Nation/World
University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, September 26, 1989
7
World Briefs
BASE CLOSING DEBATED: The Senate, weighing a $289.2 billion military spending plan, re-opened debate Monday about a presidential commission's decision to shut down 86 military bases and close parts of five more.
"Base closures . . . could only proceed if they serve a greater good and produce real savings," said Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, in introducing an amendment that would withhold $300 million for closing military installations until certain guidelines were met.
Inouye's base-closing amendment would require the General Accounting Office to certify that the total savings from a closing would exceed the cost of shutting down the facility.
A federal commission, in recommending the closings, estimated that the move would save $5.6 billion during 20 years. However, lawmakers whose home-state laws were not complied with plained that the commission based its decision on inaccurate or incomplete information.
Shortly after Inouye argued for his measure, Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced an amendment that would kill it.
Votes on the issue were expected today.
TRAITOR'S CAPTOR DIES:
David Whitmer, who as a counterintelligence officer during World War II arrested "Axis Salvy," died Friday at age 70.
Mr. Whitmer, who lived in Mount Pleasant, Pa., died of
cancer at Presbyterian-University Hospital.
During World War II, Whitmer was in Army counterintelligence and arrested Mildred Flake Gillars, also known as Axis Sally, an elite Nazi spy. Son for her Nazi broadcasts meant to undermine Allied morale.
The Columbus, Ohio, woman served 12 years in federal prison and died last year at the age of 87.
Mr. Whitmer was a former executive vice president of Iron City Sash and Door Co.
Survivors include his wife, Anna Beery Whitmer; a son, a daughter and two grandchildren.
Funeral services will be private.
KING WARS TERRORISTS:
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia pledged an unwavering war on terrorists yesterday, stressing his government's resolve to behead anyone who tries to undermine security in the holy places of Islam.
His warning came at a Cabinet meeting, according to a statement by Information Minister Ali al-Shaer that was distributed by the official Saudi Press Agency.
Mahdi Karrubi, the radical speaker of Iran's parliament, yesterday reiterated his call for retribution against Saudi Arabia for last week's beheading of 16 Kuwaiti Shiite Muslims convicted of planting bombs in the holy city of Mecca.
The July 10 bombings came at the height of the Muslim pilgrimage season in Mecca, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16.
U.S. acts to decrease dollar value
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The U.S. dollar plunged on world markets yesterday as the United States and its key allies demonstrated determination to decrease the currency's value in a bid to solve U.S. trade deficit problems.
The sell-off began with hectic trading in Tokyo and was later matched in European and New York markets described as a rout for the dollar.
"The market is shell-shocked," said Renee Cohen, a dealer in the New York office of Barclays.
The dollar began dropping when markets opened in Tokyo and the decline continued later in trading in Europe and in New York.
"The manner in which the central banks conducted the intervention in the Far East and Europe today was extremely effective."
In Tokyo, the dollar lost 1.4 percent of its value, falling to 142.95 yen, compared to a Friday level of 145 yen. Later in London, it fell further to 142.69 yen. The slide continued in the United States, where the dollar skidded to 142.13 yen in New York trading, down 2.7 percent from Friday's level of 146.05.
The dollar also lost ground against the West German mark, the British pound, the French franc and other European currencies.
Traders reported heavy selling on the part of the central banks of the United States, Japan, West Germany and other U.S. allies.
The well-coordinated moves were timed to back up a blunt statement expressing displeasure with the dollar's increase in value this year. The statement was issued late Saturday by finance officials from the United States, Japan, West Germany, Britain, France, Canada and Italy.
The statement was released in
conjunction with the annual meetings of the 152-country International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its sister organization, the World Bank.
The communique expressed fears that the dollar's rise threatened to abort the improvement in the U.S. trade deficit. A stronger dollar makes U.S. goods more expensive in overseas markets.
Finance officials pronounced themselves pleased with the impact of their efforts yesterday and said they stood ready to take further coordinated efforts if the markets tried to push the dollar higher again.
Colombian politician suggests drug legalization
The Associated Press
BOGOTA, Colombia — A leading presidential candidate said yesterday that Colombia may have to legalize drugs in order to fight the powerful drug cartels waging war on the government.
Sen. Ernesto Samper, seeking the government Liberal Party's nomination for the presidential election in March, said, "If the repressive action falls, the road left is legalization of drugs."
The government began its crackdown on the drug cartels when leading presidential candidate Luis Carlos Guzmán was inaugurated Aug. 18 at a Bogota political rally.
minister, Carlos Lemos Simmons. The judges threatened Sunday to go on strike unless Simmons promised them better protection from drug cartels, which persistently threaten their lives
Also yesterday, representatives of the nation's 4,600 judges were schi-
[
Justice Department spokesman David Runkel said in Washington that U.S. officials sent 100 bulletproof vests and other security items to Colombia last week to help protect judges.
Since 1981, about 50 judges and 170 judicial employees have been killed, mostly by drug traffickers.
In the five weeks since the government began a crackdown on traffickers, 107 bombs have been set off. Six of them have been killed and 130 wounded.
President Virgilio Barco said he would extradite dru尔 lords to the
United States, prompting the carleis to delaware war on the government.
There have been reports that the traffickers are willing to pay billions of dollars to get the government to move them, but Barco has refused to negotiate.
"The dialogue would be Christian because it would avoid many deaths," the mayor said in an interview with the Colombian radio chain Caracol.
The mayor of the city of Medellin, Juan Gomez, said yesterday that "after this war is over and there are many dead . . . we are going to end up at the negotiating table talking with the drug traffickers."
Also coming out yesterday in favor of negotiations was the president of the House of Representatives, or
lower chamber of parliament, Norberto Morales.
"We have to open the way toward this initiative because we are bleeding to death. Our economy is in ruins," Morales said.
Morales said that two of Columbia's major drug trafficking suspects had called him with an offer to negotiate with the government and that he had passed the information along to Barco.
Pablo Escobar and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha offered to invest millions of dollars from their cocaine profits in Colombian industry if a truce was reached, Morales said.
Government officials have said in the past that drug traffickers apparently invest the bulk of their money outside Colombia.
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