An American withdrawal from talks on Lebanon was affirmed by the Reagan Administration. Officials said that Washington was no longer actively involved in trying to produce a political settlement in Lebanon and was willing to leave it up to the Lebanese and other Arabs to try to work out a solution. Donald Rumsfeld, President Reagan’s special Middle East envoy, has decided not to return to Lebanon for further mediation efforts at this time, the officials added. This decision was reached in part because President Amin Gemayel of Lebanon has indicated that because of pressure from the Syrians and from Lebanese Muslim and Druze factions, any political solution would have to include cancellation of the May 17, 1983, agreement between Israel and Lebanon on withdrawal of Israeli forces, a State Department official said. “We have no desire to broker an agreement that will only cater to Syrian interests,” he asserted.
Fighting intensified in Beirut and in the nearby mountains. On the first full day after the pullback of United States Marines from the airport to ships offshore, there were clashes between anti-Government militias and Lebanese Army troops. Artillery shells also landed near the Presidential Palace at Baabda, southeast of the city. The 1,250-man French contingent was the only unit of the multinational force remaining in the Lebanese capital, apparently waiting for establishment of a United Nations force to replace it. But at the United Nations, the Security Council put off a vote on the French proposal to authorize such a force.
The U.N. force in southern Lebanon was called an interim unit when it arrived in 1978. But it is still there and it has taken on an air of permanency, comfortable in its surroundings, at ease with its mission.
Iran’s main oil export terminal and tankers there have been attacked by Iraqi planes, Iraq announced. Baghdad said it had begun what it called a blockade of the terminal, and it warned all ships against approaching the terminal, which is near the head of the Persian Gulf.
U.S. guards at Britain’s Greenham Common cruise missile base fired two shots when two women anti-nuclear protesters broke into the base last week and ignored the Guards’ orders to lie face down, a left-wing Labor Party member of Parliament said. Norman Atkinson said the two women, whom he did not identify, were arrested. He asked Defense Secretary Michael Heseltine for a statement on the incident.
East Germany has threatened to halt the flow of legal emigration to the West if relatives of East German Premier Willi Stoph, who have taken refuge in the West German Embassy in Prague, are not returned home, the West German newspaper Bild reported. Stoph’s niece, Ingrid Berg, her husband, their two children and her mother-in-law entered the embassy Friday and appealed for asylum in West Germany. Bild said the East German regime indicated it would permit the family to emigrate at some time in the future if it came back.
Proposals by former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger for a radical overhaul of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are “more harmful than useful to the alliance,” Alois Mertes of the West German Foreign Ministry said today. Mr. Mertes was commenting in a radio interview on an article by Mr. Kissinger in the current issue of TIME magazine that calls for a partial withdrawal of G.I.’s from Western Europe if the Europeans do not take more responsibility for their own defense. Condemning Mr. Kissinger for “irrational pessimism,” Mr. Mertes said Europe could not take on responsibilities beyond its military might. On Mr. Kissinger’s suggestion that Europe should negotiate with Moscow to limit medium-range nuclear weapons, Mr. Mertes said, “How can we have negotiations dealing with weapons we don’t own?”
The U.S. State Department took exception today with former Secretary of State Kissinger on the health and strength of the NATO alliance. A State Department spokesman, John Hughes, said, “We believe that the NATO alliance is healthy, that its structure is sound and that its strategy is valid and viable.”
The Philippine Parliament approved legislation today to exempt political opponents of President Ferdinand E. Marcos from arrest and detention for any anti-Government statements they may make in the parliamentary election campaign this spring. The measure is expected to be signed this week by Mr. Marcos. Until now, under a series of decrees put forth by Mr. Marcos after he proclaimed martial law in 1972 and maintained after military rule was lifted two years ago, he could order the indefinite detention without trial or the right of habeas corpus of anyone suspected of subversion or sedition. The number of people held in jails on such grounds is not publicly known. The elections are scheduled May 14.
Pakistan’s military Government, in a surprise move, freed six opposition leaders from detention today. One of those released was Sardar Sherbaz Khan Mazari, chief of the banned National Democratic Party and leader of the 10-party opposition Movement for the Restoration of Democracy. Earlier today, Pyar Ali Allana, a leader of the banned Pakistan Peoples’ Party, was freed from Karachi central prison. Opposition sources said the other leaders were released from jails in southern Sind Province.
The Defense and State departments disavowed General Paul F. Gorman’s warning that Mexico could pose “the No. 1 security problem” for the United States in 10 years as a center for subversion of Central America. State and Defense department spokesmen said that the comments from Gorman, chief of the Panama-based U.S. Southern Command, before the Senate Armed Services Committee represented his “personal views.” Gorman testified that Mexico City is “becoming the center for subversion throughout Central America.”
Four Republican senators who spent the weekend inspecting new U.S. military installations in Honduras disputed Democrats’ charges that all the sites are permanent and that U.S. funds were misused for their construction. “If those things are permanent, we should fire the Corps of Engineers,” said Senator Warren B. Rudman of New Hampshire. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee, said that two sites being run jointly with the Honduran military are permanent but that the funds were appropriated and used properly.
A jailed Salvadoran army captain who has been linked to the 1981 killings of two American labor advisers entered the 17th day of a hunger strike to protest his detention, his family said. Capt. Eduardo Alfonso Avila was arrested last December 19 on a 30-day charge for leaving the country without permission. On January 18, authorities said he would remain in jail while new, unspecified charges were drawn up. Two national guardsmen have confessed to fatally shooting U.S. advisers Michael P. Hammer and Mark D. Pearlman in a San Salvador coffee shop. They also testified that Avila helped plan the crime.
More than 30 people were killed today in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola in a clash between riot policemen and people believed to be followers of a militant, fundamentalist Moslem leader killed three years ago, the Nigerian press agency reported. It said about 40 people had been arrested after the clashes with suspected followers of Muhammadu Maitatsine, who was killed in the northern city of Kano along with hundreds of people in riots fomented by his followers. The agency said Lieut. Col. Cyril Iweze, military governor of Gongola state, of which Yola is the capital, urged people in a radio broadcast to remain calm and assured them the situation was under control.
The Organization of African Unity is more than $40 million in debt and may soon be unable to finance its day-to-day operations, according to a document presented at the opening of the group’s budgetary conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. About half of the shortfall represents unpaid membership dues. OAU Chairman Mengistu Haile Mariam, the Marxist leader of Ethiopia, issued an urgent appeal to the 51 member nations to pay up. The organization was founded in 1963 to promote cultural, political and economic cooperation among members.
The U.S. Agency for International Development announced a $20.7 million emergency food program for five drought-stricken African nations, including $11 million worth for Zimbabwe. The new aid brings to $356 million the total amount of U.S. food and other economic assistance to black Africa in the current fiscal year. More than 55,000 metric tons of U.S. food will be sent to Benin, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Zimbabwe — with the largest share, 30,000 tons, going to Zimbabwe.
Workers’ union leader Billy Nair freed in South Africa. After the banning of ANC in 1960, Nair, a member of the South African Communist Party, became a member of the underground organization Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) which was led by Mandela. Nair went underground for two months before being arrested and detained for 3 months. He was banned for 2 years which was subsequently extended to 5 years in 1961. Between 1961 and 1963, he participated in the armed struggle as part of MK and was involved in the bombing of Indian Affairs Department. On 6 July 1963, Nair was arrested and charged with sabotage and attempting to overthrow the government by violent means and sentenced to 20 years on Robben Island along with other members of the Natal Command of MK. After his release on this day, he joined the United Democratic Front (UDF) office and participated in the anti-election campaign of 1984. He was again detained in August, just before the elections for the House of Delegates under section 29 of the internal Security Act.
President Reagan participates in a photo opportunity with Saudi Arabia Ambassador-designate Walter L. Cutler.
Walter F. Mondale now holds the most commanding primary lead ever recorded this early in a Presidential nomination campaign by a nonincumbent, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. The nationwide survey, begun right after Mr. Mondale’s victory in the Iowa caucuses last Monday, shows the former Vice President as the choice of 57 percent of the registered Democrats likely to vote this year.
New Hampshire’s primary today, the first in the nation, will be held amid growing uncertainty over whether Walter F. Mondale will receive the commanding majority of Democratic votes that seemed likely a week ago. The state’s voters are known for their volatility.
[Ed: Mondale is in for a most unexpected and nasty surprise…]
The Rev. Jesse Jackson drew praise from others among the major Democratic Presidential aspirants for acknowledging that he had referred to Jews as “Hymies.” The remark was cautiously criticized. Meanwhile, some political figures and leaders of Jewish organizations suggested that the incident had brought into the open the question of whether Mr. Jackson has benefited from a “double standard” under which his opponents have been reluctant to criticize him because he is the only black among the major candidates. And there were signs that the bad feeling between the candidate and Jewish leaders was not ended by his statements Sunday night.
President Reagan meets with his Secretary of Agriculture to discuss how the U.S. can produce a surplus of food to help befriend hungry nations.
The Senate routinely approved by voice vote and sent to the House legislation that would give the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies broader powers to deny access to records under the Freedom of Information Act. A spokesman for the Senate Judiciary Committee said the changes were dictated by “the abuses by organized crime trying to get the identity of informants and confidential investigation records.” The bill would curtail access to all records of information compiled for law enforcement purposes, whether investigatory or non-investigatory.
Interior Secretary William P. Clark, testifying before a House panel, defended President Reagan’s new cost-sharing water policy plan that puts the burden on users. Rep. Vic Fazio (D-California) and other subcommittee members voiced skepticism that Reagan’s plan will meet the nation’s growing needs. The new policy would allow the federal government to decide how much it will pay for each project individually.
A death sentence was struck down by a federal appeals court, which said that an Alabama law under which the convict was sentenced, and under which his accomplice in a murder has been executed, was unconstitutional. The appeals court ordered a new sentencing hearing for the convict, Wayne Eugene Ritter, before a Mobile jury.
Nuclear plant construction is being pressed by some utilities because of a combination of regulatory and financial incentives at a time when an increasing number of utilities are abandoning unfinished nuclear plants. The construction is continuing even though every reactor ordered since 1974 has been canceled at some stage of completion.
After-tax income declined slightly in American households in 1981 after adjustment for inflation despite a reduction in federal income tax rates, the Census Bureau said. In a report, the bureau said a 2.6 percent drop in average household income was due in part to rising unemployment and the start of a recession.
A move to aid farm workers’ health has been taken by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration under pressure from a federal judge. The proposed regulation would require employers of 11 or more farm laborers to provide them with portable toilets and water for drinking and hand-washing.
Defense lawyers attacked the credibility of a young mother who has testified that she was gangraped last March 6 on a barroom pool table in New Bedford, Massachusetts, while patrons cheered and refused to help. Under a six-hour cross-examination, the woman said she delivered drinks to two of her alleged assailants before the attack and admitted that she had cheated the state welfare department for three years. Judge William Young denied defense motions for a mistrial based on the alleged change in testimony. Six men are being tried on charges of aggravated rape.
An Anchorage businessman has admitted killing 17 prostitutes and topless dancers over a 10-year period according to a confession filed in court today as he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison on a series of guilty pleas. The confession by Robert C. Hansen, 45 years old, says he killed the women starting in 1973 and dumped their bodies in the Alaska wilderness. Mr. Hansen, owner of an Anchorage bakery, appeared before Superior Court Judge Ralph Moody, who sentenced him to 461 years, plus life, without possibility of a parole. Mr. Hansen, a native of Iowa, pleaded guilty to first degree murder in the slayings of four women whose bodies have been found.
He admitted murdering 13 other women and raping more than 30 others that he did not kill. At the time of his confession, Mr. Hansen was in jail on charges of kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old prostitute. A gag order enforced by the court since his arrest last June had prevented any news about the investigation from being published. However, court documents filed last month revealed that a gun found in the insulation in his home had been linked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to shell casings in gravesites of two dancers.
A former Nazi collaborator, accused of killing unarmed Jewish civilians while serving in the German-backed Ukrainian Police during World War II, agreed to be deported to West Germany, the Justice Department announced. Alexander Lehman, 64, admitted “that in order to gain admission into the United States, I concealed… that between 1941 and October 1943, I was a member of the Ukrainian Police in Zaporozhe, Ukraine.”
A church-run school that Nebraska officials have tried to shut down will continue to operate and may soon have new students, the church’s fugitive pastor said. The Rev. Everett Sileven, who fled Nebraska to avoid testifying in court and is now in Council Bluffs, Iowa, said several families who recently joined Faith Christian Church in Louisville, Nebraska, are interested in enrolling their children in the school, which was ordered closed for not using state-certified teachers. Sileven has defied the court order and continues to operate the school.
Nine hundred and seventy-four children held for up to four days in Immigration and Naturalization Service detention centers were again eligible for release or deportation today after a federal district judge lifted a temporary restraining order barring the immigration service from deporting unaccompanied illegal alien minors. Six hours after the order was lifted, the Border Patrol began taking youths to the Mexican border in buses for expulsion. Judge Edward Rafeedie warned the immigration service that any violation of an earlier injunction that protects alien minors’ rights may amount to contempt of court.
People’s sexual fantasies can be at odds with their sexual orientation, according to researchers. Among heterosexual men and women, the researchers found, the most common fantasy involves replacement of their usual partners. They also found that the fantasies included “a certain amount of unusual sex.”
The Defense Department has begun work on a second-generation anti-satellite weapon that could destroy enemy spacecraft in high orbits, a Pentagon research chief said. The Air Force has started testing a first-generation anti-satellite rocket that will be launched from F-15 fighter jets against low-orbiting satellites. Richard D. DeLauer, a defense undersecretary, told a House committee the Pentagon also has begun work on a more advanced system “with additional capability to place a wider range of Soviet satellite vehicles at risk.”
Several Western states could face “very serious problems” with flooding when heavy mountain snowfalls begin to melt this spring, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned. “I have been in this business 40 years, and I have never seen two years in a row this wet,” Robert Clark, director of hydrology for the National Weather Service, an arm of NOAA, said. Utah faces the worst flooding potential, Clark said. He also predicted that rivers would rise to at least 130% of normal in Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, western Colorado and Arizona and in eastern sections of Oregon and California between April and July.
The Montreal Expos traded Al Oliver to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Fred Breining and Max Venable.
Carl Lewis sets an indoors world record for the long jump (8.675 meters).
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1179.96 (+14.86).
Born:
Aníbal Sánchez, Venezuelan MLB pitcher (World Series Champions-Nationals, 2019; Florida-Miami Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals), in Maracay, Venezuela.
Denard Span, MLB centerfielder (Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners), in Tampa, Florida.
Jumbo Díaz, Dominican MLB pitcher (Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays), in La Romana, Dominican Republic.
Scott Mathieson, Canadian MLB pitcher (Philadelphia Phillies), in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
John Curry, NHL goalie (Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild), in Shorewood, Minnesota.
James Augustine, NBA power forward (Orlando Magic), in Midlothian, Illinois.
David Noel, NBA power forward (Milwaukee Bucks), in Durham, North Carolina.
History Diaries 