The British Government protested to Iraq today over a missile attack that damaged a British cargo ship in the Persian Gulf last week. The protest, delivered by the Foreign Office to Ambassador Wahbi al-Qaraghuli, involved an attack March 1 on the 19,201-ton Charming while she was part of a convoy heading for the Iranian port of Bandar Khomeini. Several crewmen were reportedly wounded in the action, during which crewmen abandoned ship and the vessel ran aground on a sand bank. The Iraqi action followed warnings that ships approaching Iranian oil ports would be attacked. A Turkish vessel was reported sunk in the same attack, and an Indian ship was said to have been damaged.
Meanwhile, the Teheran radio said Iranian forces had repulsed another Iraqi attempt to recapture an artificial island in marshlands just inside Iraqi territory near Basra. The island, named Majnoon, was built to tap oil reserves estimated by some experts at 7 billion barrels. Test drilling was interrupted by the outbreak of the Iraqi-Iranian war in September 1980. Majnoon was captured by Iranian forces last February 24. Iraqi battle reports said Iraqi helicopter gunships had attacked Iranian positions east of Basra, inflicting heavy casualties. The Iraqi report did not mention any fighting at Majnoon. Ten boats carrying Iranian soldiers in the marshlands were hit, according to an Iraqi communiqué.
Iran appears to be trying to wear down Iraq with costly attacks by untrained units to set the stage for a possible decisive thrust by regular forces being held in reserve, according to Reagan Administration officials. They pointed out that few regular Iranian Army units were apparently used in Iran’s latest offensive, which was carried out mostly by teen-agers and older men.
These officials were reluctant to try to predict the outcome of the war, which began in September 1980, or to say which side they thought was winning. But they made it clear they felt that Washington, rather than maintaining the more neutral stance that prevailed until about a year ago, was now interested in preventing a victory by Iran. In recent months, the prevailing Administration judgment has reportedly been that the revolutionary Iranian regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was irretrievably radicalized and that there was little prospect of its being replaced by more moderate elements. The officials said the Administration view was also that if Iran were to win and if a radical Islamic regime were to be established in Iraq, the effects would be more unsettling throughout the region than the recent Syrian ascendancy in Lebanon.
Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger dismissed Soviet allegations that Washington is “dramatically escalating tension” in the Persian Gulf by trying to establish naval and air control in the region. He said he found the accusation “somewhat amusing because the Soviets have ships in that area.” Weinberger stressed that the U.S. aim is “to keep these bodies of water open,” especially as a major artery for Western oil supplies.
About 3,000 young Poles, many with tears streaming down their faces, attended a morning-long mass in protest against the removal of crucifixes from their classrooms. A protest that led Wednesday night to an official order indefinitely closing an agricultural college spread to three high schools in the rural village of Garwolin, 40 miles from Warsaw.
A French navy gunboat fired two 20-millimeter shells at two Spanish fishing vessels that French officials said failed to heed numerous warnings to leave French waters. Nine men aboard one of the Spanish vessels were injured, two of them seriously. Spanish officials condemned the French action. French officials, claiming that the two vessels had been fishing without a license. maintained that the firing followed standard international procedures. The incident occurred in the Bay of Biscay off the French port of La Rochelle.
A one-day strike by public employees to protest Government efforts to hold the line on salaries disrupted many services across France today. About 20,000 bureaucrats, teachers, public utility and transportation workers marched peacefully through Paris to press their demands, the police said. Subway, rail and bus services in Paris were cut by about 75 percent. Parts of the country lost electricity for one to four hours and the teachers’ union said 70 percent of its members struck nationwide. Domestic and international flights at Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports in Paris were delayed or canceled by strikes by air traffic controllers and ground crews.
Andrei D. Sakharov, the Soviet physicist and rights activist, is in failing health, under constant surveillance and occasional harassment, and barred from receiving visitors in his exile in Gorky, a friend who visited him secretly said yesterday. The friend, Natalia Gesse, a retired 70-year-old editor, said in an interview in New York that she saw Dr. Sakharov in the Volga River city last December and his wife, Yelena G. Bonner, in Moscow a month ago, just before emigrating to the United States. Both Dr. Sakharov, 62 years old, and his wife, who is 59, complained of heart ailments, Mrs. Gesse said, and Miss Bonner, who was a member of the now- disbanded Helsinki human rights group, “feels very bad, her lips grow blue, and she looks terrible.”
Nicaraguan rebels in a speedboat used rockets and machine guns to attack a fuel dock in the third strike against a Nicaraguan port in as many days, witnesses said. The attempt to blow up a fuel tank at San Juan del Sur, 70 miles southeast of Managua, came as a Panamanian-registered cargo ship reportedly hit a mine planted by guerrillas in the Pacific port of Corinto. The vessel, carrying a cargo of resin, did not sink, and there were no reports of injuries, sources in Managua said.
President Reagan was rebuffed by a key Senate committee, which rejected a request that would have nearly doubled United States aid this year to the Nicaraguan rebels. The Republican-controlled panel, the Senate Appropriations Committee, said it had been inadequately consulted about the issue.
President Reagan decides to take up an emergency appropriation to keep El Salvador’s Army running.
An Argentine military tribunal ordered stricter terms of detention for two leaders of the former ruling junta that started the Falkland Islands war in 1982. The order opened the way for specific charges to be lodged against Admiral Jorge I. Anaya, the former navy commander, and General Basilio Lami Dozo, the ex-chief of the air force. Also being held is General Leopoldo F. Galtieri, former army commander and president, who was put under strict detention February 28. Under recommendations of an investigating commission, Anaya and Galtieri could face death sentences and Lami Dozo, a long prison term.
Mexico dismissed its consuls in Philadelphia and New York in a campaign to guarantee that its foreign offices operate “with absolute honesty.” the government’s official newspaper said. El Nacional reported that Francisco Cassina, consul in Philadelphia, and Jaime Pena Vera, consul in New York, were fired and their cases were turned over to the Mexican attorney general. It did not specify the charges but added that 30 other members of the foreign service are under investigation.
Canadian sealers have halted the clubbing of baby harp seals because of international protests over the slaughter and boycotts against Canada’s fishing industry. “We must make it very clear that this hunt has been discontinued,” said Kirk Smith, executive director of the Canadian Sealers’ Association, after a meeting in Newfoundland of the organization’s board. He said this year’s hunt of the baby seals, like last year’s, had been put off in the face of strong opposition by European Governments and worldwide protests that hunting infant seals with clubs is inhumane. The anti-sealing protests were stepped up recently when overseas boycotts began against Canada’s fishing industry, prompting industry pressure against the sealers.
President Reagan meets with Senator John Tower (R-Texas) to discuss the Senator’s recent trip to the Middle East.
President Reagan receives an agreement from Ambassador Price II of England.
Renewed violence in Punjab state left three people dead today, pushing the death toll to 91 since rioting between Hindus and Sikhs broke out February 14, officials said. A policeman was fatally wounded in an ambush by three Sikh terrorists Wednesday night in the Patiala district, 140 miles north of New Delhi, officials said. They said the body of a Hindu youth, shot in the head, was found today in a field near the village of Kakka Kandayala near Amritsar. And in another incident, a Muslim disguised as a Sikh with cartridges hidden in his turban was fatally wounded in a gun battle with security forces near Kapurthala, officials said. The police said the man was a passenger in a bus and was stopped for a search when the bullets fell from his turban.
A 2,000-mile fence will be built along India’s border with Bangladesh in an effort to cut down a massive influx of illegal immigrants into India’s Assam state, the Indian government announced. Home Minister P. C. Sethi said a road will also be built along the border to allow patrolling by police. The project is expected to be completed in five years. Last year, the influx of immigrants across the border led to a series of massacres that killed more than 3,600 people.
South African authorities charged that black nationalist guerrillas are moving into Namibia (South-West Africa) through neutral Botswana for the first time in the rebels’ 18-year war for independence of Namibia from South Africa. The charge could jeopardize the recent accord under which South Africa is withdrawing its troops from southern Angola in return for Angola’s pledge to keep guerrillas, who have bases in Angola, out of the Angola-Namibia border zone. The guerrillas were not party to the accord and have said. they will continue their struggle.
Former Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian D. Smith said today that Zimbabwean Government operations against rebels in southwestern Zimbabwe were causing starvation and driving civilians into neighboring Botswana. In Washington, the Zimbabwean Embassy denied claims of starvation but conceded food supplies might not be reaching all those needing it in the drought-stricken area. It said authorities were seeking to find out why. Mr. Smith said it was in an effort to turn attention from the situation in Matabeleland Province that the Government this week reported uncovering shallow graves containing what officials said were the bodies of 4,000 people killed by Mr. Smith’s troops during the civil war in what was then known as Rhodesia.
A concession on military spending by President Reagan was reported by an official close to the White House negotiations with Senate Republicans. The official said that Mr. Reagan had agreed to try to work out a package with the Senators that would include some reductions in his request for military spending. The President apparently acted under pressure from his Congressional allies. The official said his action appeared to reflect a growing feeling at the White House and in Congress that bipartisan negotiations were not bearing fruit. The official said Mr. Reagan had told a group of Republican senators that “a package helps all of us” and that it was important to achieve unity with the Senate leaders after several days of contentiousness on military spending and other issues in the effort to reduce Federal deficits.
Knowledgeable officials said the President had not agreed to specific reductions in his request for a 13 percent increase in military appropriations for the 1985 fiscal year, after making up for the effects of inflation. But the official said Mr. Reagan had directed his aides to see if a compromise agreement could at least be reached with Senator Pete V. Domenici, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Mr. Domenici and other leading Senate Republicans have proposed a 5 percent increase in military appropriations after making up for inflation.
Another official involved in the discussions said there was no consensus on military spending but added, “It is fair to say they are close.” He cautioned, on the other hand, that White House sensitivity made the talks delicate and that they could easily fail. “It is so precarious right now,” he said. “You can see the pieces coming together, but you can see them flying apart.”
Six percent economic growth this winter was predicted by Martin S. Feldstein, chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. That is considerably faster than the 4 to 5 percent pace that the Reagan Administration and most private economists were expecting as recently as a month ago.
A vote on Edwin Meese 3rd’s nomination to be Attorney General is being delayed by the Senate Judiciary Committee because of new questions about the Presidential counselor’s role in the 1980 Reagan campaign’s use of documents from President Carter’s campaign.
Reports of a surge of support around the country for Gary Hart since his three victories in New England were bolstered by a Gallup poll that showed him leading President Reagan in a national sample of voters. The survey showed that in a trial heat for the presidency, 52 percent favored Senator Hart to 43 percent for President Reagan.
Gary Hart’s recent triumphs in New England have built such a powerful momentum that Walter F. Mondale’s superior organization seems unlikely to prevent Senator Hart from winning next Tuesday’s Massachusetts primary for the Democratic Presidential nomination, according to politicians and public opinion polls. A longtime politician said, “It’s the most incredible shift in public opinion I’ve ever seen.”
Walter F. Mondale appears to have an edge in the Democratic party caucuses that will meet next Tuesday across Washington State. However, Gary Hart’s quick surge has generated much support that politicians say could translate into a strong showing in the caucuses, even to a victory.
The Reagan Administration argued in federal court that it deserved a third chance to obtain the medical records of “Baby Jane Doe,” the handicapped New York infant whose parents rejected surgery to prolong her life. The Justice Department argued that a three-judge panel of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals had erroneously interpreted the law in upholding a lower court ruling that denied the government access to the records. It asked for a rehearing by the full court. The 5-month-old infant was born with multiple birth defects.
The Center for Auto Safety said in Washington that the government is looking into possible defects in 42 million cars, and many of the potential problems may be deadly. The center, a private organization, released a list of “informal” inquiries being conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. An agency spokesman acknowledged that the inquiries are underway. The center said the potential safety problems include alleged rear axle failure in more than 4 million large General Motors cars made between 1976 and 1981. A spokesman for GM said statistics show that GM cars are among the safest in the world.
The nation’s three major Conservative Jewish organizations urged the Senate to reject any proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize organized prayer in the public schools. The Senate should, the groups said in a statement, “resist attempts to make any further breaches in the wall of separation between church and state.” The Senate, still short of the two-thirds vote needed to pass the amendment, is not expected to vote on it before next week. The statement was issued by the Rabbinical Assembly, the United Synagogue of America and the Women’s League of Conservative Judaism.
The House voted overwhelmingly to extend and rewrite the Vocational Education Act of 1963, broadening it to include displaced workers and high-technology industries. The program provides grants to states to help finance education programs, including programs for older workers and the handicapped. The measure would add training for high-technology industries — requiring companies involved to pay 25% of the costs-and training for displaced workers — those who lost their jobs because of technological advances. The measure now goes to the Senate.
The Army might be unable to reach about 22% of its National Guardsmen and reservists in the event of a crisis, the General Accounting Office reported. Telephone numbers and home addresses for them are out of date on the Army’s “alert roster.” the GAO found. Prompt contact with guardsmen and reservists would be crucial because, in the absence of a draft, the Pentagon relies on them to provide quick reinforcements. The Defense Department promised to fix the problem.
As the trial of six accused rapists proceeds in Fall River, Massachusetts, a young mother of two takes voluminous notes and telephones an associate, who in turn updates a network of other women throughout New Bedford. The six defendants are charged with raping a 22-year-old woman in a New Bedford bar. The women belong to a group that emerged after the rape to raise the public’s consciousness and to put pressure on local and state officials for help in curbing violence against women.
Attorneys defending a Latino policeman accused in the slaying of a 20-year-old black man rested their case after prosecutors ridiculed the Miami officer’s claim of self-defense, saying the victim never pulled a gun. Prosecutors in the manslaughter trial of Luis Alvarez, 24, said they would call rebuttal witnesses beginning today. Alvarez fatally shot Nevell Johnson Jr. at a video arcade in the predominantly black Overtown area on December 28, 1982, setting off three days of riots that caused a second death and millions of dollars in damage.
A Federal grand jury indicted 13 Philadelphia policemen today on charges of racketeering, extortion and conspiracy in connection with what prosecutors said was the collection of $300,000 to protect video poker machines used for gambling. Five of the accused officers had resigned from the force in the inquiry into police corruption started by the Federal Bureau of Investigation more than two years ago. Police Commissioner Gregore Sambor said he was “disheartened that any member of this department would sell their badge for money.”
Two workers died when a water pump failed at a highway construction site in Phoenix, filling a large sewer pipe with toxic carbon monoxide gas. At least 28 other workers and firefighters were overcome by the fumes and heat exhaustion. Two workers entered the pipe to check on the pump, authorities said. When the two did not come out, others went inside and also were overcome. Firefighters with oxygen tanks pulled the men out.
A judge has extended state workers’ compensation protection to more than 200,000 farm and ranch workers, ruling it was unconstitutional to exclude them. The ruling was issued late Wednesday by Judge Harley Clark in Travis County District Court. The lawsuit was filed against the state and the Industrial Accident Board. A spokesman for the State Attorney General said today that the state would probably appeal the decision. The American Civil Liberties Foundation of Texas and the United Farm Workers said the ruling meant 200,000 to 350,000 farm and ranch workers would get medical and lost-time benefits if they were injured on the job.
Donald Trump, the owner of the USFL New Jersey Generals, announced today that he had signed Herschel Walker to a new four-year contract that will keep the star running back with the team through the 1989 season. Although neither side would disclose financial details, it was clear that the new agreement would keep Walker’s pay among the highest in football, or perhaps at the very top. Trump said the sum involved was “comparable” to those in two other multi-million-dollar contracts that players have signed with United States Football League teams in the last week: the $6 million that the New Orleans Breakers are reported to be paying Marcus Dupree for five years, and the $5.5 million that is estimated to be the present value of the four- year contract that will give Steve Young of the Los Angeles Express more than $40 million over the next 43 years.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1147.09 (+3.46).
Born:
Sasha Vujačić, Slovenian NBA shooting guard and point guard (Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks), in Maribor, Slovenia SR, Yugoslavia.
Steven Halko, Canadian NHL defenseman (Carolina Hurricanes), in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada.
Sergei Klimovich, Russian NHL centre (Chicago Blackhawks), in Novosibirsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.
Anthony Montgomery, NFL nose tackle and defensive tackle (Washington Redskins), in Cleveland, Ohio.
Brian Iwuh, NFL linebacker (Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos), in Houston, Texas.
Quinton Teal, NFL defensive back (Carolina Panthers, San Diego Chargers), in Bennettsville, South Carolina.
Rob Smith, NFL tackle and guard (Cleveland Browns), in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.
Yoshihisa Hirano, Japanese MLB pitcher (Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners), in Uji, Japan.
Dave Moffatt, Canadian pop-country-rock musician (The Moffats), in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
History Diaries 