The 1981 papal assassination attempt is a classic case of state-sponsored terrorism, and the Soviet KGB almost certainly was behind it, a group of experts on terrorism said in Washington. They said terrorism sponsored by governments rivals arms control as the biggest world problem for the rest of the 20th Century. The conclusions were contained in a report by 18 experts in terrorism or in specific aspects of the papal plot. The group was led by former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski and Robert Kupperman, a senior associate at Georgetown University’s Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Soviet Union today unveiled a new proposal in East-West negotiations on reducing conventional forces in central Europe and said the plan could produce movement in the deadlocked talks. Moscow called for the same reductions in Soviet and United States troops as outlined in a plan it submitted in June 1983 – 13,000 for the United States and 20,000 for the Soviet Union. But the new draft, unlike the previous proposal, said cuts in non-Soviet Warsaw Pact units and non-United States NATO troops stationed in the region should be left to continued talks in the Austrian capital.
The departing American delegate to the United Nations, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, is preparing a report to Congress on the 1984 session, and the data that she is working with include statistics indicating that overall support for the United States in the General Assembly continued to decline. The statistics cover voting patterns in both the General Assembly and the Security Council. Dr. Kirkpatrick’s report is to be submitted to Congress within the next several weeks. Dr. Kirkpatrick, a political scientist familiar with quantitative analysis, said in an interview that when the statistics are examined according to issues that the United States considers important and when other, unquantifiable, factors are taken into account, the last General Assembly “was substantially more constructive than the General Assembly has been for a long time.”
Drug crops were larger in 1984 than in the year before in most of the major countries producing marijuana, coca and opium poppy, according to the State Department’s annual report on worldwide narcotics production. The report takes on added significance this year because of a new law that requires the President to cut off aid to countries that in his view have made inadequate efforts to reduce such crops. The United States has diplomatic relations with 10 of the 13 known major drug-producing countries, and in seven of those countries narcotic crops increased last year. All seven receive United States aid. The production of coca, used to make cocaine, grew by more than one-third over all in the three traditional coca- growing countries: Bolivia, Peru and Colombia. In addition, the State Department said Ecuador had become a major coca-producing country.
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister said today that his Government was unaware of American contingency plans to place nuclear weapons in Spain and that the deployment would never be allowed. The official, Alfonso Guerra, told reporters that Spain would not permit its sovereignty “to be violated by any secret plan of whatever country.” His reaction was similar to comments across the political spectrum in response to revelations that the United States had contingency plans to store nuclear depth charges in Spain and in seven other countries.
Turkey is recalling its ambassador from Sofia for consultations about Bulgaria’s ethnic Turkish minority, the state radio said today. The Government has said it is considering seeking an agreement with Bulgaria for the emigration of ethnic Turks after reports that they are being harassed. The reports, denied by the Bulgarian Government, say Turks have been attacked and killed by security forces carrying out a campaign to force them to take Bulgarian names. Foreign Ministry officials said the recall of Ambassador Omer Engin Lutem was not intended as a sign of displeasure with Bulgaria. The two Governments have had two earlier agreements or understandings on the emigration of ethnic Turks from Bulgaria.
President Reagan canceled plans to participate in ceremonies in West Germany on May 8 marking the Allied triumph over the Nazis 40 years ago. In bypassing West Germany on V-E Day, Administration officials said Mr. Reagan would avoid a situation that could upset several groups — the West Germans, other European allies, American veterans and Jews.
A former United States Army soldier said today that he believes he saw Dr. Josef Mengele, the accused Nazi war criminal, in American custody shortly after World War II. Walter Kempthorne, a 59-year-old retired engineer from Riverside, California, told reporters at the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies that he saw Dr. Mengele when he was a guard at a prison camp in Germany. Mr. Kempthorne’s responsibility was to prevent German prisoners from escaping or committing suicide. One day while he was with another guard, Mr. Kempthorne said he encountered two other guards who were forcing a prisoner to exercise. He asked who the prisoner was. “He then looked at me and with sort of a smirk, said, ‘This here’s Mengele,’ ” Mr. Kempthorne said. He said the guard told him that the prisoner had sterilized thousands of women at Auschwitz, and added, “We’re getting him in shape to get hung.”
Several members of the Supreme Soviet, the Soviet Union’s nominal parliament, will visit the United States next month, House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill (D-Massachusetts) announced. The Soviet delegation will be headed by Vladimir V. Scherbitsky, who is also a member of the ruling Politburo. The Soviets will visit Washington March 4-7 and then make stops in Texas, California, and New York City. The Soviet visit is in return for a visit of House members last year to the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union, India, Mexico and other nations said they will return about $6 million in refunds from a special U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization fund to ease the financial loss caused by the U.S. pullout. France, the organization’s host country, said it will contribute about $2 million. The agency lost an annual contribution of $47 million-about one-quarter of its budget-when the U.S. withdrew at the end of last year.
An American gained his freedom in Lebanon. The American, Jeremy Levin, a CNN journalist, is one of five Americans kidnapped there in the last year. The American journalist, one of five Americans kidnapped in Lebanon in the past year, gained his freedom today, but it was unclear whether he had been freed or had escaped. Levin, the Beirut bureau chief of the Cable News Network, was reported late this afternoon to have arrived at a Syrian Army base in the Bekaa region. He had been held for 11 months. His captors were believed to be Islamic extremists possibly belonging to the shadowy organization known as Islamic Holy War.
Iraq denied that its warplanes attacked an unfinished nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr. Speaking to the official Iraqi news agency, a military spokesman denied a report by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna that such an attack occurred Tuesday, killing one person and injuring several others.
Thai military officials said today that Khmer Rouge rebels, who have been fighting the Vietnamese in Cambodia for six years, appeared to be on the verge of being driven from their most important bases in western Cambodia along the Thai border. Backed by heavy artillery barrages, the Vietnamese were reported to be closing in on guerrilla outposts in the western mountains and on the rebels’ showcase camp at Phum Thmei. Earlier in the day, Vietnamese troops estimated to number 13,000 moved in from the south and east in a coordinated drive on the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Khao Din and the headquarters camp of Phnom Malai. Khao Din was said to have fallen, along with part of Phnom Malai, from which the rebels had defended Phum Thmei.
A joint U.S.-Laotian search team excavating the site of a 1972 American military plane crash in southern Laos has found remains believed to be those of missing U.S. servicemen, an American military officer said in Bangkok, Thailand. The discovery was made soon after the excavation work began Monday about 24 miles northeast of Pakse in southern Laos, the officer said. U.S. authorities will not have any details on the discovery until the remains are taken to Honolulu for identification after excavation is completed February 21, the officer said.
China will triple the number of cities and rural counties that foreigners can visit with special police permits, the Foreign Ministry announced. A total of 159 places will be open to visitors who have permits. The ministry said the number of areas that foreigners can visit without permits will be increased today from 31 to 98. Among areas now accessible without permits are the Shenzhen and Zhuhai special economic zones near Hong Kong and the bustling Fujian province cities of Fuzhou and Xiamen.
A group protesting “U.S.-Japanese support for the Marcos dictatorship” claimed responsibility today for a hotel fire that killed at least 27 people, including five Americans, and warned of more attacks to come. The Metropolitan Police Command said arsonists set fire to the Regent of Manila where 288 people from more than 20 countries were staying. A note claiming responsibilty for the fire was delivered today to a number of foreign news agencies. Signed “The Angels,” it said, “The Regent of Manila fire is a protest against the U.S.-Japanese support for the Marcos dictatorship. “Other forms of sabotage have to follow because those concerned do not heed previous warnings against any attempt to prolong the oppressive satanic regime of Marcos and his gang.”
Two Ethiopians who had escorted three American legislators on a tour of Jewish villages were attacked and beaten Wednesday night by men later identified as Government authorities. Senator Paul S. Trible Jr., Republican of Virginia, described the incident as “a clear message by a very repressive regime that did not appreciate our going to Gondar or visiting the Falashas.” Representative Gary Ackerman, Democrat of New York, said later in Addis Ababa that it was “reprehensible” that two Ethiopians would be “brutalized” while “accompanying a U.S. Congressional delegation’s humanitarian mission to Falasha villages.” Falasha, an Aramaic word meaning stranger, is often used to refer to the Ethiopian Jews.
Angolan rebels said they will free 22 American, British and Filipino hostages under a plan being worked out by the International Red Cross. A spokesman for the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola said the two Americans, three Britons and 17 Filipinos are “in fine health” at a rebel base in southern Angola. The rebels, fighting to topple the Marxist government, have complained in the past about Western companies aiding Angola. They seized the hostages in a raid on a diamond mining center on December 29. The spokesman said that the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva had proposed that the captives be freed Tuesday, and that the rebel leadership was expected to agree. He added that the Red Cross would fly the captives out of Jamba. The two Americans were identified as Gerhard Opel and Alan Bogard. No hometowns were given.
President P. W. Botha of South Africa said today that Nelson Mandela, a jailed leader of the African National Congress, would remain in prison following his rejection of a conditional Government offer of freedom. The comment was apparently intended to counter speculation in the South African press that Mr. Botha and Mr. Mandela had not closed the door to further discussion on the terms of the black leader’s release. “We cannot order their release if they remain committed to violence, sabotage and terrorism,” Mr. Botha said in a statement concerning longterm political prisoners who have been offered liberty if they renounce violence as a political weapon. “Their continued imprisonment must now be attributed to their refusal to renounce their commitment to violence.”
Corporate gifts to charity, although growing steadily, come nowhere near filling the gaps left by the Reagan Administration’s cuts in Federal financing of social programs, monitors of corporate giving said. The Federal budget cutbacks have nonetheless left their mark on corporate philanthropy. Executives who direct such giving agree that the Reagan policies have dramatically changed both the nature and the number of financing requests they get. Not only are more groups asking for money, they say, but also new kinds of groups — including some state government agencies — have begun to look to the business world for help in meeting the needs left by the budget cuts. Notwithstanding this pressure — or President Reagan’s urging that the private sector absorb more of the costs of meeting social needs — most corporations say it is not their job to provide money for basic social welfare.
President Reagan spends the day cleaning brush and making phone calls at the Ranch.
Bob Dole, the Senate majority leader, said today that the White House budget proposal to eliminate Federal revenue sharing next fiscal year was just a “gimmick” to make overall budget cuts total $50 billion. “I’ve seen a list in addition to the one that’s officially up here in which the Adminstration thinks they are not going to achieve what’s in their budget,” Mr. Dole said in an interview.
Jesse Jackson wants to mend his strained ties with Democratic Party leaders, he said in a conciliatory interview. But in an interview several days ago, Mr. Jackson accused party leaders of trying to attract white male voters by “proving they can be tough on blacks.”
Outgoing U.N. Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick said that she had been approached by supporters who believe she “would make a strong candidate” for political office, on the basis of public opinion polls. But Kirkpatrick insisted, “I have never considered running for office.” Kirkpatrick, who has announced that she will return to teaching and writing, indicated that she was considering a switch in party affiliations. Her comments came after Senator Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-New York) told reporters that she would soon switch from the Democratic to the Republican Party and “could be a candidate for any office, especially President.”
Mechanical heart patient William J. Schroeder, improved after being plagued by fever, exchanged Valentine’s Day cards with his wife of 33 years and celebrated a 53rd birthday that he had never expected to see. Schroeder, who was convinced that he was dying when he agreed to become the world’s second permanent artificial heart recipient on November 25, felt well enough after his bout with flu-like symptoms to join 50 doctors, nurses and hospital staff members in the auditorium of Humana Hospital Audubon in Louisville, Kentucky, for a birthday celebration.
Actions to curb malpractice suits were urged by the American Medical Association. The association made scores of proposals, including tougher defense strategies, financial penalties for “nuisance suits” and limits on some types of damage awards and plaintiffs’ legal fees. “It makes no sense for a renowned surgeon in New York to have to pay an $80,000 a year insurance premium to practice medicine,” the report said, “It makes no sense for insurance companies to pay more money to lawyers than to injured persons.” The previous reports noted that Americans were filing three times as many medical malpractice claims as they did 10 years ago, 16 claims for each 100 doctors annually, and were winning record settlements.
Five members of an international adoption ring have been charged with bilking more than 200 prospective parents in 40 states out of hundreds of thousands of dollars with the promise of children from Mexico, federal authorities said in Salt Lake City. U.S. Attorney Brent Ward said that the multicount indictments were secretly handed up by grand juries in Boston and Salt Lake City. The nationwide investigation found evidence that the victims — most of them residents of Utah and Massachusetts — paid between $300 and $6,000 each between 1978 and 1983 on the promise of getting Mexican children for adoption, the indictments allege.
A Federal judge today signed a consent decree settling a seven- year suit by the Federal Government charging irregularities in the operations of an International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ health and welfare fund. Under the terms of the agreement, the Teamsters Union Central States Health and Welfare Fund will recover $4.4 million that the Government said it was overcharged by a claims processing concern owned by Allen Dorfman, was shot to death in an unsolved case last year.
Shell Oil Co., responding to reports that at least 20 refinery workers died of leukemia during a 10-year period, said that it had been open in telling its employees of the health danger and was trying to determine the cause of the disease. The statement came in response to a published report that the deaths at two Shell refineries represented a much higher number than statistically likely and possibly were caused by exposure to benzene. The company said in a statement that it frequently communicated with employees and retirees about benzene dangers through meetings, bulletins and letters to homes.
A judge ruled that a lesbian’s rights of free speech were not violated when the Augusta, Maine, school board canceled a Tolerance Day program in which she was to appear. Justice Donald G. Alexander also refused to order school officials to reschedule the event, and said that homosexuals have no special protection under federal or state laws. “I know we’re going to appeal,” said Dale McCormick, president of the Maine Lesbian-Gay Political Alliance, who was to have spoken at the January 25 event at Madison High School.
Four people were killed and four were wounded in a running gun battle across 60 miles of northwest Kansas that ended in a farmyard shootout with police officers, the authorities said. The shooting spree, which apparently began with a robbery in a restaurant, ended in the farmyard shootout, the authorities said today. Three people, two of them wounded, were arrested at the shootout, in which a fourth suspect was killed, the authorities said.
A Texas man shot two Temple Junior College instructors today and held one hostage for two and a half hours before he fatally wounded himself with a shot in the chest. The woman he held was hospitalized in critical condition. The incident occurred as faculty members gathered for a meeting. The gunman, identified as Steven Parsons, 28 years old, had been barricaded in the Fine Arts Building, where the teachers were to meet. He was taken to Scott & White Hospital, where he died while in surgery for a bullet wound in the sternum. Earlier the hostage, Laurelyn Carlisle, a management teacher, 33, had been shot in the stomach. Miss Carlisle and a speech teacher, Debbie Foster, 30, encountered Mr. Parsons at 3 PM, the police said. Miss Foster was shot in the hip.
Children who testify in molestation cases must be questioned in open court, not by closed-circuit television, the California Supreme Court ruled today. The court refused to hear an appeal in the case of a Los Angeles man charged with molesting two young boys, thus letting stand a lower court ruling that bars testimony by television on the part of young children. That ruling has been relied on by the judge in the McMartin Preschool molestation case. Prosecutors and parents have favored letting such children testify from outside the courtroom because of the potential psychological harm of facing those accused as child molesters and answering questions about sex in open court. Defense lawyers say the suspects have the constitutional right to be confronted by their accusers. The Legislature is considering a measure to allow television testimony.
A High Point, North Carolina hotel that was used as a hospital in the Civil War and that now serves as a home for transients caught fire tonight, killing five people and critically burning a sixth, the police said. The blaze at the three-story Biltmore Hotel was discovered shortly after another fire had been brought under control at the Wachovia Bank & Trust Company, about four blocks away, said police Capt. R. J. MacGuire.
An Idaho-based neo-Nazi group has established a computer system to link rightist groups and to disseminate an “enemy” list. One list available from the computer, titled “Know Your Enemy,” includes the addresses and telephone numbers of regional offices of the Anti- Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the offices of the Communist Party U.S.A. It also includes names and addresses of “race traitors” and “informers.” The computer link, called the “Aryan Liberty Net,” is sponsored by the Aryan Nations, an organization based in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Law-enforcement officials have tied a splinter group of the organization to several bank and armored-car robberies, armed attacks on Federal officers and the machine-gun slaying of Alan Berg, a Denver talk show host.
The singer Stevie Wonder, saying he was a “conscientious criminal” against oppression, was arrested along with a group of anti-apartheid demonstrators today outside the South African Embassy in Washington. Protests have been held daily outside the embassy.
Thousands were still without electricity after a massive snowstorm left drifts up to 20 feet high. National Guardsmen were mobilized in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia to help rescue stranded residents and to plow drift-choked highways. The waning storm dumped two feet of snow on the central Appalachians and scattered a few more inches of snow across the Great Lakes and most of the Ohio Valley. Travelers’ advisories for up to five inches of new snow were posted for Michigan, and advisories warning of light snow and drifting were issued for Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and West Virginia.
The “Whitney Houston” debut album by Whitney Houston is released (Grammy Award Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female 1986, Billboard Album of Year 1986)
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1287.88 (-10.04)
Born:
Tyler Clippard, MLB pitcher (All-Star, 2011, 2014; New York Yankees, Washingotn Nationals, Oakland A’s, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins), in Lexington, Kentucky.
Tank Tyler, NFL defensive tackle (Kansas City Chiefs, Carolina Panthers), in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Jacob Parker, American actor (“Evening Shade”), in Bixby, Oklahoma.
Karima Adebibe, Moroccan-English actress and model, in Bethnal Green, London, England, United Kingdom.
Miki Yeung, Hong Kong singer and actress, in British Hong Kong.
Heart Evangelista, Filipina singer and actress, in Manila, Philippines.
History Diaries 