusations. “To think
that I’m hateful is preposterous.
I'm the most compassionate, car?
ing, activist, generous... (person)
that ever played a guitar,” he said.
■ New York
Bouncer witnesses 'Puffy,'
testifies in his defense
NEWYORK—A bouncer tes
tified Thursday in the weapons
and bribery trial of Sean “Puffy"
Combs that he did not see the rap
mogul with a gun before shooting
broke out at aTimes Square night
club in 1999.
Hassan Mahamah, an
employee at the Club New York,
said Combs was walking toward
the club’s exit with girlfriend
Jennifer Lopez moments before
the Dec. 27,1999 shooting.
The charges against Combs,
31, spring from his alleged behav
ior after leaving the club. Police
said someone threw a gun from
the vehicle he and some of his
entourage used to flee and found
another gun in die vehicle.
Mahamah testified he saw
Combs and Lopez heading for the
exit, and moments later saw
Barrow reach for a gun and begin
firing into die crowd.
When the shooting broke out
Mahamah said, “Puff Daddy was
on the other side, holding his girl
friend.”
■ Washington, D.C
Another student found dead
in Gallaudet University doim
A student found dead in his
dorm room at Gallaudet
University, a school for the hear
ing-impaired, was stabbed to
death, District of Columbia police
said Sunday.
Benjamin Varner, 19, of San
Antonio, Texas, had multiple stab
wounds to the head and body,
said police spokesman Sgt. Joe
Gentile.
He was found Saturday morn
ing in a fourth-floor dorm room of
Cogswell Hall. That is the same
dormitory where freshman Eric E
Plunkett, 19, of Burnsville, Minn.,
was found beaten to death in a
first-floor room on Sept 28.
Police Chief Charles Ramsey
said there is no evidence of a link
between the two deaths, but
investigators are looking into the
possibility of a connection.
At the urging of police, the
university beefed up security over
the weekend. Visitors and stu
dents could only enter and exit
campus through one of five gates.
■ North Carolina
Marine jump-jet crashes,
both aew members killed
CHERRY POINT, N.C. — A
Marine Corps Harrier jet crashed
Saturday as it neared touchdown
on a base rimway.
The two crew members were
killed, a spokesman said. The
jump-jet crashed while
approaching the runway at about
4 p.m., said 1st Lt John Caldwell,
spokesman at Cherry Point
Marine Corps Air Station. The
jump-jet design allows the
Harrier to take off and land verti
cally, it redirects its thrust to fly.
The area where the Harrier
crashed was clear of trees or other
obstructions, Caldwell said. The
victims’ names were withheld.