Section B · Page 8
The University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Thursday, November 18, 1999
U.N. official plans Chechnyan visit after urging Russia to help refugees
The Associated Press
MOSCOW— Russian officials insisted yesterday that no humanitarian catastrophe is looming for Chechen civilians, after the top United Nation refugee official urged Russia to protect the tens of thousands of people who have fled fighting in the breakaway republic.
U. N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata told Russian leaders of growing international concern for the Chechens forced to leave their homes because of Moscow's military offensive.
After meeting with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Ogata said she had tried to convey the secretary-general's concern and understanding, his appreciation of the difficulty in controlling and tackling terrorism, the importance of caring for the civilian population.
Despite widespread refuge complaints and growing Western concern, Russia's Minister for Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu told Ogata that there is no humanitarian catastrophe.
Russia repeatedly has said it was capable of meeting the refugees' needs on its own, but said it would
consider international aid to them.
More than 211,000 people have fled Chechnya, thousands of them ending up in refugee camps where they live in old railroad cars or in crowded tents in frozen fields, complaining of food shortages and poor medical care.
Ogata is to visit refugees today in northern Chechnya, which is under firm Russian control, and in neighboring Ingushetia. She would be the most prominent international official to travel to Chechnya since Russia began its assault in early September, saying it aimed to wipe out Islamic rebels who twice had invaded neighboring Dagestan. The rebels also are blamed with apartment bombings that killed some 300 people in Russia.
While Ogata conferred in Moscow, Russian aircraft bombed rebel positions in the Argun Canyon near the border with Georgia.
Georgian officials said Russian helicopters dropped anti-personnel mines inside Georgia, but Russian officials denied that.
Airstrikes killed 11 people and wounded 18 others in several villages around Urus-Martan, a strategically important town
soutwest of the Chechen capital Grozny, local officials said.
The thunder of artillery could be heard from all sides in Grozny as Russian troops pressed toward the city.
Russian officials have said as many as 6,000 rebel fighters are believed to be in Grozny, and the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that rebels are filling railroad tank cars with explosives to make huge bombs.
Chechen authorities claim more than 4,100 civilians have been killed in Russian air and artillery strikes. Human rights groups have accused the Russian military of indiscriminate attacks on civilians.
Leaders to confront Russian president about military crackdown in Chechnya
Clinton, Yeltsin to face off in Turkey
The Associated Press
ISTANBUL, Turkey—President Clinton, on the eve of a summit of 54 world leaders, staked out ground yesterday for a showdown with Boris Yeltsin about Russia's military crackdown in Chechnya and the growing toll of civilian casualties.
But the Russian leader made clear he was not interested in being lectured, saying his colleagues should curb their outrage or risk failure of their talks.
"We have concerns that there is indiscriminate use of violence in the escalation of the conflict in the last several months," White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said. Berger expressed alarm about inordinate harm to
Despite Yeltsin's defiant stand, Clinton and other leaders intend to use the two-day summit to express deep concern about civilian losses caused by Russian air and ground assaults in the breakaway republic and the resulting refugee flood, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said.
civilians
Clinton has raised objections before, with no apparent success. He will meet with Yeltsin today, in the two leaders' first face-to-face exchange since the Chechnya fighting resumed in September.
A representative for Yeilsin said controversy surrounding U.S. plans to modify the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty also would come high on the agenda. The United States wants to amend the treaty in order to build a national missile defense system to protect from attacks by rogue states such as North Korea. Russian officials have vehemently opposed the plan, saying the move would undo the entire system of arms control agreements.
Also yesterday, Yeltsin asked the Russian parliament to ratify the global nuclear test ban treaty. The timing was symbolic, coming just before the Clinton meeting and not long after the Senate defeat of the treaty made the United States the first nuclear power to specifically reject the
treaty. Russia has strongly criticized the Senate vote.
More than a third of the world's presidents and prime ministers gathered in this Bosporus city linking Asia and Europe for a summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
In a high stakes competition for influence and wealth, Clinton will witness the signing of a Washington-backed agreement for a million-barrel-a-day Caspian Sea oil pipeline across Turkey. The deal is a blow to Russia, now the sole transit point for Caspian energy. But Clinton hopes the agreement will strengthen Turkey, a NATO ally, and cement ties with the former Soviet republics of Azerbeijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan.
Clinton spent most of the day with his family touring the ancient ruins of Ephesus, first colonized by Ionian Greeks in the 10th century B.C.
The president also met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to review peace negotiations with the Palestinians and strategies to lure Syria back to the bargaining table, three years after talks broke off. Berger said there was no particular progress to report on the Syrian front.
Hurricane strengthens, Virgin Islands in its path
The Associated Press
CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands— Hurricane Lenny's winds climbed to 150 mph yesterday, after its ominous first gusts and rains ripped off roofs, hurled boats onto shore and flooded homes with up to a foot of water as it roared toward the Virgin Islands.
St. Croix and the British Virgin Islands were expected to bear the brunt of the storm's fury. Officials warned that the storm could spawn tornadoes and drench the islands with up to 15 inches of rain.
"My yard is completely flooded out, the telephone lines are whistling and the rain is beating against the house," said Anthony Lewis of Frederiksted, St. Croix's second-largest town. He said he spent yesterday morning bailing water out of his house.
Feeding off the warm Caribbean waters, Lenny's winds strengthened to 150 mph yesterday, making it a Category 4 hurricane capable of extreme damage. The storm was about 20 miles south of St. Croix early yesterday afternoon, heading northeast at 12 mph. Hurricane winds
extended 60 miles from its center, and extended tropical storm-force winds another 175 miles.
Lenny's lateness in the season and easterly path left even experienced observers agape. "It's unheard of," said veteran meteorologist John Toohey on San Juan's WOSO-AM radio. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime event."
The storm's first winds cut power and telephone service to many St. Croix homes. It ripped up trees and debris that blocked roads, kicked up dangerous waves that battered the shore and carried a steady rain that flooded extensive areas hours before the main impact was expected.
"All through the night the police were busy helping evacuate a number of individuals who sought assistance after their mobile homes and homes in low-lying areas became threatened by flood waters," said police chief Novell Francis.
Battering waves smashed over the 8-foot sea wall at Frederiksted, tore away the wooden fishermen's pier and a small part of the concrete Ann Abramson Pier where cruise ships dock.
U. S. Virgin Islands Gov. Charles Turnbull declared a state of emergency Tuesday night, installed a curfew to prevent looting and deployed the National Guard. He also asked President Clinton to declare St. Croix a disaster area, making it eligible for federal emergency funds.
Hundreds of tourists were stranded as airlines canceled flights and airports closed.
There was one fatality: a man who fell off a ladder he was using to board up windows against the storm.
On Tuesday, Lenny passed south of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, staying on an unusual west-to-east course. It then veered northeast, sparking a last-minute rush at grocery stores and gas stations throughout the islands in its path.
Lenny was blamed for damage as far off as South America. In Colombia, police said two fishermen drowned Tuesday in heavy rain and strong winds from the passing storm, and rain destroyed half the homes in the coastal town of Cabo de la Vela, leaving 540 people homeless. Lenny smashed boats on the island of Aruba, off the Venezuelan coast.
Jury convicts juvenile of murder
The Associated Press
PONTIAC, Mich.—In a case that stirred fierce debate about how to handle juvenile offenders, one of the nation's youngest murder defendants was convicted of second-degree murder for the shooting of a stranger.
Thirteen-year-old Nathaniel Abraham now awaits a judgment on whether he will be sentenced as an adult or a child for a crime committed when he was 11 years old.
"I can honestly say, he doesn't understand," Daniel Bagdade, one of his attorneys, said Tuesday after an hourlong visit with Nathaniel in jail. "He was in some shock, and I don't think he fully understood what happened."
After deliberating for 18 hours during four days, a jury returned the conviction Tuesday. Nathaniel was acquitted of first-degree murder, which could have sent him to prison for life with no chance of parole.
Judge Eugene Arthur Moore now will weigh reports from psychologists and staff
at the juvenile facility before sentencing the Michigan boy on Dec. 14.
Nathaniel could get a maximum of life in prison with a chance of parole or he could be sentenced as a juvenile to time already served, or held until his 21st birthday.
Prosecutors said they would recommend a blended sentence, keeping him imprisoned until at least age 21 and then reviewing his case to determine whether he has been rehabilitated.
Nathaniel, who sat expressionless while the verdict was read, was returned to the juvenile facility where he has been held since two days after the shooting — when police arrested the then-sixth-grader at his junior high school, his face painted for Halloween.
"This case was about intervening on behalf of a troubled and dangerous youth who needed help and didn't get it a long time ago," said prosecutor David Gorcyra. "My whole intent was to not throw away the key on an 11-year-old boy, now 13. My intent was to give him the help that he needed."
kansan.com
the student
perspective
FAMILIES WELCOME!
WINTER RATES $45 SUN-THUR
EXTENDED OR OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATIONS
THE WESTMINSTER INN & SUITES
2525 W. 6th St.
CALL
(785) 841-8410 (888) 937-7646
Office Party Panic?
How about a Party in the Jaybowl?
video games
- billiards
- techno-bowling
- food & beverage options
- bowling
Call 864-3545 or come see us in the Jaybowl on Level 1, Kansas Union
THE OCCUPANTY
THEATRE
The University of Kansas The University Theatre Presents
THE UNIVERSE OF KANSAS
TWO THOUSAND LAUGHS! THIS PLAY COMBINES INTELLIENCE, SWAPATHY,
GRAZY HUMOR AND ALL KINDS OF FUN TO PROVIDE AN INSIGHTFUL
DISSENTATION ON FAIML, TERTAIN, SEX AND THE DOWNHILL OF THE 20TH CENTURY
A HIP AND WHIMSICAL COMEDY BY THAT WILD AND CRAZY GUY
STEVIE MARTIN
2:50 p.m.
Sunday, November 14, 1999
Crafton-Preyer Theatre
Half-off for Students
8:00 p.m.
November 12, 13, 18,
19, 20, 1999
AND CRAZY GUY
STEVE MARTIN
2:30 p.m.
Half price for Students
Directed by Doug Weaver
Scenic Design by Liana M. White
Costume Design by Denzil Muffoulu
Lighting Design by Casey Kearns
The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activ Fee.
Reserved seat tickets are now on sale in the KU box office Murphy Hall, 785/864-3982; Lied Center, 864-ARTS, SUA Office 864-3477; $12 paid, $6 all students, $11 senior citizens; VISA and MasterCard are accepted for phone orders.
The Friday, November 19, performance will be signed for the deaf and hard of hearing
STUDENT
SENATE
*Piacus at the Lapine Age is part of KUJ Millennium Project presented by the Hall Cenat for the Humanities. For a complete schedule of Millennium Project activities, call 785648-7823.*
Kansan Classified
105 Personals
108 Business Personals
110 Campus
120 Announcements
125 Travel
130 Entertainment
140 Lost and Found
100s Announcements
KANSAN CLASSIFIEDS: 864-4358
200s Employment
205 Help Wanted
205 Professional
Services
235 Typing Services
305 For Sale
310 Computers
315 Home Furnishings
320 Sporting Goods
325 Stereo Equipment
330 Tickets
340 Auto Sales
345 Motorcycles for Sale
360 Miscellaneous
370 Wanted to Buy
300s Merchandise
400s Real Estate
405 Real Estate
410 Condos for Rent
110 - Business Personals
FIRST CALL FOR HELP
HEADQUARTERS
HEHDQUARTERS
Counseling Center
24 hours
Telephone/in person
counseling & information
841-2345
www.hacc.louraine.ks.us
www.hqcc.lawrence.ks.us
415 Homes for Rent
420 Real Estate for Sale
430 Roommate Wanted
Classified Policy
Attention students: do you have a great GTA? Nominate him/her for the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards! Information and contact information: 300 Strong. Namination deadline: December 10.
115 - On Campus
The Kansan will not knowingly or any advertisement for housing or employment against any person or group of persons, religion, cross-religion, sexual orientation, nationality or disability. Further, the advertising that is in violation of all real estate laws in this newspaper is subject to the Federal rules on advertising. It may be advertised by any other choice, race, color, sex, religion, skin color, immigration status, or sexual orientation, to make any such preference, imitation, or disposition more informed that all jobs and housing advertised in this newspaper are an equal opportunity basis.
100s Announcements
120 - Announcements
HERBAL LIFE
HERBAL LIFE
Want better health, more energy?
Better weight control or loss?
evitality.net/alnaturel 1-877-796-2224.
ADOPTION
1-800-598-1808
Your Baby... Your Choice
Open or Closed Adoptions All Expenses Paid
125 - Travel
---
Spring Break **06**
Cancun, Mazalan or Jamaica From $399
Reps wanted! Sell 15 and travel free!
Call - 1-800-446-8353 www.sunbreaks.com
.