Voice of America, 99-07-27

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From: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>

CONTENTS

[01] KOSOVO MASSACRE (L-ONLY) BY TIM BELAY (PRISTINA)

[02] U-N - BALKANS (L-ONLY) BY LISA SCHLEIN (GENEVA)

[03] TURKEY - KURDS (L-ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)

[04] RUSSIA - US BY ANDRE DE NESNERA (WASHINGTON)

[05] U.S. - RUSSIA WRAP (S) BY DEBORAH TATE (WHITE HOUSE)

[06] RUSSIA IMF (L-ONLY) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)

[07] N-Y ECON WRAP (S & L) BY BRECK ARDERY (NEW YORK)

[08] TUESDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

[01] KOSOVO MASSACRE (L-ONLY) BY TIM BELAY (PRISTINA)

INTRO: A NATO spokesman says Friday's massacre of 14 Serb farmers may be part of a larger plot to destabilize Kosovo. Tim Belay reports from Pristina on the efforts behind the investigation into the incident.

TEXT: On average, there have been about 30 murders a week in Kosovo since NATO arrived here about six weeks ago. While investigators from several organizations are busy trying to solve those crimes, last Friday's massacre south of Pristina is getting extraordinary attention. NATO's lieutenant commander, Louis Garneau, says there are a couple of reasons for the huge effort to find out who killed the Serbs from the village of Gracko.

[02] U-N - BALKANS (L-ONLY) BY LISA SCHLEIN (GENEVA)

INTRO: The United Nations is appealing for 434-million dollars to provide 13 aid agencies with the money they need to carry out a huge humanitarian operation in the Balkans until the end of the year. Lisa Schiein in Geneva reports the United Nations warns that vital humanitarian work in five countries in the region could be jeopardized if it doesn't get the funds requested.

TEXT: Most of the money will go to tackle (solve) problems directly related to the war in Kosovo. The rest will be spent to alleviate the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people affected by earlier wars in the Balkans. U-N agencies have already received more than a half-billion dollars for the Balkans this year. While this is a lot of money, they say the rapidly changing situation in the region is forcing them to respond quickly and creatively to new needs. The spokesman for the U-N-H-C-R - Kris Janowski -- says the refugee agency has had to radically shift its operation. He says it was originally intended to help hundreds of thousands of Kosovo refugees living in neighboring countries get through the winter.

[03] TURKEY - KURDS (L-ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)

INTRO: Turkey's top military official has denied reports that Turkish air-force jets bombed a Kurdish rebel base in Iran. Amberin Zaman in Ankara reports the General, Huseyin Kivrikoglu, denied Iran's claims that Turkish planes had struck inside Iran, killing five Iranians, saying there is in his words no possibility of any mistake

TEXT: General Kivrikoglu's statement followed a report published in the Turkish press Tuesday quoting Turkey's air-force chief as saying Turkish jets had struck a Kurdish rebel base inside Iraq on June 18th. The air-force chief, Ilhan Kilic, said the base belonging to rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (P-K-K) was located about one-and- one-half kilometers inside Iraqi territory, close to Iraq's border with Turkey and Iran. General Kilic says some Iranian officers, whom he says were training the rebels, probably died in the attack. His comments follow accusations from the Iranian government that Turkish planes had in fact hit a base of Iran's elite Islamic revolutionary guards, killing five people and wounding 10 others. Iran accused Turkey of acting under orders from the United States and Israel. Turkey has long accused Iran of providing arms and bases to the Kurdish rebel group, which has been waging a 15-year armed campaign for Kurdish self rule. Two Turkish soldiers were detained by Iranian authorities last week as they were pursuing P-K-K rebels inside Iran. Tensions between the two countries have been escalating ever since. Turkey says many P-K-K rebels shifted their bases to Iran, after Turkey threatened Syria with military action if it refused to expel P-K-K forces from Syrian territory last October. A high-level Turkish delegation of diplomats and security officials is set to travel to Iran Wednesday to secure the release of the Turkish soldiers, and to present Iran with what Turkey says is documented evidence of P-K-K activities in Iran. (Signed)
NEB/AZ/JWH/WTW 27-Jul-1999 11:20 AM LOC (27-Jul-1999 1520 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[04] RUSSIA - US BY ANDRE DE NESNERA (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin is in Washington for talks with senior US officials. In this report from Washington, former Moscow correspondent Andre de Nesnera looks at the significance of Mr. Stepashin's visit.

TEXT: This is Sergei Stepashin's first visit to Washington since he was confirmed as Russia's Prime minister two months ago, replacing Yevgeni Primakov. This is also the first visit by a Russian Prime Minister to the United States since the end of the Kosovo crisis. Russia was vehemently opposed to NATO's bombing campaign against Serbia and made that clear to the U-S government. As a sign of displeasure, then Prime minister Primakov - on his way to the United States on March 23rd - turned his plane around when informed NATO'S bombing campaign was to begin. Experts agree NATO's air campaign against Serbia has strained relations between Washington and Moscow. Paula Dobriansky from the (New York) "Council on Foreign Relations" says despite the cooler ties, both sides agree good relations are essential.

[05] U.S. - RUSSIA WRAP (S) BY DEBORAH TATE (WHITE HOUSE)

INTRO: The United States and Russia have agreed to open talks next month in Moscow on a new round of cuts in their nuclear weapons arsenals. The announcement came at the end of a day of meetings between President Clinton, Vice President Gore and Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin here in Washington. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from the White House. Text: The talks on a new Start Three nuclear arms treaty will begin next month even though the Russian Duma has yet to approve Start Two - which calls for major reductions in U.S. and Russian stockpiles of long-range nuclear warheads. Vice President Gore renewed the administration's call on the Duma to move forward with ratification. But with the Russian Parliament still angered by NATO's bombing campaign over Yugoslavia, Mr. Gore says lawmakers may not be in any hurry to approve Start Two.

[06] RUSSIA IMF (L-ONLY) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: The International Monetary Fund is set (Wednesday) to approve a four and a half billion dollar loan to Russia. V-O-A's Barry Wood reports the approval of the cash infusion comes at a time Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin is visiting Washington.

TEXT: The I-M-F loan has been in the works for many months. The monetary fund, which is owned by its nearly 190 member governments, is in a tough situation concerning Russia. Only one year ago the I-M-F approved a slightly bigger Russian loan, but that money vanished nearly as quickly as the cash was disbursed. Western governments believe the money was essentially stolen but they have been unable to identify the thieves. So the I-M-F has this year proceeded with considerable caution. Five I-M-F missions have been in Moscow over the past 12 months. The I-M-F managing director, Michel Camdessus, has been there twice. At last, the agreement is ready. While the money could be disbursed soon, in reality most of it will stay with the I-M-F. The cash will be used to repay past I- M-F loans that are coming due. At a news conference with Mr. Stepashin Tuesday, World Bank president James Wolfensohn said Russia is making progress and bouncing back from last year's deep recession. The World Bank is boosting its lending to Russia and plans to lend one point two billion dollars over the next year. But some experts believe Russia hasn't made enough progress in building a market economy and shouldn't be rewarded with more loans. Ben Slay is an economist specializing in Russia at Planecon, a private sector Washington research agency.

[07] N-Y ECON WRAP (S & L) BY BRECK ARDERY (NEW YORK)

INTRO: Stock prices in the United States were up strongly today (Tuesday) in a rebound from recent selling. VOA Business Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from New York.

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10- thousand-979, up 115 points or one percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 index closed at 13-hundred 62, up 15 points. The NASDAQ index gained more than two percent. Analysts say bargain hunters helped boost stock prices, especially many technology issues, which have fallen in the past two weeks. Stocks were also helped by a modest rally in the bond market

[08] TUESDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: Glancing at Tuesday's editorial pages across the United States, tributes to two men are the focus many commentaries. One is the late King Hassan the Second of Morocco, whose funeral took place Sunday. The other is former cancer patient Lance Armstrong, the American who has won the famed Tour de France bicycle race. Other topics include the very unsettled situation in Yugoslavia's Kosovo province after the murder of 14 Serb farmers: t major chance in this country's third political party: and the plight of our beautiful national parks. Now here is __________with a closer look that includes a few excerpts in today's U-S Editorial Digest.

TEXT: The heroic victory in the grueling weeks-long Tour de France by a formerly cancer patient from Austin Texas has caught the imagination of the nation, and of many editorial writers. "The Trenton [New Jersey] Times" speaks for many as it writes:

VOICE: On rare occasions, sport transcends its customary role as a diversion from more important things, and becomes profoundly meaningful in itself. Such an occasion was Lance Armstrong's astounding victory Sunday. . In 1996, Mr. Armstrong, a competent but not sensational bicycle racer, was found to have advanced testicular cancer, plus lesions on his abdomen, lungs and brain. Given less than a 40 percent chance of survival, he underwent two operations and 12 weeks of chemotherapy that left him unable to walk on his own. . Now Lance Armstrong has somehow found the strength and speed and will power to win the world's most famous bicycle race. . His story sends a powerful message to all of us: Refuse to surrender to adversity; reject the reflexive assumption that any goal is impossible, that any Alp is too steep to climb.

TEXT: In the Pacific Northwest, "The Oregonian" in Portland editoralized Monday:

VOICE: The inspirational story of Lance Armstrong's comeback . is a refreshing contrast to the doping [drug] scandals that blemished the tour's stature a year ago. . An American hero? Absolutely.

TEXT: "His performance would have been remarkable in any case," says "The New York Times," "but seems miraculous given that he was diagnosed just three years ago with . cancer." While Ohio's "Akron Beacon Journal" adds:

VOICE: In a summer of American sports success (don't forget the U-S women's . World Cup . victory), Lance Armstrong has become a symbol of something more intrinsic in life than success -- survival. Text: The other set of tributes belong to the late Moroccan King Hassan the Second, whose funeral (on Sunday) attracted a long line of dignitaries, including President Clinton and his family. "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" remembers him as a "peaceable king."

VOICE: It is fitting that Arab and Israeli leaders took advantage of the funeral . to further peace talks, and that the United States was represented at the rites by President Clinton, who participated in the funeral procession. The king . was among the first Arab leaders to accept the existence of Israel. That his dealings with the Jewish state were based in part on self-interest doesn't alter the fact that the king defied a taboo that prolonged the Arab-Israeli conflict and encouraged extremists on both sides.

TEXT: "The Sun" in Baltimore has a more balanced appraisal of the King, while in the end praising him as a man of peace.

VOICE: Some of King Hassan's opponents early on met death in mysterious ways, some while plotting his [death]. But King Hassan's rule was benign compared with the Islamic extremist revolution in Algeria, the tyranny in Iraq and Syria and Libya, or the closed society of Saudi Arabia. King Mohammed is said to want to curtail his powers, while preserving his role on the model of the Spanish constitutional monarchy. He will need all his father's wily skills to achieve and survive that.

TEXT: In Texas, "The Houston Chronicle" poses what it sees as the key question:

VOICE: . Who will ascend to leadership in the Arab world to replace Hassan and Jordan's late King Hussein with the kind of sway and respect to advocate peaceful coexistence with Israel[?].

TEXT: Continuing violence in Yugoslavia's Kosovo province, despite the presence of thousands of NATO troops draws this outcry from "The Philadelphia Inquirer."

VOICE: The murder of 14 Serbian farmers near Pristina on Friday, as they harvested their wheat, raises important questions about whether NATO forces can maintain order in Kosovo. The farmers were part of a dwindling Serbian community in Kosovo; as many as three quarters of the 200-thousand Serbs who lived there (10 percent of the province's population) have fled since the bombing ended. // OPT // The wounds from this tragic war are still raw -- as more and more Kosovar Albanian mass graves are unearthed and Albanian refugees return to their pillaged homes. So it is unrealistic to expect all attempts at revenge to halt immediately. But there are steps which KFOR [the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo] and the United Nations could take that would improve the security for Serbs still in Kosovo. // END OPT //

TEXT: On New York's Long Island, "Newsday" calls the situation "Kosovo Chaos," and warns: "There are too few police to keep order in a land of long-standing ethnic enmities." While in the Midwest, "The Chicago Tribune" knows where to put the ultimate blame for the farmers' massacre.

VOICE: To blame NATO for the recent carnage, as Belgrade would have it, adds insult to the butchery and war crimes perpetrated by [Yugoslav President Slobodan] Milosevic. The fault lies with him and his regime. Perhaps the thousands of Serbs who have poured into the streets of Yugoslavia to call for his ouster will carry that message.

TEXT: Several papers are taking note of a new trade agreement signed by the United States and its long- time enemy, Vietnam, as an indication the war of the 1960s and `70s is finally -- and irrevocably -- over. Today's "Dallas Morning News" says of the pact:

VOICE: The Vietnam War's legacy is frozen in hellish images: . [Now,] after nearly three decades, there may be real closure to that bitter experience. A trade agreement announced this weekend should further exorcise the psychological and political demons that had separated the United States and Vietnam since the fighting ended.

TEXT: Domestically, supporters of third-party political figure Ross Perot have lost control of his Reform Party, to supporters of the Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura. Says "The Boston Globe":

VOICE: At the urging of Governor . Ventura of Minnesota, the convention chose Jack Gargen of Florida as national chairman over a Perot-backed candidate. Dissatisfaction with the major parties is now what it was in 1992, but the fact that there is a reform party underlines voters' continuing frustrations with the Democratic and Republican parties -- frustrations those parties have earned.

TEXT: In Nebraska, the state's largest daily, "The Omaha World-Herald," is furious about the failure of Congress to appropriate money to repair the nation's national parks, which, the paper says, have been starved of capital-improvements funds since 1966. The neglect to such natural wonders as Yosemite, The Everglades and Yellowstone causes the "World-Herald" to ask:

VOICE: What, exactly, will it take to get the problem addressed, ladies and gentlemen of Congress? Will it happen when tourists begin to smell sewage as Old Faithful erupts? When gridlock paralyzes the Grand Canyon area because the roads and parking areas are so inadequate? When the historic ruins at the Chaco Culture National Historic Park in New Mexico finally disappear under the onslaught of weather, vandalism and looting? The American people, whose heritage is being squandered by neglect, deserve an answer.

TEXT: That concludes this sampling of comment from the pages of Tuesday's U-S daily papers.
NEB/ANG/WTW 27-Jul-1999 12:12 PM LOC (27-Jul-1999 1612 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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