Section B·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, November 23, 1999
Nation/World
Co-pilot not to blame in crash, Egyptian official says
Minister says investigation could take as long as a year
The Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt—Egypt's transport minister sought yesterday to absolve EgyptAir employees of blame for the crash of Flight 990, telling Parliament that human mistakes did not cause the disaster.
Ibrahim el-Dumeiri also criticized speculative reports that a suicidal co-pilot forced down the plane. However, he did not say what Egyptian authorities he thought sent the Boeing 767 plunging into the Atlantic on Oct. 31, killing all 217 people aboard.
El-Dumeiri's report to Parliament, carried in part by Egypt's official Middle East News Agency, was the government's first assessment of the circumstances surrounding the crash and followed a storm of protests in Egypt over the suicide scenario that emerged from some sources in the American-led investigation.
He also criticized U.S. media for reports that cockpit conversation pointed toward a suicide by one of the Egyptian co-pilots, Gameel El-Batouty.
The transport minister said it might take a year or more to get to the truth about why the flight plummeted. While he said Egypt was not discounting any theories, he sought to distance Egyptian crew and maintenance workers from blame.
El-Batutoy, he noted, did not say the words of the "shehada," a prayer recited by Muslims when it is clear that death is imminent. Not saying the prayer could indicate the pilots thought they could save the plane.
Instead, elDumeiri quoted the co-pilot as saying: "In the name of God, I put my trust in God."
"This is something we Egyptians say whenever we start anything. And when terror filled the cockpit, the phrase 'We put our trust in God' was repeated," he said.
El-Dumeiri told Parliament that more Egyptian experts, including a psychologist and a voice specialist, would go to the United States to join the investigation.
In Parliament, lawmakers echoed the popular conspiracy theories circulating among Cairo residents and Egyptian media, some of which suggest that U.S. authorities are blaming the crew to cover sabotage, mechanical troubles or Israeli involvement in some sort of plot against Egypt.
One legislator claimed that 393 Egyptian military officers aboard Flight 990 were the target
of unspecified assailants.
Soraya Lubna, another member of Parliament, said there was no doubt about the presence of a conspiracy. She added that Egypt must ensure it was fully participating in the investigation.
The FBI, meanwhile, has sent agents to Egypt to participate in the crash investigation, with the full concurrence of Egyptian authorities, an American diplomat said yesterday.
The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the FBI was assisting in the investigation, which the diplomat stressed was not a criminal case. The acknowledgment was the first by authorities that FBI officials have come from abroad to look into the crash.
At Egypt's request, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has delayed handing the lead role in the probe to the FBI to run a criminal investigation.
Memorial services held in Texas for victims of bonfire accident
The Associated Press
COLLEGE STATION Texas— Thousands of classmates, families and friends gathered in churches across Texas on Sunday, quietly sobbing and praying for the 12 people killed when a four-story pyramid of logs collapsed at Texas A&M University.
"I'm here to help the Aggie family from what has been a tragic situation in the state of Texas," said a somber Gov. George W. Bush before an evening memorial service at Central Baptist Church near the campus. "It is a time to pray and a time to hear the word."
The leaders of their congregations and others tried to comfort the mourners during services throughout the day, and they addressed the survivors of
Thursday's tragedy.
Local, state and federal offiicials planned to map out an investigation strategy this week to determine how the 40-foot pile collapsed. But Charles Anderson, pastor of A&M United Methodist Church, said the answers would do little to comfort those left behind.
"Answers won't hold your hand," he said. "Answers won't hold you in their arms, and answers will not sit by your bedside on a sleepless night."
Services were held in Austin for Christopher Breen, 25, an A&M graduate who had returned to help pass on the bonfire tradition. Breen's family kept the ceremony private, but in a statement recalled his love of the outdoors and thanked those who offered support.
In Katy, near Houston, a
funeral was held for Christopher Lee Heard, 19, a pre-engineering major and a 1999 graduate of the Marine Military Academy, a private military prep school in Harlingen.
Almost 100 young men in uniform from the academy and the A&M Corps of Cadets attended the service. Heard's drill instructor recalled him as a prankster who would fill boots with shaving cream. Others remembered his love of hunting and fishing.
One of seven people still hospitalized was released Sunday. Of the remaining six, two were in critical condition.
About 70 people were stacking the logs when the pile gave way. Some students were hurled from the structure; others were trapped in the shifting logs.
Bush vows to end partisan strain
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—A relaxed and composed George W. Bush offered few policy breakthroughs but plenty of confidence in his ability to win the presidency during a television interview in which he promised to work to end a climate of partisan hostility in Washington.
The GOP presidential front-runner and Texas governor touched on affirmative action, Social Security, HMO reform and other topics during the appearance Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press. Bush also said he probably would not meet with a gay group, the Log Cabin Republicans, because "I don't believe in group thought, pitting one group of people against another."
A top rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, met recently with the group, saying the GOP is a party of inclusion in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln.
Rich Tafel, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, said, "He has said he would be uniter and not a divider — this is a complete contradiction of that.
"Apparently the gay vote is just too politically dangerous for him to risk losing
some of the religious right vote."
Eager to project his fitness for the Oval Office, Bush seemed confident and prepared for the questions.
It was in marked contrast to his performance Nov. 4 during a pop quiz on foreign affairs given by a political reporter at a Boston television station. Bush appeared flustered when asked to name the leaders of four current world hot spots: Chcnycha, Taiwan, India and Pakistan. He was able to give a partial response to just one, Taiwan.
Bush: Said he probably would not meet with gay Republicans
During his hourlong interview Sunday, broadcast from the Texas governor's mansion in Austin. Bush repeated themes from his foreign policy speech last week in which he criticized Russia for its brutal crackdown in Chechnya and China for its human rights abuses.
Puerto Rico trying to stop U.S. Navy's water supply
The Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal judge ordered the Puerto Rican government not to shut off the water to a U.S. Navy base yesterday while he considered a complaint that the military was using the water illegally.
The allegations are part of an escalating feud between the U.S. military and the Puerto Rican government, which is demanding the Navy abandon its bombing range on the outlying island of Vieques.
U. S. District Court Judge Hector Laffitte issued the order during a hearing on the dispute yesterday.
The Navy asked the court to intervene after Puerto Rican officials presented the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, which runs the bombing range, with a $8.8 million water bill and fined it an additional $8 million.
The Natural and Environmental Resources Department alleges the Navy's permit to draw up to 3 million gallons of water daily from the Rio Blanco expired in 1965 and that it owes money for the water it has been drawing since.
Navy officials say they have been taking water from the river since 1942 and do not need a permit. They say the base applied for a permit in 1986 to cooperate with local officials but never received a response.
In October, protesters blocked the Navy's water intake for two days with sandbags and a wooden panel before police cleared them away.
Relations between the Navy and the Puerto Rican government have soured since April, when a jet practicing over Vieques dropped a bomb off target and killed a civilian security guard at the training ground.
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