Tributes poured in from around the world Thursday to the late Labour Party leader John Smith, who died earlier from a massive heart attack aged 55. In Washington, the US State Department issued a statement regretting "the untimely death" of the rapier-tongued Scottish barrister and parliamentarian. "Mr. Smith, throughout his distinguished career in government and in opposition, left a profound impression on the history of his party and his country," State Department spokesman Michael McCurry said. "Secretary (of State Warren) Christopher extends his deepest condolences to Mrs. Smith and to the Smith children." In Bonn, the head of the German Social Democratic Party, Rudolf Scharping, said in a statement he was "very affected by the sudden death of John Smith. "A good friend of German social democracy has left us too early. He was very close to achieving his life's goal of making the Labour Party the largest political force in Britain" and would be "cruelly missed" in Europe, he said. Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten, a former Conservative Party chairman, offered his condolences to the Smith family and said his former politcal opponent was a "good and decent man, widely respected." In France, French President Francois Mitterrand sent a message of condolences to Smith's widow Elizabeth and to Labour Party general- secretary Larry Whitty. The head of the French Socialist Party Michel Rocard told French radio Thursday he was "shocked and stunned" by Smith's death: Rocard had spent Wednesday evening with Smith and his wife after attending the launch in London of the Labour Party campaign for the European elections. "He was in great shape last night, and this came as a shock to me," Rocard said. "John Smith was a fervant European. He fought for a Great Britain that would have a leading role in the building of Europe." In Brussels, European Commission President Jacques Delors, a French socialist, said Smith was "a friend and companion in the struggle for justice and solidarity." He would be "sorely missed by all who are striving for progress and, in particular, by all true Europeans." The Party of European Socialists also expressed its sorrow. Party president, Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes, said: "Scotland and Britain have lost a great man, Europe has lost a great ally and the socialist family has lost a great leader. "We have lost not just a great friend but a convinced and convincing European whose ideals and work sprang from deeply-held moral convictions and sense of justice." In Lisbon, Portuguese Socialist Party general secretary Antonio Guterres sent a message of condolences to Smith's widow. In London, the Socialist International, expressed its "profound sadness" in a letter signed by president Pierre Mauroy, a former French Socialist premier, and general secretary Luis Ayale. Smith was the group's deputy president. France would not join a US military invasion of Haiti as part of an effort to restore democratic rule, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Thursday. Juppe, in Washington for talks with US officials, said he told US President Bill Clinton that Paris had ruled out participation in such an invasion force, which has been suggested as an option by Clinton and urged by some members of Congress. "I confirmed that military intervention to kick out the military leadership is out of the question for us," Juppe told reporters in Washington. The French diplomat meanwhile reiterated his condemnation of the military regime in Port-au-Prince and the naming Wednesday of interim president Emile Jonassaint, whom Juppe described as a "puppet with no legitimacy." He said France was working to enforce the latest UN Security Council resolution calling for stiffer sanctions if the military refuses to leave power and restore democracy by May 21. France also was prepared to participate in a UN multinational force to help train a new Haitian police force once democracy is restored, Juppe noted. Juppe said such a force was in the process of being sent to Haiti last October before the collapse of an agreement to restore exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In an implicit criticism of US handling of the matter, Juppe said, "Unfortunately the boat (with US and Canadian troops) turned back because there were a few people making noise on the port." Chinese dissidents in the United States generally favor a partial withdrawal of Beijing's privileged trading status targeting state- owned firms, not complete revocation, dissident leaders said here Thursday. There are differing views among the dissident community in the United States on the best way to advance human rights in China, but "an overwhelming majority do agree on the middle policy of targeted revocation," Zhao Haiching, the president of the National Council for Chinese Affairs (NCCA) told a press conference. China has clearly not made the significant overall progress on human rights which President Bill Clinton said last year would be needed if he were to extend Beijing's most favored nation (MFN) trading status beyond June 3, Zhao said. But withdrawing MFN altogether would make everyone suffer for the government's intransigence, said Zhao, whose group coordinates dissident groups in the United States pushing for human rights and democracy in China. Revoking MFN just for products which come mainly from state-owned enterprises would continue US pressure on the government to improve its human rights record, while not punishing the private sector and market economy which everybody wants to promote, Zhao said. Zhao also said it was the United States's own fault that its decision to firmly link MFN to human rights this year had not borne more fruit. Mixed signals from Washington had convinced China "that all they have to do to win MFN is play tough, and they have been doing so," Zhao said. Economic officials in the government made it clear early that revoking human rights would be an economic disaster for the United States. Chinese dissident Wang Juntao, jailed for his part in the 1989 pro- democracy movement which was crushed in the Tiananmen Square massacre, is in Washington this week meeting with lawmakers and US officials. Wang said that his release was a miracle, but urged the international community not to forget all the political prisoners still behind bars in China. Wang was to meet with Clinton's national security advisor Anthony Lake Thursdsay and Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord Friday. The Azerbaijani enclave of Nagorno Karabakh was torn by further fighting Thursday as unconfirmed reports of a possible new ceasefire circulated. Russian foreign ministry sources said a ceasefire accord was agreed Wednesday between the Azeri and Armenian defence ministers as well as pro-Armenian separatist forces fighting to prise the enclave from Azeri administration. The area has a largely Armenian population but falls within Azerbajian. The accord was due to have come into effect overnight but a spokesman for the Armenian rebels in the province told AFP there had been merely a photocopied exchange of propositions Wednesday on a possible laying down of arms. Armenia's defence minister meanwhile told AFP that Yerevan was in no way party to a decision. Karabakh troops accused Azerbaijan of launching an attack Thursday on the back of intensive artillery bombardments around Agdam, just beyond the eastern edge of the disputed enclave and now under Armenian control. ITAR-TASS quoted the Azeri minister of defence as saying Baku's forces had for more than 24 hours been engaged in clashes with the aim of retaking two villages in northern Karabakh. A spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry called on the warring parties to "respect scrupulously" the reported ceasefire agreement but also questioned the willingness of their political masters to seek a peaceful solution. Many earlier ceasefire accords have been broken in the conflict which has claimed more than 20,000 lives since fighting broke out in February 1988. Peace talks chaired by the inter-parliamentary assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States failed last week in Kirghizstan. This time, Nigel Mansell will not be left behind on a restart. The English racer's bid for victory here last year in his first Indianapolis 500 was foiled when eventual winner Emerson Fittpaldi and runner-up Arie Luyendyk passed him when a mid-race caution period ended. That was how Mansell learned passing was allowed on the 2.5-mile (4k) oval here as soon as the green flag waves, not at the start-finish line. "The restart was a painful lesson regarding the rules of the race track," Mansell said. "There are some different rules here. Now I know about them. I wasn't as prepared as I will be this year." The reigning Indy-car series champion will be among top contenders in Saturday's battle for pole position in the 78th Indy 500. Time trials for the May 29 race continue the next two weekends. "I'm optimistic, yes, but confident, no," Mansell said. "It's going to be a tough weekend. This track stands alone as king of the circuits. It carries a lot more excitement for the driver. It's incredibly demanding here." Mansell's Cosworth-powered Lola has a top speed of 227.969 mph (364.750 k/hr) during this week's practice sessions. That ranks fifth for the week behind Brazilian's Fittipaldi and Raul Boesel, Canada's Paul Tracy and Mansell's teammate, Mario Andretti. "I'm pleased with my speeds," Mansell said. "We will work on the car and try to go a little quicker yet. When I came back here the first day I was probably a one. Now I'm maybe a six on a learning scale. I'll be up to nine or 10 by Saturday. But it takes time." Mansell went on to five Indy-car triumphs and the series title last season, but well remembers the one that got away. "Last year I made some mistakes here and I'm not going to make any excuses why they happened," Mansell said. "The strategy will be very much the same. This time I'm more comfortable and aware of a lot more situations. I will try to make sure I'm in good shape and get the first 400 miles out of the way, then you really have to start charging and racing and go for it." Mansell's Indy rookie of the year performance made most people forget he ws injured just a month earlier in a crash at Phoenix in his first oval effort. "This year I can walk and it's so much better," Mansell said. "I have a comfort level mentally and physically. After the accident on the first oval, a lot of people said, 'I told you so.' To have the dogged determination to come back and do well on the ovals showed a lot of people." Despite four oval triumphs last year, Mansell does not feel he has the circuits mastered. "I'm still learning about the ovals," he said. "I haven't adapted really. Oval racing is pure racing and I have always thought of myself as a racer. You get in traffic and you have dogfights and I forget I'm on an oval." Mansell has not forgotten what the ovals have meant to him, however. "Winning the Indy-car championship had more impact than winning the Formula One championship," he said. "I was runner-up three times basically from 1986, so when we eventually did win Formula One, everyone was so relieved. Winning here, everybody was more shocked and surprised." js94bb Iraqi Vice Prime Minister Terek Aziz lobbied UN members in New York Thursday to lift the oil embargo against his country. Next week the Security Council is to review the sanctions imposed against Baghdad following the invasion of Kuwait, and western diplomats are predicting that the four-year-old embargo will remain in force. Aziz said the council should acknowledge that Iraq has complied with UN resolutions and that conditions for lifting the sanctions have been met. Some members of the council refuse to recognize the progress Baghdad has made toward meeting the UN demands, Aziz said following a meeting with Nigeria's Ibrahim Gambari, who holds the council's rotating presidency. Iraq is particularly keen on getting rid of the oil embargo in return for its agreement to meet UN disarmament requirements and has argued that the allied nations had not kept up their end of the bargain. Aziz said the United States and Britain should "decide if they are in compliance with the resolutions they themselves voted or are using those resolutions to reach special, unilateral, political objectives." The vice-prime minister is to meet with several Security Council members before Tuesday's session to review the embargo as well as with the head of the UN commission to oversee Iraq's disarmament, Rolf Ekeus. The commission is currently working on a system for monitoring Iraq's weapons capabilities long-term which diplomats said could be operational by July. A six-month probationary period would be required before the commission could verify Baghdad's compliance with all the conditions to the Security Council, which would then consider lifting the sanctions, sources said. Two RAF Hercules transport planes airlifted 148 foreign evacuees, most of them British, to Cyprus Thursday from Sanaa as they fled the fighting in war-torn Yemen. The evacuees who arrived at Lanarca airport later boarded a British Airways airliner bound for Gatwick airport, in southern Britain. The BA plane was due to touch down at 1:20 a.m. (0020 GMT) Friday. The planes had flown in from Dijoubti to Sanaa earlier Thursday to pick up the evacuees. British construction worker Michael Wild said he had heard the blast from a Scud missile fired by southern forces into the centre of Sanaa on Wednesday from his hotel 1,000 metres away. It had shattered his hotel room windows. He quoted local Yemenis as saying that 43 people had been killed and 10 injured in the attack. The official agency SABA said Wednesday 25 civilians had been killed in the attack on the Yemeni capital. A Hungarian neuro surgeon, who asked to be not identified, said "medical supplies are extremely low" at the main Al-Thawra hospital in Sanaa where he had been working. He said the operating theatres in the 500-bed hospital were barely functioning and virtually all the hospital foreign staff mostly Bulgarians and Indians had left. About 10 Jordanian doctors arrived at the hospital a few days ago, he said He added about 15 Somali refugees caught in the fighting between rival north and south forces were admitted with serious bullet wounds. "At least two of them died later," he said. Pilot Flight Lieutenant Nick Young said communications at Sanaa airport were "excellent" and praised the help offered by the Yemeni authorities. He said he saw no damage to the airport, despite reported bombing raids by southern jets when the conflict erupted last week. There were 75 evacuees on one plane and 73 on the other. About 20 were Americans, but there were also Dutch, New Zealanders, Swiss and Hungarians on board. The evacuees were only allowed to bring out a maximum of 20 kilos of luggage per person. Oil workers who were working with Yemen-Hunt Oil in the Marib field in northern Yemen said about 200 oil workers had stayed behind to keep operations running. Some said Sanaa appeared to be a "ghost town" with many shops closed, and long queues at petrol stations. Wild also added that the southern Yemen Socialist Party building in the capital had been devastated in an attack and the Italian embassy had been hit. More than 4,000 foreigners have now fled the country since fighting erupted between northern troops loyal to President Ali Abdallah Saleh and southern forces backing his rival Ali Salem al-Baid. Ernie Els was back to his best when the Spanish Open began at windy Club de Camp here Thursday. The South African, who makes a habit of false starts, had seven birdies in his five-under-par 67 to take the lead from Zimbabwe's Mark McNulty and England's Steven Richardson and Peter Mitchell. Els rocketed to his first European Tour victory back in January when he beat world number one Greg Norman by six strokes in the Desert Classic in Dubai. But he missed the halfway cut at St Mellion in England last week when he returned following a two-week break. "I was a bit rusty but I didn't want to miss the elections back home," said the 24-year-old from Johannesburg. McNulty had five birdies on greens that became very fast in the wind and sun. "They were just my pace. I liked them very much," he said. He was playing only his third event on the European Tour this season after injuring his shoulder playing beach cricket with his children. Seve Ballesteros was well satisfied with his first round 72 despite being five shots behind Els. Last week Ballesteros had 16 pars and two birdies in his final round at the Benson and Hedges Open at St Mellion for his first tournament success for more than two years. Today he parred the first 11 holes and his only two bogeys came when he missed a three-foot putt at the 13th and a six-footer at the 14th. "I have been very steady and I should have had a much better score because I missed five birdie chances in the first nine holes," he said. Richardson, who has missed the cut in six of his last seven tournaments, hit his best form of the year when he covered his first nine holes in a six-under-par 30. But he couldn't keep it up, coming home in 38. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Thursday that a US Senate vote calling for a unilateral lifting of the arms embargo on Bosnia was a matter of internal politics in the United States. "I got the impression that this is a message for internal use because the two amendments adopted are contradictory," Juppe said after senators approved two separate measures calling for a multilateral lifting of the embargo and unilateral action by Washington. "I was able to pick up from my discussions that the House of Representatives had no intention of approving a compulsory measure," he added. Juppe said that his discussions with President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Warren Christopher reinforced the idea that Washington was not moving toward a unilateral lifting of the embargo to help the Moslem-led Bosnian government defend itself. Two RAF Hercules transport planes airlifted 148 foreign evacuees, most of them British, to Cyprus Thursday from Sanaa as they fled the fighting in war-torn Yemen. The evacuees who arrived at Larnaca airport later boarded a British Airways airliner bound for Gatwick airport, in southern Britain. The BA plane was due to touch down at 1:20 a.m. (0020 GMT) Friday. The planes had flown in from Djibouti to Sanaa earlier Thursday to pick up the evacuees. British construction worker Michael Wild said he had heard the blast from a Scud missile fired by southern forces into the centre of Sanaa on Wednesday from his hotel 1,000 metres away. It had shattered his hotel room windows. He quoted local Yemenis as saying that 43 people had been killed and 10 injured in the attack. The official agency SABA said Wednesday 25 civilians had been killed in the attack on the Yemeni capital. A Hungarian neuro surgeon, who asked to be not identified, said "medical supplies are extremely low" at the main Al-Thawra hospital in Sanaa where he had been working. He said the operating theatres in the 500-bed hospital were barely functioning and virtually all the hospital foreign staff mostly Bulgarians and Indians had left. About 10 Jordanian doctors arrived at the hospital a few days ago, he said He added about 15 Somali refugees caught in the fighting between rival north and south forces were admitted with serious bullet wounds. "At least two of them died later," he said. Pilot Flight Lieutenant Nick Young said communications at Sanaa airport were "excellent" and praised the help offered by the Yemeni authorities. He said he saw no damage to the airport, despite reported bombing raids by southern jets when the conflict erupted last week. There were 75 evacuees on one plane and 73 on the other. About 20 were Americans, but there were also Dutch, New Zealanders, Swiss and Hungarians on board. The evacuees were only allowed to bring out a maximum of 20 kilos of luggage per person. Oil workers who were working with Yemen-Hunt Oil in the Marib field in northern Yemen said about 200 oil workers had stayed behind to keep operations running. Some said Sanaa appeared to be a "ghost town" with many shops closed, and long queues at petrol stations. Wild also added that the southern Yemen Socialist Party building in the capital had been devastated in an attack and the Italian embassy had been hit. More than 4,000 foreigners have now fled the country since fighting erupted between northern troops loyal to President Ali Abdallah Saleh and southern forces backing his rival Ali Salem al-Baid. Fresh advice from American tennis guru Nick Bolletieri propelled Boris Becker into his best clay court showing for two years. The German slowed down enough to beat Frenchman Cedric Pioline 6-3, 6-4. Becker last got this far on clay in Hamburg two years ago when he was beaten by compatriot Michael Stich in the semi-finals. Bolletieri, who nurtured Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Monica Seles in their formative years, has been with the German for three months. "Nick makes work fun," Becker said. "We have been working on clay for four weeks and every day I feel that I am playing a little bit better." Forty young far-rightwingers armed with knives and sticks chased a group of Turks through the eastern German town of Magdeburg Thursday, injuring five of them, police said. The group came across the Turkish people at the end of the afternoon and chased them through the centre of the town. Police, who said they made 15 arrests, did not detail the condition of any of the five injured. Tottenham Hotspur, the London giants who narrowly escaped relegation from the English Premiership, could yet go down after being accused of making "irregular" loans to players. England star Paul Gascoigne, now with Italian club Lazio, was alleged to be one of the recipients of the loans, said to have ranged from 25,000 pounds to 70,000 pounds. In 1990 Swindon Town, newly promoted to the old-style Division One, were relegated to Division Three after being found guilty of similar charges. On appeal they were finally placed in Division Two. Although the Football Association could relegate Spurs, a heavy fine is more likely as the alleged offences occurred when Tottenham were under the jurisdiction of the Football League. A three-man Premier League inquiry team spent more than six months investigating the allegations and the inquiry is continuing. The loans were allegedly made to players between 1985 and 1989. They were said to be worth more than 400,000 pounds but were never repaid. The alleged offences occurred before Alan Sugar took control with the now England manager Terry Venables in 1991. Further investigations could relate to money allegedly offered by Tottenham to entice schoolboys to sign for the club. North London rivals Arsenal were among several clubs who recently complained of an 87,000 pounds offer by Spurs to 13-year-old schoolboy Scott Parker. FA chief executive Graham Kelly said Tottenham had 14 days in which to answer the charges. Sugar claimed he had played a major role in bringing the business of the possible irregular payments to the attention of the game's authorities. "As soon as I gained full executive control of Tottenham, following the dismissal of Mr Venables in the summer of 1993, I called a meeting with the FA and the Premier League for the purpose of alerting them to possible past irregularities." Venables had his private business, Edennote, wound up in the London High Court on Thursday after it ran up a debt of 183,750 pounds to his former club. The move was a further twist in the long-running dispute between Venables and Sugar. Venables has a one million pound legal action pending against the club for wrongful dismissal, as well as a claim for 100,000 pounds back tax against the Inland Revenue. A capsule containing highly radioactive cesium 137 was stolen from a factory in Ukraine, Interfax quoted security officials as saying Thursday. Police had no indication as to who stole the capsule in what they described as a serious incident. A spokesman said the capsule may have been opened. Three employees at the factory in Nikolayev were taken to Kiev and Kharkov for check-ups after displaying symptoms of radiation contamination, while ten others were undergoing on-the-spot tests. Close of play score on first day of three-day tour match between Middlesex and New Zealand at Lord's on Thursday. New Zealand First Innings B.A. Young c Carr b Shine 11 B.R. Hartland c Brown b Shine 12 M.J. Greatbatch c Pooley b Feltham 14 K.R. Rutherford c Ramprakash b Shine 0 S.P. Fleming not out 67 S.A. Thomson c Brown b Feltham 5 A.C. Parore c Brown b Taylor 36 G.R. Larsen not out 2 Extras (lb3, w1, nb4) 8 Total (6 wkts, 66 overs) 155 Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-31, 3-31, 4-68, 5-82, 6-146 To Bat: M.N. Hart, D.J. Nash, D.K. Morrison Bowling Shine 16-5-55-3, Johnson 14-5-25-0, Taylor 9-3-24-1, Feltham 13-5-19-2, Weekes 14-3-29-0 dm94 The US communications giant ITT announced plans Thursday for a 750 million dollar hotel and casino in Las Vegas. "Desert Kingdom," which is to be completed by early 1997, will cover more than 13 hectares (32 acres) with its huge casino and 2,500-room hotel. Construction on the complex will begin this year using the latest water-conservation technology and labor costs alone are estimated to reach some 500,000 dollars a day. Once completed, the casino will employ about 5,000 workers. The project, which will be financed through bond issues, follows the massive 2,500 room "Luxor" hotel-casino which opened last year in Las Vegas to the tune of 300 million dollars. ITT owns the Sheraton hotel chain, which company president Kapioltas said received 140,000 requests for lodging in Las Vegas this year that it could not meet. ITT Sheraton has 400 hotels in 61 countries. Its revenues last year reached 3.2 billion dollars. ITT posted 23 billion dollars in revenues for 1993 and profits were up 28 percent to 219 million dollars for the first quarter of this year. Close of play scores on first day of English county championship matches. Chelmsford: Kent 191 (T R Ward 67), Essex 25-0. Cardiff: Yorkshire 202-5 (R B Richardson 59, R J Blakey 51 not out) v Glamorgan. Leicester: Somerset 209-6 v Leicestershire. Nottingham: Durham 242 (W Larkins 91), Nottinghamshire 4-0. The Oval: Derbyshire 177-6 v Surrey. Hove: Hampshire 267-9 (R A Smith 124, W K M Benjamin 51 not out) v Sussex. Worcester: Gloucestershire 155-4 (B C Broad 76) v Worcestershire. Russian ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky said Thursday he had approached Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin with a view to his party being given places in the government, Interfax said. The meeting came days after the entry into Chernomyrdin's team of Democratic Party president Nikolai Travkin, a centrist generally opposed to President Boris Yeltsin. Travkin did not receive a specific portfolio. Zhirinovsky said he had spelled out three ways his party could receive governmental positions, preferably those of defence and interior, along with the counter-espionage portfolio. His Liberal Democratic Party also has its sights on the posts of justice minister, as well as the treasury and the ministry for privatisation. "The head of the government now has to reflect," Zhirinovsky said. "And we too are going to reflect on the position we are going to adopt in future vis-a-vis the government." Chernomyrdin's office did not comment on the nationalist leader's statements. Zhirinovsky has had the foreign ministry, the defence ministry and the interior porfolio in his sights for the LDP since December's parliamentary elections gave the party nearly 70 seats in the lower house of parliament. He recently also demanded the resignation of six ministers. World Cup fans at Stanford Stadium in California and in Washington are almost certain to be fenced in, against the wishes of FIFA and tournament organizers, World Cup chairman Alan Rothenberg confirmed Thursday. "The position of the organizing committee and FIFA is clear and consistent -- we are against fencing," Rothenberg said. "Ultimately it's the local law enforcement that has responsibility for the safety and security of the public. We don't have any ability to veto their decisions." He said police in Dallas were also in favor of fences, but were still discussing the issue. "We only have the power of persuasion," Rothenberg said. "There is still a chance there might be modification in Dallas. We're not aware of any possible changes at Stanford Stadium (in Palo Alto, California) or at RFK Stadium in Washington." Though many European clubs have fences, Rothenberg said the trend in Europe was away from fencing. Fences were banned in England in 1989 after 95 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield during an FA Cup semi-final. He also said organizers believed the bulk of fans at World Cup matches did not pose a threat to the safety of playes and officials on the pitches. "Two-thirds of our tickets have been sold in the United States," he said. "All our demographics indicate that is a family audience, a mother and father and two kids. That's a group as unlikely to anything damaging as any group you can think of." Rothenberg said the football associations in countries where hooliganism is rife had efficient methods of preventing known troublemakers from buying Cup tickets. "It is very unlikely that patrons of tour operators are troublemakers," he said. "And the tickets distributed through the national associations, they have a pretty good distribution mechanism where they screen who buys. They tend to know who hooligans are and don't sell to them." bb94 India Thursday offered rewards for information leading to the arrest of an alleged underworld leader and 43 other suspects in Bombay bomb blasts last year. The Central Bureau of Investigation put a prize of 50,000 dollars on Dawood Ibrahim, who allegedly controls a criminal empire in the western Indian city from an unknown safe haven abroad. The same prize was offered for the arrest of Abdul Razak "Tiger" Memon, his suspected associate in the chain of bomb blasts which killed more than 300 people in Bombay in March last year. Rewards declared for the arrest of the other suspects range between 25,000 rupees (833 dollars) and one million rupees (33,333 dollars). Ibrahim and the 43 others, mainly Moslem members of the Bombay underworld, have been declared fugitives, the bureau said. According to the agency, Ibrahim sent arms and explosives by sea to the Indian west coast where one of his accomplices secured a safe landing with the help of unnamed custom officials. The transportation of the arms and explosives, their storage in safe houses in and around Bombay and the blasts were handled by Memon and his brothers, it said. The blasts rocked prominent commercial landmarks including the Bombay Stock Exchange and Air India headquarters, killing 317 people and injuring nearly 1,000, in the world's worst urban terrorist attack. Investigators allege the March 1993 explosions were masterminded by Ibrahim in vengeance for attacks on Moslems by Hindu militants during communal riots that raged in Bombay in the preceding December and January. The riots erupted following the destruction of the Babri mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya by Hindu zealots on December 6, 1992. A 1947 massacre of native Taiwanese people is to be mentioned for the first time in history textbooks, officials said Thursday. A compilation board, made up of scholars and experts, has completed a draft of the new school textbook including details of the massacre by Nationalist troops which used to be a taboo subject here, education officials said. The massacre, known as the February 28 Incident, which saw thousands of native Taiwanese people killed, has harmed relations between Taiwan natives and immigrants from China for many years. The Nationalist government still ruled mainland China at the time it sent troops to suppress riots in Taiwan, which had reverted to Chinese rule after Japan was defeated at the end of World War II in 1945. The riots were started by native Taiwanese who claimed they were being ruled high-handedly by the Nationalist-controlled local government in Taiwan. Now first year junior high school students here will be able to learn of the massacre in the book, tentatively entitled "Knowing Taiwan," from the start of the 1995 academic year, the officials said. The book will also present details of the economic, social and political conditions during the martial law period from 1949 to 1987. The Nationalists fled to Taiwan from the mainland after being defeated by the communists in the 1949 civil war. China replaced three ministers on Thursday, the official Xinhua press agency reported. The ministries of Radio, Film and Television, Geology and Mineral Resources and the Auditing Administration all got new chiefs, the report monitored in Hong Kong said. Sun Jiazheng, 50, takes over as radio, film and television minister, from Ai Zhisheng; Song Ruixiang, 54, is new head of the geology and mineral resources ministry, succeeding Zhu Xun, and Guo Zhenqian, 61, becomes Auditor-general, replacing Lu Peijan. The new radio minister was head of the propaganda department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and is a communist party cadre. Song was vice minister of the geology and mineral resources minister. His predecessor Zhu becomes secretary-general of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Guo, a former vice-governor of the Peoples' Bank of China, is decibed by Xinhua as being "familiar with the macro-economy and a capable leader." The appointments were confirmed by China's parliament at the seventh session of the standing committe of the National People's Congress, which ended Thursday, the report said. Chinese President Jiang Zemin Thursday defended the 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, saying China's stability and prosperity had depended on it, Xinhua reported. Jiang made the comments in a meeting with visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the official news agency said in a report monitored here. "A bad thing has been turned into a good thing and as a result our reform and opening program has forged ahead with steadier, better and even quicker steps and our advantages have been brought into fuller play," Xinhua quoted him as saying. "History shows that anything conducive to our national stability is good," Jiang said. "The stability of China is not only needed for China's own development, but will also benefit the stability of Asia and the world in general," he added. Mahathir said he had been encouraging Malaysian businessmen to invest in China and that his government was satisfied with the steady growth of economic and trade ties with China, the report said. Referring to his meeting in Washington with US President Bill Clinton shortly before his arrival in China, Mahathir said he had stressed that one country should not try to impose its views on another, Xinhua said. He added that he had expressed his opposition to Washington's using renewal of China's Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status as a way to pressure Beijing. Clinton is due to make a decision by June 3 on renewing MFN status for China. Earlier Mahathir met Chinese Premier Li Peng, with both sides approving of developing bilateral ties. They also agreed on using dialogue to settle the Spratly islands issue. The tiny islands in the South China Sea are believed to have important oil deposits under them and are also claimed in whole or in part Vietnam, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan. Mahathir is in Beijing to attend a high-profile international seminar on China's economic future, which ended Friday. Argentina have called off their two football internationals in Japan after Japanese authorities refused team captain Diego Maradona entry because of his drugs record. Osamo Ighami, first counsel at the Japanese embassy, said Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona had told him of the decision. Ighami said the justice ministry ruling which barred Maradona was irreversible. The Japanese justice ministry refused Maradona a visa because it said he had been implicated in drug cases more than once. Maradona was arrested in Buenos Aires in 1991 for cocaine possession, and five months later was given a 14-month suspended sentence by an Italian court for using cocaine. He was also suspended from international competition for 15 months in 1991 and 1992 after testing postive for cocaine use. The justice ministry's immigration bureau, however, granted a visa to Claudio Caniggia, who recently ended a 13-month soccer ban for his alleged use of cocaine. Caniggia would have been allowed to go to Japan because he had not faced criminal charges. Argentine had planned to play Japan and France in Japan as part of their World Cup buildup. A 26-year-old anorexic's fight for survival hung in the balance Thursday as the British woman awaited the outcome of a media bidding battle for her exclusive story. The woman, whose twin sister has already dieted herself to death, was relying on the outcome of a battle between such British media giants as Granada Television and the Daily Mirror newspaper to pay her medical bills at an exclusive clinic which specializes in bringing victims of anorexia and bulimia back to the world of the living. Samantha Kendall, 26, is due to check in some time next week at the Montreux Society for Eating Disorders clinic, in a converted mansion in this posh Pacific coast city. But first she is scheduled to appear in New York on the Maury Povitch Show, a television chat show on the Fox Television Network which has agreed to pay some of Kendall's expenses. Then, if everything goes well, Kendall will be flown to British Columbia to check in for between six months and a year, said the clinic's spokeswoman Laurie Winn Stanley. Winn Stanley said the cost of the treatment could run anywhere from 75,000 Canadian dollars (54,000 US) to 200,000 dollars (144,000 US), depending on the patient's length of stay. "In our experience," Winn Stanley told AFP, "she will need to be here for at least six months and, depending on her progress, she might have to stay for a year. "So we have to be fairly sure that our costs will be covered. We are a non-profit organisation and we are not able to carry the costs ourselves." Hence the importannce of the media bidding battle in Britain. "We've advised the family how to go about it. But the mother (Susie, 47) hasn't listened to us. I believe she gave a television interview in Britain for just 2,000 pounds (less than 3,000 USD). "They really must get the money together." Winn Stanley said she was waiting for news from Britain about the bidding battle. She said she understood the bidders included Granada Television, Central Tevision and the Daily Mirror -- "it seems Granada and the Daily Mirror are the front-runners, but there's no shortage of bidders." If Samantha's bid for the money is successful, her bid for life will start next week in what Winn Stanley described as "a large mansion with three suites with up to two patients in each suite." Winn Stanley said that, initially, Samantha would need around-the- clock care during which she would be hand-fed by two professional carers. "There is no force-feeding, there are no tubes," insisted Winn Stanley. Stage two, once the patient has returned to a pattern of fairly normal eating, is therapy, said Winn Stanley. "It's intensive," she said. "It's a very supporting environment." Samantha's problems began 13 years ago when she and her twin sister, Michaela, made a "slimming pact" when they were sick of being teased at school for being overweight. But nearly four weeks ago, Michaela died -- suffering from anorexia nervosa, the so-called dieter's disease. Michaela weighed just 25 kilos (56 pounds) when she died. A shocked Samantha appeared on British television this week admitting: "I don't know how much time I have left because the dieting has done so much to my body." Appearing emaciated and cadaver-like, Samantha told another reporter in a separate interview: "My bones are sticking out so much now that it's too painful to even lie in the bath." The girls' mother said the twins each weighed 82 kilos (182 pounds) when as 14-year-olds they made their pact which would prove so deadly. Despite massive drops in weight, psychiatric counselling and hospital treatment, the girls continued their death diet into adulthood. hfw/em n1502 12Mai94 UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali recommended Thursday that the United Nations clearly define the boundaries around the six designated safe areas in Bosnia-Hercegovina. In a report to the Security Council released Thursday, the secretary general also said that UN Protection Forces have been stretched to the limit and should not be asked to establish more safe havens in Bosnia- Hercegovina. The United Nations should define precise boundaries for the six existing safe areas of Sarajevo, Srebrenica, Tuzla, Zepa, Gorazde and Bihac, Boutros-Ghali said. Brcko had been proposed as another site for a safe area. The United Nations established the six safe zones about 18 months ago to protect Bosnian Moslem populations concentrated in those areas from relentless Bosnian Serbian attack. The difficulty in using already overburdened peacekeeping forces to establish the zones and protect the population makes safe havens a temporary solution and precludes the United Nations from creating more of them, he said. "UNPROFOR, overstretched and underresourced as it is in relation to its current mandates, does not have the capacity to rush from crisis to crisis in different areas. "It is neither configured nor equipped for mandates to fight or to hold ground," he said, adding that it is designed for quick deployment rather than fixed position. "These factors dictate clear limits to the concept of safe areas," he stressed. He also pointed to a recent council resolution demanding a halt to all provocative action in security zones, a demand apparently aimed at Bosnian Moslems who have recently been accused of violating rules governing the safe areas. "It must be recognized that safe areas do not in themselves represent a long-term solution to the fundamental conflict in Bosnia and Hercegovina, which requires a political and territorial solution," he said. Feyenoord beat second division Nijmegen 2-1 in the Dutch Cup final on their own pitch here on Thursday. It was Feyenoord's third win in four years and ninth all-told. Ruud Heus opened the score with a seventh minute penalty and Feyenoord went further ahead through John van Loen in the 80th minute. Bennie Dekker scored a consolation goal for Nijmegen in the last minute. Dutch Cup Final Feyenoord 2 (Heus 7pen, van Loen 80) Nijmegen 1 (Dekker 90) Att: 43,000 Once dubbed India-No-Place because nothing exciting ever happened here, this central US city is preparing for its greatest weekend ever. Along with the traditional excitement of pole qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, the city plays host to a visit by US president Bill Clinton and two sold-out National Basketball Association playoff games. Add a Star Trek convention and sports memorabilia show to the mix and you have the busiest event schedule here since the 1987 Pan American Games. "It's quite a weekend," Indiana Pacers vice president Dale Raterman said. "Sports fans here are excited. They've really caught the fever." Indy 500 time trials begin Saturday, with more than 250,000 people expected at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Qualifying continues Sunday as racers attempt to fill the 33-car field for the May 29 race. But adding to the excitement are the Indiana Pacers, who have advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time ever. They play Atlanta here Saturday and Sunday afternoons in downtown Market Square Arena, while the qualifying continues on the west side of town. "We want a little May madness of our own," Indiana guard Reggie Miller said. "We know this is a big time at the speedway, but I would like to see some of the drivers at our game." Miller might have to wait until Sunday, after most of the top racers have made the field. But he vows to support any drivers who support the Pacers. "I want to see Emmo Fittipaldi, Raul Boesel, Mario and Michael Andretti and the rest cheering for us," Miller said. "I've never been to the speedway, but if they come, I will go there. That's a fair trade off." The NBA-Indy 500 conflict has caused the greatest problem for Indianapolis media sports coordinator Bill York, who handles press duties for the speedway as well as the city's NBA and National Football League clubs. He cannot be in two places at once, so the 60 -year-old manager will handle first-day speedway duties and rejoin the Pacers on Sunday. "It's too involved out here on Saturday with everybody qualifying," York said. "It's a shame to have to miss one or the other." Reports said Clinton feels the same way. Rumors have him scheduled to attend at least part of the Pacers' game and 500 time trials. He is here for a political meeting and to dedicate a memorial to Bobby Kennedy. Clinton attended the US college basketball finals because his home- state Arkansas Razorbacks were involved. js94bb The Senate defied President Bill Clinton on Thursday by approving a measure that would require the United States to lift the arms embargo against Bosnia unilaterally. Although the amendment, approved 50 to 49, has little chance of becoming law, it undercut Clinton a day ahead of international talks in Geneva on resolving the conflict. The plan proposed by Senate Republican leader Bob Dole would force the US administration to disregard the 1991 UN embargo and clear the way for US arms shipments to help the Bosnian government defend itself in the two-year-old war. Although Clinton has pressed for a multilateral lifting of the embargo, he has maintained that a unilateral effort by Washington could undermine other UN actions around the world. The measure goes to the House of Representatives, where it was expected to have little chance of passage. But even if it were approved, Clinton could veto the measure, and a two-thirds majority of both houses would be needed to override the veto. Senate Democratic leader George Mitchell said the measure had no chance of becoming law. Earlier, senators passed by an identical 50-49 margin an amendment sponsored by Mitchell calling on Clinton to seek a consensus among US allies to lift the embargo. By placing the two amendments in the same bill, senators appeared to give contradictory directives to the president. "Lifting the arms embargo is the only feasible option that will permit the Bosnian government to defend itself," said Senator Joseph Biden following the vote on the bill. The administration had no immediate comment on the vote but State Department spokesman Michael McCurry said earlier that passing the measure would be "problematic." He also suggested it would send a conflicting message to Geneva, when the foreign ministers from Europe, Russia and the United States will be meeting to discuss the Balkan conflict Friday. Europe and Russia have argued that an end to the arms embargo would escalate the fighting and quash any chance to resolve the conflict diplomatically. In New York, a diplomat said that the Security Council was unlikely to approve a resolution lifting the embargo, noting that even if it had a majority among the 15 members Russia would be sure to veto it. Last year, a resolution introduced by Moslem and non-aligned countries to exempt Bosnian Moslems from the sanctions won only six of the nine votes necessary to pass. Five non-aligned members and the United States supported the resolution. Earlier Sadako Ogata, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said that lifting the arms embargo would not help efforts to bring peace to Bosnia-Hercegovina after more than two years of brutal war. "From a humanitarian point of view ... the number one objective I would like to see achieved is a ceasefire. Number two is a political settlement," she said. "I hope all the meetings and decisions would lead to these two objectives." Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic had appealed to members to pass the bill, and thanked Dole and Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman for introducing it. "The hopes of the Bosnian people are turned to the United States Senate," he said recently. The Argentine FA was believed to be negotiating with Chile and Denmark to replace the matches in Japan. They would play Chile in Buenos Aires and travel to Copenhagen before going on to play scheduled matches in Tel Aviv and Zagreb. The US government plans to help send 2,000 buses from around the nation to Atlanta for use at the 1996 Olympics. The Federal Transit Administration plans to use 16 million dollars in discretionary funds to help pay to deliver and prepare the buses, which will be fitted with communications equipment to promote scheduling flexibility. The buses will be identified by their cities of origin. Transit authorities in New York, Houston, Birmingham, New Orleans, St. Louis, Orlando, Philadelphia and the state of New Jersey have pleged buses so far. Games organizers predict 1.5 million visitors will flood Atlanta each day of the Olympics. Parts of the city will be closed to private cars and spectators will use Atlanta city buses and trains and the borrowed buses to reach events. bb94 A former Italian health minister nicknamed Torquemada for his inquisitorial raids on hospitals to unmask fraud was arrested on corruption charges Thursday, judicial sources said in Naples. The arrest of Francesco De Lorenzo of the Liberal Party comes after an investigation into bribes paid by pharmaceutical laboratories to a ministry official, to win government backing for higher prices. The former minister, charged on 67 counts, is accused of receiving seven billion lira (4.5 million dollars) in bribes between 1990 and 1992. The charges also cover his relations with advertising companies which carried out AIDS public awareness campaigns. De Lorenzo, 56, is an eminent doctor and popular television personality whose family is descended from the Neopolitan aristocracy. He made his mark by campaigning against hospital fraud, earning the nickname Torquemada after descending on wards to unmask corruption. But he was forced to resign in February 1993 after his 89-year-old father was arrested for receiving commission on the sale of a building. Gunmen burst into a house in north Belfast Thursday and killed a man at close range, police said. The outlawed loyalist organisation the Ulster Freedom Fighters said they carried out the attack in a call to a local radio station. According to a spokesman for Sinn Fein, the political wing of the outlawed Irish Republican Army fighting British rule in Northern Ireland, the victim was a Catholic aged around 20 but not a Sinn Fein member. The killing brought to 24 the number of people killed in sectarian violence in Northern Ireland since the start of the year. Blue-chip stocks rallied Thursday amid easing long-term interest rates after the government released figures showing inflation under control. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 22.80 points to close at 3,652.84. On the broader market, advancers outpaced decliners 1,184 to 977 with 659 shares unchanged. Some 274 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange. On the bond market, interest rates on the main 30-year Treasury bond fell to 7.57 percent from 7.59 percent Wednesday, a sign of easing investor fears of inflation and higher rates. The rates declined further earlier in the day but rebounded after San Francisco Federal Reserve president Robert Parry suggested he might favor boosting short-term rates again. The decline in interest rates came after the release of a government report showing wholesale prices fell 0.1 percent in April, surprising analysts. The reports "relieve some of the fear that the economy was going to explode on the upside," said Alfred Goldman of A.G. Edwards and Sons. But he added that investors still have not ruled out another interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, which has already raised rates three times this year. Allied-Signal rose 1-1/2 to 35-3/4, Sears 1-1/4 to 48-3/4 and Philip Morris 3 to 50-1/2. ITT fell 1-1/4 to 82-3/4 after announcing plans for a new Las Vegas casino, Texas Instruments was off 1-1/4 to 71-1/2 and J.P Morgan 3/4 to 61-5/8. The PLO on Thursday gave Israel a partial list of members of the Palestinian authority due to take power next week in Gaza and Jericho, the chief Palestinian negotiator said. Nabil Shaath told a press conference "the (Palestinian) cabinet has been formed, I just transmitted it to Yitzhak Rabin," the Israeli prime minister. He said the PLO had agreed with Rabin that the new authority "will be functional from Wednesday." But he added the list given was still incomplete as it had only 15 of the 24 (eds: correct) members. The other nine would be appointed in three of four days at the latest. He said the members included PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, Faisal Husseini, the leading PLO official in the occupied territories, Hanan Ashrawi, former spokeswoman of the negotiating team, Saeb Erekat, head of the Palestinian team to the bilateral talks and Shaath himself. He said Arafat was due to enter the autonomous territories in June but "Arafat may have some surprises for us, and it could happen before that date." Shaath justified sending the partial list to Rabin saying "the Israelis want to be sure that we are serious." But Samir Goshe, leader of the Popular Struggle Front, denied in Tunis that he had officially agreed to take part in the authority, saying he had made his involvement conditional on a "democratisation" of the PLO's working methods. He said he had been surprised to see his name on the list announced by Shaath. A Palestinian official at the PLO headquarters in Tunis said Arafat will continue his consultations over the remaining positions. According to Shaath, the PLO's offices for foreign affairs, refugees and its relations with Israel and Jewish organisations would stay in its Tunis headquarters. Under last week's PLO-Israel accord on implementing limited Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza strip and the West Bank town of Jericho, the authority is due to take over on May 25. Meanwhile in Jerusalem a police spokesman said Rabin had agreed to a draft plan to set up a special police section to deal specifically with issues relating to Palestinian autonomy. Under the project devised by Police Minister Moshe Shahal 2,000 men will be temporarily based in the Maalei Adumin settlement in the occupied West Bank. The spokesman said its role would be to supervise the organisation of Israeli-Palestinian patrols in Gaza and Jericho. The partial list announcement came as 20 Palestinian policemen arrived in the Jericho region, and another group of 300 policemen was due to be deployed in Gaza later on Thursday following the initial 300. Palestinian police chief Nasr Yussef said the Israeli pullout from Gaza and Jericho would be finished by next Wednesday. In all, 9,000 Palestinian policemen are due to be deployed in Gaza and Jericho. Easy Goer, whose rivalry with Sunday Silence defined the 1989 US racing season, died of natural causes Thursday at Claiborne Farm. The eight-year-old stallian was a son of Alydar. He won 14 of 20 starts, with five seconds and one third, and was retired in 1990 after earning more than 4,873,770 dollars. Easy Goer was the champion 2-year-old of 1998. He won his first three starts in 1989 and started as favorite at the Kentucky Derby, which he lost to Sunday Silence. He finished runner-up to Sunday Silence in the Preakness, but ruined Sunday Silence's bid for the Triple Crown with an eight-length victory in the Belmont. bb94 Eleven French aid workers held hostage by Bosnian Serbs forces for the last month will probably be freed next week, the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA said Thursday. Charges against the 11, accused of smuggling weapons to the mainly Moslem Bosnian army, "will be revised in their favour" and handed to the civil courts, said the agency, quoting sources close to Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. "It is expected that (their) preventive detention will be lifted from next week and they will be returned to freedom," the agency said. Earlier on Thursday, France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told a news conference in Washington that the group might be freed in the next day or two. Juppe said France had let it be known it would not accept this "parody of justice" and would not bargain for their freedom. "If the news is confirmed, it would be the culmination of a daily effort by French diplomacy," Juppe said. The relief workers, members of a group called Premiere Urgence (First Aid), have been held in a Serb prison since April 8 in the Sarajevo suburb of Lukavica. The 47th Cannes International Film Festival opened Thursday with jury president Clint Eastwood stealing the show even before the world's biggest filmfest got under way. As the the world's cinema industry settled into its seats for the 12-day cinematic banquet, Eastwood dominated proceedings with his humour and incidentally with his love of music. At the official inauguration ceremony at the Grand Theatre Lumiere in the Festival Palace here, French actress Juliette Binoche declared the festival open in a multi-lingual address reflecting the festival's global stature. Starting in Chinese and finishing in French, Binoche welcomed the movie industry to the French riviera. "I declare the 47th International Film Festival open," she said, to loud applause. But even before the ceremony Eastwood made Cannes' day by pledging that the next 12 days should be for the average film-goer rather than art specialists or critics. "I haven't really done any studying for it because ... we're going to be viewing strictly from an amateur point of view," said the actor- turned director, presenting his jury to the press. "Some of us may have have acted as critics at one point or another, but for the most part its just as film-goers," he said. And, breaking the ice at a press conference, he praised his vice- president, French actress Catherine Deneuve. "She's much prettier than Al Gore," he said. Then at the inaugural ceremony, hosted by Binoche's compatriot, French actress Jeanne Moreau, Eastwood again stole the show when a "surprise" saxophone fanfare, including a serenade by saxophonist Archie Shepp, greeted his arrival on stage. Eastwood, director of the 1988 hommage to Charlie Parker "Bird" and known for his love of jazz, looked suitably grateful, before helping Moreau welcome his eight jury members onto the stage. The inaugural ceremony, broadcast live on French television, was followed by the premiere of the festival's opening film, "The Hudsucker Proxy" by US filmmaking brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. The brothers scored a hit in 1991 by taking the Palme d'Or in their first appearance here with "Barton Fink." But they played down the prospect of a repeat performance, saying they were simply happy to have been invited back, with their latest offering, a romantic comedy set on Wall Street starring Tim Robbins and Paul Newman. In all 23 films in the festival's main competition are hoping to succeed Jane Campion's "The Piano" and Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine" as winners of the Palme d'Or on May 23. As well as the main competition, films are also being shown out of competition in categories called Un Certain Regard (A Certain Regard), the Director's Fortnight and the Camera D'Or, for first-time filmmakers. A retrospective of French film icon Jean Renoir has also been organized to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth, and a selection of the films of Federico Fellini is also on offer. On Friday the competition proper gets under way with the French favourite "La Reine Margot" (Queen Margot) by Patrice Chereau, starring Isabelle Adjani, and "Du Li Sha Dai" (Confuscius' Confusion) by Taiwan's Edward Yang. Northern forces loyal to President Ali Abdallah Saleh said late Thursday they had shot down a southern warplane over the road to the stronghold of Aden. A northern military spokesman told the official news agency SABA that northern troops had also launched a series of air raids against the airport in Ataq, in Shabwa province about 300 kilometres (180 miles) east of Aden. As the battle raged around the strategic town of Al Daleh, he said that northern forces had seized Soviet-built T-62 tanks in Abyan, southeast of Aden, as well as arms and ammunition from Al Daleh. Earlier Information Minister Hassan Ahmed al-Lozi said: "The town of Al Daleh has fallen" to northern troops. Aid officials in Aden said 60 families, numbering around 300 people, had arrived there after fleeing Al Daleh 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Aden, and were being housed in two schools. As the two sides traded claim and counter-claim, Lozi said northern forces had captured a southern mechanised brigade based at Kharaz, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) west of Aden. But both reports were denied by the southern leadership in Aden, which said an offensive had been repelled and northern troops had been pushed back to Kataba, 10 kilometres (six miles) further to the north. Southern spokesmen in Aden said they launched a counter attack and retook positions they had lost to their northern rivals. Earlier Thursday southern forces said they had shot down three northern warplanes and sunk a warship in the Kharaz region near the strategic Bab el-Mandab Straits on the Red Sea. Saleh's General People's Congress called on Yemenis to rally to "the side of legitimacy to scupper and condemn the crimes committed by the bloodied Baid" referring to ousted Vice President Ali Salem al-Baid. In a communique published in Sanaa the GPC called on the Yemenis to "openly condemn the terrorist band and the traitors in the heart of the (southern) Yemen Socialist Party." The armies of the former North and South Yemen have been locked in civil war since last Thursday, shattering the uneasy four year union between the conservative north and Marxist south. Meanwhile, the Arab League held a meeting with Yemeni leaders in Sanaa to try to broker a ceasefire between Saleh and Baid. Their feud erupted into all-out war last Thursday, with southern air raids and Scud missile attacks on Sanaa and a northern offensive targeted on Aden. A death row inmate wants the world to see his execution as he fights a warden's order banning his death being broadcast on national television. The televising of his death will bring meaning to his life, said convicted killer David Lawson. It will also draw attention to the chronic depression he claims led hi8m to kill. State officials said televising the death will make a spectacle of what should be regarded a somber event. A state supreme court judge is expected to rule on the issue shortly. Lawson is slated for death on June 15. He was convicted of murder when he shot a man during 1980 home break-in. Execution in North Carolina is by gas or lethal injection. North Carolina has executed five people since resuming the death penalty in 1984, all by injection. Lawson has until five days before his execution to decide which method he wants. North Carolina bars cameras at executions, but allows five reporters, including one from television, to witness the deaths. The event reopens debate on the issue. National talk show host Phil Donohue has joined Lawson in his request to the North Carolina Supreme Court to overturn the ban. Attempts in 1991 by a California television station to show the gas- chamber death of an inmate failed when a judge ruled against the broadcast and ordered tapes of the death destroyed. "It would only satisfy the thirst for vengeance that is unwarranted," said George Gerbner, dean emeritus of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. "It's a ghoulish spectacle that's bound to have a brutalizing, desensitizing effect on a public already jaded by images of violence," he added. Secretary of Correction Franklin Freeman said the execution "should not be turned into a circus." He said the events surrounding the execution of serial killer John Wayne Gacy on Tuesday in Illinois demonstrate his point. People waited outside Gacy's prison in a festive atmosphere, with vendors selling T-shirts saying "No Tears for the Clown." Gacy, a building contractor who often entertained at parties dressed as a clown, was executed for murdering 33 young men and boys during the 1970s. "The conduct certain people exhibited there is an example of the kind of conduct that would be inspired by public broadcast of executions," said Freeman. He said televising the events would be the modern-day equivalent of public hangings which attracted hundreds of vendors and spectators before they were halted. The last public hanging in North Carolina took place in 1910. Lawson said the broadcast would highlight the plight of people who suffer from chronic depression. He said he was not aware he suffered from it until he was on Death Row. "I'm a human being and not a monster," said Lawson Tuesday during an interview with NBC television. "It's all about making the whole story public in order to help somebody else who's suffering," said Marshall Dayan, Lawson's attorney. Lavinia Milosovici, Gina Gogean, Nadia Hategan and Simona Amanar won the women's title for Romania at the European team gymnastics championships here on Thursday. Result 1. Romania 117.785pts, 2. Russia 115.422, 3. Ukraine 115.221, 4. France 113.409, 5. Belarus 113.085, 6. Spain 112.674, 7. Letvia 110.309, 8. Israel 109.823, 9. Greece 109.235, 10. Italy 108.984 Killings and threats of increased violence have overshadowed preparations for a presidential vote next week, even though the parties signed a civility pact to guarantee peace during the balloting. Already around 30 people have died in political violence during street protests and rallies for the May 16 poll that pits President Joaquin Balaguer against Jose Francisco Pena Gomez, a black leader of the Democratic Revolutionary Party. Most recent surveys put them in a dead heat. Also running is former president Juan Bosch of the Independent Revolutionary Party. Bosch was ousted in a 1965 coup. Balaguer and Pena Gomez urged their supporters Thursday to refrain from violence during the final campaign events, which conclude Saturday. The two leading candidates signed a "Civility Pact" on Tuesday. Despite plenty of election slogans there is in fact few differences between the candidates. All praise current economic structural adjustment programs and plans to sell state enterprises pushed by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. But the opposition has argued that 87-year-old Balaguer, who is nearly blind, is too old to remain president. Both leading candidates have promised to create jobs for the estimated 30 percent of the economically active population that is out of work. Both have also promised higher salaries and improved access to education and health care. The Dominican Republic's 7.3 million people are about 15 percent white, 10 percent black and 75 percent mixed race. Per capital income is about 790 dollars annually while about 20 percent of the population is illiterate. Some of the 2.5 million residents of the capital also began hoarding food in anticipation of demonstrations. "This is normal, they always do this," one supermarket manager said. "People buy just in case, but that does not mean that there will be problems." Nerves were shaken when Jacinto Peinado, the vice president of the ruling Christian Social Reformist Party, said Wednesday that he had information that the opposition had plans to hold demonstrations on Monday afternoon to disrupt voting for president, 30 senators, 120 deputies and 103 mayors. And the Democratic Revolutionary Party accused the ruling party of instructing its observers to contest the results of any voting stations where the opposition prevailed. "The election will be clean and pure," said Balaguer, who is seeking a third, four-year term. "It (the pact) will calm citizens frightened by disagreeable events." But the pact has not entirely calmed the nation's nerves. In a television appearance early Wednesday, Pena Gomez spokes ominously of plans by top military officers called Operation Scorpio that he declined to detail. "I have information that Operation Scorpio expressed judgements that I do not want to repeat," said Pena Gomez, who has pledged to improve the lot of the nation's 23,000 soldiers. Army spokesman said that soldiers would be in their barracks throughout the weekend unless needed to restore order. In a four-paragraph statement released Thursday, the military chiefs of staff said: "The occasion has arisen to emphasize that public order will be maintained firmly and energetically, in obedience with democratic norms." The Organization of American States (OAS) has sent a team of 47 observers for the election. Also as part of the pact, mediated by Roman Catholic church officials, parties promised to withdraw offensive campaign advertisements that have dominated this Caribbean nation's campaign. But as of midday Thursday they were still being broadcast on television and radio. The dollar lost ground against the major currencies Thursday in New York exchange as traders awaited more data on inflation trends in the United States. Gold fell 1.90 dollars from Wednesday's closing price to 379.90 dollars an ounce. Around 5:00 p.m. (2100 GMT), the dollar traded at 1.6675 German marks against 1.6690 marks late Wednesday and 104.22 yen against 104.30. The greenback also fell to 5.7200 French francs against 5.7250 Wednesday, 0.6669 pounds sterling from 0.6693 and 1.4245 Swiss francs against 1.4255. Jim Moore of American Security Bank said traders were awaiting a government report Friday on retail prices to get a better picture of inflation. A report Thursday showed wholesale prices fell 0.1 percent in April. Trading was light with the markets hesitant ahead of next Tuesday's meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee, which could take action on short-term interest rates. Double chasers Manchester United are praying that small will not beautiful in Saturday's FA Cup Final. The English giants' march towards their second successive league title was twice, if ultimately only temporarily, stopped in its tracks by Chelsea's economy-sized strike force. On both occasions, United's normally unflappable centre backs, Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister, reminded one of those cartoon elephants who are scared stiff of mice, as they were spun one way and then another by the likes of Dennis Wise, John Spencer, Mark Stein and most notably, Gavin Peacock. Peacock and Stein, in particular, will have good reason to approach with confidence an occasion for which many would rely on bravado. The former, with his penetrating runs from deep positions, scored both goals in successive 1-0 victories at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford. The latter, who made an unexpected return from injury to score the two goals that relegated Sheffield United last week, also hit a brace earlier in the season to give his former club, Stoke City, a 2-1 first-leg victory over United in the League Cup. As a pair, they have that chalk and cheese factor that would do justice to a couple of buddy movie cops: Peacock, the clean-cut Christian with the college boy looks; Stein, the callow ragamuffin, who has had to take the slow route to the top, weighed down, according to his first manager David Pleat, by the hefty chip on his shoulder. His angry years at Luton, Queens Park Rangers, Oxford United and Stoke now apparently behind him, the Cape Town born striker afforded a refreshingly modest response to last week's triumphant comeback. "I would not say I have guaranteed my final place but I think I have given the gaffer a decision to make," he said. With Chelsea's diminutive quartet having a relatively free role to harass United's back four, heavy responsibility will fall on the anchor position in midfield. Romantic as it may be to visualise the Blues' player-manager Glenn Hoddle strutting the Cup Final stage for the fourth time, at 36 he would not relish the prospect of an afternoon chasing the deep shadows of United's orchestrator Eric Cantona. Much will be expected then of arguably Hoddle's brightest young protege, Eddie Newton, who at 22 has the potential to join the England midfield dynasty of Robson, Platt and Ince. Provided Cantona's penetrative passing is not hindered by Wembley's unseasonally long grass (it is significant that the Frenchman has hit peak form on the worn end-of-season pitches) and Giggs and Kanchelskis find the freedom to pit their wits against Clarke and Sinclair, it is reasonable to conclude that United can make it third time lucky. Alex Ferguson side's defeat at Stamford Bridge could easily have gone the other way, and the Old Trafford setback was the start of an early spring blip, now well behind them. If Fergie fails to become the fourth double-winning manager this century, he will at least hope his decision to bring back goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel does not backfire on him. The Dane's fumbles at Wimbledon, and against Oldham in the FA Cup semi-final, not to mention his sentry-style reluctance to leave his posts on crosses, have been put into still more grim perspective by stand-in Gary Walsh's confident handling in United's last two matches against Southampton and Coventry. United fans can only hope that Schmeichel's assurances that he has recovered from his ankle injury are motivated more by conviction than by his desperation to make up for missing the League Cup final against Aston Villa through suspension. Chelsea supporters will be encouraged by history, which, albeit marginally, weighs against United emulating Tottenham in 1961, Arsenal in 1971 and Liverpool in 1986 by pulling off the double. If United's only uncapped player, Steve Bruce, does lift the Cup, manager Ferguson says the double will be dedicated to the club's recently deceased patriarch, Sir Matt Busby, whose legendary "babes" failed in a similar quest in 1957 at the final hurdle against Aston Villa. United themselves foiled domestic double chasing bids by Liverpool in 1977 and Everton in 1985, with Cup Final victories. Liverpool failed again in 1988 when they were beaten at Wembley by Wimbledon. Frank McLintock, Arsenal's 1971 double-winning skipper, believes United will triumph, but he has warned them against what he calls the "Jack the Lad" syndrome. The former Scotland defender said: "The important thing in a situation like this is to keep your feet on the ground and avoid thinking you are better than you really are. "As soon as anyone does that they can get nailed. You can come unstuck. "Liverpool always had a knack of bringing people down to earth. We tried to copy it and it worked for us." McLintock recalled: "We had Charlie George, who in some ways was like Cantona. "He could ping the ball 40 yards with the outside of his foot like a table tennis ball. "But aspects like closing people down and denying opponents chances are just as important as the glitter of the game." Probable teams Manchester United: Schmeichel; Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin; Kanchelskis, Keane, Ince, Giggs; Cantona, Hughes. Substitutes; Walsh, two from McClair, Sharpe, Robson Chelsea: Kharine; Clarke, Johnsen, Kjeldbjerg, Sinclair; Burley, Newton, Peacock, Wise; Spencer, Stein. Substitutes; Hitchcock, Hoddle, Cascarino Hundreds of jubilant residents finally tracked down a vanguard of 20 Palestinian police officers as they waited outside Jericho Thursday ready to take over from the Israeli army. Another 40 officers and 386 policemen, formerly based in Iraq, are due to follow Friday, as the Israelis relinquish control of the West Bank town to the Palestinians under the autonomy deal signed on May 4. Military sources said the officers will be part of the Jericho coordination office in charge of joint Israeli-Palestinian patrols in the area. "If all goes well, all the Jericho region will be in Palestinian hands by Friday afternoon," said Colonel Herzl, a member of the commmittee whose full name was withheld for security reasons. It was only after nightfall that residents finally managed to find the officers who were spending their first night in the West Bank in the shadow of the Jewish settlement Vered Jericho. Many townspeople who had gathered earlier on the main road into Jericho to welcome the men had spent a frustrating day chasing around as the police were taken on a tour to inspect the Jericho region. But despite the late hour more than 200 men, women and youngsters eventually turned out to give the officers a hero's welcome. The officers, new rifles hung across their shoulders embraced well- wishers, as women ululated with joy. The night promised to be long as more people heard of the officers' arrival and drove up to the farm. "We would have waited up all night to see them," said Musbah Khalil, 25. "This is a golden moment. Now I really feel I'm alive, not like before." General Yom Tov Samia, head of the Israeli delegation to the Israeli- Palestinian military liaison committee, said earlier there were still "details about security to sort out" after joint talks about the Israeli pullout. But he added they had "studied the problem of joint patrols and we are ready to leave." The Palestinian officers, who were each given a Klashnikov or a Carl Gustav rifle on leaving the border, had lunched with senior Israeli officers, then inspected the 62 square kilometers (25 square miles) that are to come under Palestinian autonomy. The Israeli army is also redeploying in Gaza to protect the 4,000 settlers who remain there and pulled out of Rafah town earlier Thursday, where the first 300 police have already arrived. Palestinian police chief Nasr Yussef said the Israeli pullout from Gaza and Jericho would be finished by next Wednesday. "Our forces are ready to come immediately. Moreover we have the feeling that we are finally in our own country," Yussef said. Earlier a PLO official told AFP that more than 300 members of the new Palestinian police force bound for the Gaza Strip were stuck at the Rafah border terminal with Egypt. He refused to elaborate on the delay, but said the Israelis had not handed out the application forms for identity cards for the men, ex- soldiers of the PLO's Palestine Liberation Army. But about 300 police crossed the Allenby Bridge from Jordan late Thursday and headed for the Gaza Strip via the West Bank and Israel, a Palestinian spokesman said in Amman They will be the first armed Palestinians to cross Israeli territory under Israeli army escort. Unlike the overcrowded Gaza Strip with its population of about 800,000, the Jericho police are taking over a quiet oasis of 15,000 people, which is known as both the oldest and lowest town in the world. Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance Movement HAMAS shot and wounded an Israeli soldier and a truck driver in the first two attacks on the Gaza Strip since autonomy was launched a week ago. A group of Russian deputies led by Ivan Rybkin, president of the Duma, is to go to China Friday for a five-day official visit, a parliamentary spokesman said Thursday, quoted by the agency ITAR-TASS. The delegation is to visit a metal works and the Shenzhen economic zone bordering Hong Kong, said Dmitri Biriokov, spokesman of the Duma or lower house. The trip comes ahead of an official visit to China by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin later this month. In Beijing, officials said Thursday that visit would take place on May 26 to 29. In Moscow the premier's office confirmed that Chernomyrdin would visit at the end of the month but did not give precise dates. Spanish football reaches boiling point this weekend as the last day proves decisive for the third year running amid rumours of corruption. Deportivo La Coruna, at home to Valencia, are a point ahead of Johan Cruyff's Barcelona, who entertain UEFA Cup hopefuls Sevilla at the Nou Camp stadium. Spanish press is speculating over alleged handouts to Valencia players from mysterious Catalonian intermediaries. Two years ago press reports claimed Tenerife players were payed from a Barcelona source for their last-ditch home victory over Real Madrid which handed Barcelona the title. History repeated itself last season when Tenerife beat Madrid, again on the last day, to bring Barcelona their third consecutive championship. And the press once again claimed Barcelona backers had made illicit payments. Further controversy has come about over the timing of the matches of both Deportivo and Barcelona. The Spanish federation has brought forward those fixtures, and the Athletic Bilbao-Tenerife match to Saturday at 8:30pm (1830 GMT). La Coruna president Cesar Augusto Lendoiro complained bitterly, saying Sunday tickets have been on sale for weeks. Lendoiro agreed Barcelona should be able to alter their schedule because they play in the European Cup final against AC Milan in Athens next Wednesday. But, realising Deportivo would have a distinct advantage should the Catalonians play a day earlier, Lendoiro has appealed to the Spanish federation, and may even resort to legal action. Deportivo are understandably wary about any possible outside influences. Deportivo have won nothing in their history while Barcelona have won 13 Spanish league championships, 22 Spanish Cups, plus eight European crowns. Should Deportivo carry off the title, it will be mainly thanks to 16-goal Brazilian striker Bebeto, and the meanest defence in the league which has conceded just 18 goals in 37 matches. Barcelona were boosted by the happy outcome to the kidnapping of Romario's father which allowed the Brazilian to concentrate on football. Rio de Janeiro police freed him after a massive manhunt lasting six days. Benfica cross the city to Sporting Lisbon in a top-of-the-table clash in Portugal. Sporting, a point behind, will go top with four matches remaining if they win. Bobby Robson's Porto, three points behind Benfica, are away to sixth- placed Vitoria Guimaraes. Montpellier, who knocked out Olympique Marseille on their way to the final, face Auxerre for the French Cup. Montpellier beat Lens, conquerors of champions Paris St Germain, while Auxerre beat Nantes in the semi-finals. Montpellier won the Cup at their first attempt in 1990. Auxerre's only appearance in the final was in 1979 when they were still in the second division. They lost to Nantes after extra-time. Italian Andrea Peron won the eighth stage of the Tour DuPont cycle race on Thursday but Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov kept a 34-second lead in the overall standings. Peron, a 1992 Olympic time-trial silver medallist, broke away in the last 15 kilometers to win the 201-km stage from Banner Elk, North Carolina, in five hours 35 minutes 47 seconds. Briton Sean Yates was second in 5:36:37 and Djamolidin Abdujaparov of Uzbekistan was third in 5:36:39. Ekimov, the eight-time world track champion, finished eighth, in the same time as American Lance Armstrong, who remained second in the overall standings. "We controlled the race from the start and I'm satisfied," said Ekimov. "But I don't know about the time trial. Lance and I have the same chance to win, but it's short and flat, so it looks like my race." Friday's ninth stage takes the field 214 kilometers to Charlotte North Carolina. The 12-day, 1,700-km race concludes Sunday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Armstrong, the world road racing champion, admitted that he would have difficulty making up the gap to Ekimov, who is expected to dominate the closing time trial on Sunday. "There is a 90 percent chance he is going to win," Armstrong said. "My only opportunity is if he cracks or something else happens." bb94 The collapse of a three-million-dollar bogus billing scam landed a former naval chief petty officer in jail here Thursday. James McGill, 53, sobbed and apologized to his family as US District Judge John A. MacKenzie jailed him for seven years. "I was selfish in what I did. I apologize to all of you," said McGill. Authorities indicted McGill in January on 430 counts of filing false claims, mail fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. He pleaded guilty in February under an agreement with the government. McGill, who was a supply clerk with 22 years in the navy, used his knowledge of navy requistion methods to defraud the government. After leaving the navy in 1981 he joined the merchant marines on Military Sealift Command ships until he resigned in 1990. In 1989 he began a scheme lasting four years, submitting false claims to the navy for payment on supplies that were never ordered. His ficticious company, Universal Supply and Services Inc., took in over 3 million dollars from the navy. He received over 100 checks ranging from 7,400 dollars to 60,000 dollars. The scam fell apart when someone noticed he submitted requests for a ship in storage. McGill spent some of the money on gambling and opening a restaurant, but gave most of it away to his church and friends. He agreed to repay the remaining money. More than 100 people have been killed in the past two weeks in clashes between the two main Kurdish groups which have split northern Iraq, leaders from both sides said. The fighting between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK of Jalal Talabani) and the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK of Massud Barzani) ended early this week, they said. The DPK has taken the control of the northwestern of Kurdistan around the town of Dahuk, while the PUK had seized the southeast, around Sulaymaniyah, an AFP correspondant said. The two groups share with the Iraqi National Congress (INC) the province of Arbil in the middle of the Kurdish-controlled area of northern Iraq. The INC, which says it represents all the Kurdish and Arab factions opposed to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, brokered a ceasefire agreement on Sunday. It is based in Salaheddin near Arbil. The fighting erupted after a private quarrel, the PUK said. The only clause of the ceasefire so far implemented provides for INC militiamen to control checkpoints in the Arbil province, along with equal numbers of PUK and DPK fighters. INC official Kanaan Makkiya told AFP Moslem Shiite fighters from southern Iraq were chosen to be deployed on the checkpoints. The two remaining clauses of the May 8 agreement, that have not been yet implemented, provide for prisoner exchanges and the handing back of captured offices. Makkiya said the PDK has given the INC, which is to supervise the prisoners exchange, a list of 93 people were being held by the PUK. A DPK official denied his group attacked the PUK in Dahuk. "We only surrounded their offices to force them to surrender peacefully," he told AFP. PUK spokesman Mohammad Tufic said his faction "has taken over" the DPK offices in Sulaymaniyah only after its own offices in Dahuk were attacked. Most of the casualties followed the PUK assault on Qalat Dizza and Raniya, near the Iranian border, on May 2, sources from both parties said. Twelve were killed in Sulaymaniyah and 12 in Salaheddin. The official Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Monday that 2,800 were killed in the fighting. The Treasury Department and Federal Reserve have neared agreement on plans to merge the Fed and three government agencies to save money, said Fed Governor John LaWare Thursday. The Treasury Department has estimated that the government could save 150 million to 200 million dollars annually and the banking industry about one million if the Federal Reserve is merged with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Thrift Supervision and Comptroller of the Currency. "There is substantially no difference between us and the Treasury on this," said LaWare. "It's really just technicalities." The Fed will continue to have oversight over 38 US banks under an accord that the Treasury Department has seemed amenable to. LaWare also seemed optimistic that the US Congress would lift the 1927 MacFadden Act, which requires banks that want to do business in several states to set up wholly owned subsidiaries in each state in which they have branches. The agreement, which has been approved by the Senate and House of Representatives, could go into effect before the end of the year. The single difference between the two versions is the treatment of foreign banks, who have been asking for years to be given permission to operate here. The senate would require them to create a US subsidiary while the House would give them equal treatment with US banks. US banks are currently lobbying for legislation that would require their foreign competitors to set up subsidiaries here complete with boards of directors -- putting them on the same footing as US banks who want to engage in interstate trade. The banks say that lifting the MacFadden Act would save 10 billion dollars annually and make banking easier for the 60 million Americans living near state borders. LaWare also said he was opposed to a plan to strengthen regulations on derivative products, financial instruments such as futures or options. "Derivatives are not new, not mysterious and if managed properly like any risk, not specifically dangerous," he said. The Fed has not taken an official position on the issue. Foreign evacuees airlifted from Sanaa by the British Royal Air Force Thursday said people were deserting the capital of war-torn Yemen and shortages were worsening. Two RAF Hercules transport planes airlifted 148 foreigners, most of them British, to Cyprus from Sanaa. The evacuees, many looking exhausted, included babies and young children. They spent about two hours at Larnaca airport before boarding a British Airways DC-10 plane bound for Gatwick airport, south of London. Some had witnessed the fighting which erupted a week ago between northern and southern forces and were in Sanaa when a Scud missile slammed into a densely-populated area of the city Wednesday, causing at least 53 casualties. Seventy-five evacuees arrived on one Hercules C-130 and 73 on the other. The planes had flown into Sanaa from Djibouti earlier Thursday. The group included about 20 Americans, as well as some Dutch, New Zealanders, Swiss and Hungarians. British construction worker Michael Wild said the blast from the Scud missile which hit Sanaa Wednesday shattered windows in the hotel where he was staying, 1,000 metres (yards) from the impact. He quoted local Yemenis as saying 43 people were killed and 10 injured in the attack, which flattened eight houses. Many of the victims were children. The official news agency SABA said Wednesday 25 civilians were killed by the Scud, fired by southern forces, and President Ali Abdallah Saleh put the overall casualty toll at 53. Wild added that the southern Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) building in the capital had been devastated in a northern attack and the Italian embassy was also hit. A Hungarian neurosurgeon who asked to be not named said "medical supplies are extremely low" at the main Al-Thawra public hospital in Sanaa, where he had been working. He said the operating theatres in the 500-bed hospital were barely functioning and virtually all the hospital's foreign staff -- mostly Bulgarians and Indians -- had left. About 10 Jordanian doctors arrived at the hospital a few days ago. The surgeon said some 15 Somali refugees caught in the crossfire were admitted with serious bullet wounds, and "at least two of them died later." The hospital was hit by electricity cuts and there was virtually no maintenance, he said. One of the Hercules pilots, Flight Lieutenant Nick Young, said communications at Sanaa airport were "excellent" and praised the help offered by the Yemeni authorities. He said he saw no damage to the airport, despite reported bombing raids by southern jets when the conflict erupted last week. The evacuees were only allowed to bring out a maximum of 20 kilogrammes (44 pounds) of luggage per person. Yvonna Rienens, a Dutch teacher who was at an international school just outside Sanaa, said 150 of the 200 teachers and pupils at the school had already left. She said she saw many Yemenis leaving Sanaa for villages outside the capital, some with their goats, and carrying only a few personal belongings, such as mattresses. Oil engineers who were working for the US company Yemen Hunt Oil in the Marib field east of Sanaa said about 200 oil workers had stayed behind to keep operations at the field running. It produces up to 60,000 barrels of oil per day. Some of them said Sanaa appeared to be a "ghost town," with many shops closed and long queues at petrol stations. Veronica Pickton, a British tourist from Basingstoke in southern England, said there were frequent electricity and water shortages at the hotel in Sanaa where she had been staying for a week. However, there were "no signs of panic" among local residents. More than 4,000 foreigners have now fled the country since fighting erupted. Britain earlier organised an evacuation of 225 non-Britons from Sanaa. Around 800 Britons, mostly oil workers, lived in Yemen before the civil war started. Some who were based around Aden, the southern capital, have already been evacuated by sea. A former member of the British elite SAS regiment died from the effects of a bullet wound he received nearly 19 years before, a coroner's inquest found Thursday. Sergeant-major Tony Fleming was wounded in 1975 while his unit was aiding the government of Oman against rebel forces. The bullet pierced his lung and lodged in his spinal column, leaving him paralysed from the chest down. Doctors gave him 10 years to live at most but he survived for almost twice that, studying Arabic at university and returning to Oman to become a captain of the sultanate's special forces. He finally died of pneumonia in March after his condition suddenly deteriorated. The inquest was held to establish that he had died of wounds received on active service. Telecom New Zealand announced a profit Friday of 528.1 million NZ dollars (304 million US dollars) for the year ended March 31, up 15.4 percent from last year's 457.7 million dollars, excluding abnormal restructuring costs. Operating revenue was up 22.7 million dollars to 2.497 billion dollars. This compared with a 53.3 million dollar decline in revenue the previous year. Telecom cut its employee numbers by 25 percent during the year. Telecom's operating expenses for the year were down 64.7 million dollars to 1.612 billion dollars, excluding abnormal restructuring costs. The majority owner of Telecom is a consortium made up of Bell Atlantic and Ameritech of the United States. Malawi's provisional constitution will be voted into law by parliament before next week's multi-party general elections. Lovemore Munlo, chairman of the all-party National Consultative Council (NCC) which is overseeing Malawi's transition to political pluralism, told journalists here Thursday that parliament is likely to meet May 15 to endorse the constitution. Munlo, who is the country's attorney-general and justice minister, said the constitution will come into force after the new government takes power after the May 17 polls. He said a parliamentary committee will collect and examine the public's comments and criticism of the provisional constitution, and a definitive basic law will be drawn up within a year. The Senate defied President Bill Clinton on Thursday by approving a measure that would require the United States to unilaterally lift the arms embargo against Bosnia. The plan proposed by Senate Republican leader Bob Dole would force the US administration to disregard the 1991 UN embargo and clear the way for US arms shipments to help the Bosnian government defend itself in the two-year-old war. Although the amendment, approved 50 to 49, has little chance of becoming law, it undercut Clinton a day ahead of international talks in Geneva on resolving the conflict. Clinton has pressed for a multilateral lifting of the embargo but has maintained that a unilateral effort by Washington could undermine other UN actions around the world. "The president really understands the Senate sentiment here," said White House spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers. "He has opposed the arm embargo in Bosnia from the beginning. We've pursued other options and as a result we've made some progress on the ground in Bosnia." But Myers said a unilateral lifting of the embargo could encourage other countries to ignore UN sanctions on Serbia, North Korea and other nations. The measure goes to the House of Representatives, where it was expected to have little chance of passage. But even if it were approved, Clinton could veto the measure, and a two-thirds majority of both houses would be needed to override the veto. Earlier, senators passed by an identical 50-49 margin an amendment sponsored by Mitchell calling on Clinton to seek a consensus among US allies to lift the embargo. By placing the two amendments in the same bill, senators appeared to give contradictory directives to the president. "Lifting the arms embargo is the only feasible option that will permit the Bosnian government to defend itself," said Senator Joseph Biden following the vote on the bill. State Department spokesman Michael McCurry said earlier that passing the measure would be "problematic." He also suggested it would send a conflicting message to Geneva, where foreign ministers from Europe, Russia and the United States were to discuss the Balkan conflict Friday. Europe and Russia have argued that an end to the arms embargo would escalate the fighting and quash any chance to resolve the conflict diplomatically. At the United Nations a diplomat said that the Security Council was unlikely to approve a resolution lifting the embargo, noting that even if it had a majority among the 15 members Russia would be sure to veto it. China's UN representative, Chen Jian, said the US Senate action could create new problems. "China is not in favor of measures which could escalate the war. We could judge against this background," the Beijing diplomat said. Last year, a resolution introduced at the UN by Moslem and non-aligned countries to exempt Bosnian Moslems from the sanctions won only six of the nine votes necessary to pass. Five non-aligned members and the United States supported the resolution. Earlier Sadako Ogata, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said that lifting the arms embargo would not help efforts to bring peace to Bosnia-Hercegovina after more than two years of brutal war. "From a humanitarian point of view ... the number one objective I would like to see achieved is a ceasefire. Number two is a political settlement," she said. "I hope all the meetings and decisions would lead to these two objectives." Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic had appealed to members to pass the bill, and thanked Dole and Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman for introducing it. "The hopes of the Bosnian people are turned to the United States Senate," he said recently. Police arrested some 50 people Thursday after right-wing youths armed with knives and sticks chased foreigners through the eastern German town of Magdeburg, injuring two of them seriously. A 40-strong group of football fans attacked foreigners over several hours after parading through the town centre giving Nazi salutes, a police spokesman said. "They indulged in a real hunt," the spokesman said. Three of the foreigners, whose nationality was not specified, received knife wounds and two were brought to a nearby hospital in a serious condition. Two of the attackers were also lightly wounded and police were trying to determine whether a sixth person injured, a German, was one of the aggressors. A nightclub was seriously damaged during the fighting. The extremists later attacked a cafe where their victims had taken shelter before more than 200 police arrived on the scene, arresting both extremists and foreigners, the spokesman said. The entire police force had been placed on general alert during the rampage, he added. Extreme-right violence caused 22 deaths in Germany last year compared to 15 in 1992, but the number of attacks had dropped in the first few months of this year. Philadelphia first baseman John Kruk, who missed the first six games of the season after surgery to remove a cancerous testicle, will have an operation on his right knee on Friday. Kruk will have arthoscopic surgery to remove loose cartilage from the joint. He is expected to miss the next three weeks. "I couldn't move, I couldn't run," he said. "I wouldn't say it was affecting the way I hit, but some people said I wasn't coming through on my front side." Kruk has averaged .313 with one home run this year. He said the cancer and the knee problem had made it a tough season so far. "I know my way around the hospital better than I do the stadium right now," he said. bb94 President Bill Clinton said will not rush into choosing his next nominee to the Supreme Court as he missed the Thursday target date he had set for the announcement. The wait could signal a change in the Clinton's choices, with the president possibly avoiding controversy over nominating Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to the post. Clinton said Tuesday he would make an announcement by Thursday, but the only word Thursday was that he would hold off. He said he would resist "all the pressure of time deadlines." "On these matters," Clinton said, "I tend to keep my own counsel more than on other things. ... It is one of the few things that the president just does on his own, of course ultimately with the advice and consent of the Senate." "I know that this has now become the most pressing story in the capital, but this is really a story that will have implications for years, indeed perhaps for decades to come," Clinton added. Clinton's decision on his appointment to the highest court in the land is now expected by Friday, giving time for the Senate to confirm his choice before their summer recess. Leaks -- particularly from senators consulted about possible candidates -- have indicated that Clinton has narrowed his choice to three names. Named for life to the Supreme Court, the nine justices have a huge role in determining the course of American society. In recent decades, the court has ended segregation, given blacks political power and legalized abortion, rulings which will have a lasting impact on the country. Clinton's hesitation is also due to the opposition the former Arizona governor might face in his confirmation hearings in the Senate, where his reputation as a staunch liberal and his political rather than legal background could be liabilities. The 55-year-old Babbitt has riled several members with his zealous efforts to reform the government's management of the country's natural resources and his crusade to put environmental concerns ahead of economic interests. The two other leading candidates are both judges. Richard Arnold, who is from Clinton's home state Arkansas, and Stephen Breyer of Massachusetts, are both considered moderates. "They would be slam dunks for the president," and easily confirmed said Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. Arnold's health problems are an issue and also working against him is his connection with Arkansas, where Clinton was governor. The White House wants to avoid any hint of influence peddling. Clinton's nominee will replace 85-year-old Justice Harry Blackmun who decided to resign after 24 years on the Supreme Court. Clinton named his first Supreme Court justice last June: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, known as a moderate and an abortion rights advocate. The White House said Thursday that the United States and France had reached a "common approach" on Bosnia-Hercegovina, one day before a Geneva meeting on the former Yugoslav republic. In a brief statement, the White House said that President Bill Clinton and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe "agreed the ministerial meeting offers as an important opportunity for the US, France and the international community to continue copperative efforts to press the parties to the conflict to negotiate a political settlement." Juppe arrived in Washington on Wednesday, determined to convince Washington to force Bosnia's warring parties to agree to a peace plan. "It is not a matter of imposing a peace plan on the parties that they don't want but of putting pressure on them to accept it," he said. Clinton on the other hand, had backed a plan to convince Europe to lift the arms embargo on Bosnia's Moslems. Juppe met with the president at the Oval office early Thursday to discuss Bosnia. Leaving the White House, Juppe said he was pleased with the "convergence" between Washington and Paris, but he also acknowledged that there were stil details to work out. The Geneva conference Friday will bring together the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, as well as Belgium and Greece. Two Nigerian soldiers were killed in the disputed Bakassi peninsula in an incident blamed on Cameroon, Nigerian television reported Thursday. "Cameroon has once again confirmed that she is the aggressor," armed forces spokesman Colonel Okon Ede was quoted as saying. "While Nigeria has been playing the role of a good neighbour by resorting to diplomatic, political and traditional means to resolve the dispute, Cameroon has consistently displayed arrogant agression which resulted in the death of two Nigerian soldiers recently." Ede's statement, which gave no further details of the incident, called on the international community to take note of "another veritable act of provocation" by Cameroon. Earlier the official Nigerian news agency said head of state General Sani Abacha had held "crucial consultations" on national security with his armed forces chiefs Thursday in the capital Abuja. The situation in Bakassi, an area rich in natural resources where the two sides have confronted each other since January, was one the agenda as well as political and economic conditions in Nigeria, the agency said. Telecom New Zealand Friday announced a profit of 528.1 million NZ dollars (304 million US) for the year ended March 31, up 15.4 percent from last year's 457.7 million dollars, excluding abnormal restructuring costs. As the result was announced an academic said Telecom was making too much money and might, as a result, attract attention from regulatory authorities. Operating revenue was up 22.7 million dollars to 2.497 billion dollars. This compared with a 53.3 million dollars decline in revenue the previous year. Telecom cut its employee numbers by 25 percent during the year. Telecom's operating expenses for the year were down 64.7 million dollars to 1.612 billion dollars, excluding abnormal restructuring costs. Staff shedding was reflected in gross personnel costs, which fell 11.6 percent over the year, and was the major factor in a 3.9 percent decline to 1.612 billion dollars in operating expenses. At March 31 Telecom had 202 access lines per operating employee, compared with 142 a year earlier and 123 in March 1992. "The pace at which the number of personnel continues to decline will hinge largely on the introduction of new systems, the timing of which is difficult to forecast precisely," chairman Peter Shirtcliffe and chief executive Roderick Deane said in their annual review. About 1,000 more jobs are to be eliminated this financial year. Meanwhile Victoria University professor of accounting Don Trow said Friday's profit was too much for a near monopoly. He said that if profits continued to grow, then the company is forecast to reach more than 680 million dollars within two years, and the regulatory Commerce Commission may be forced to consider the question of excessive profits. The return works out to more than 20 percent on investment, the highest for any public company listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. At 680 million dollars that return grows to 30 percent; unheard of in a large company in a country with low inflation. Once state owned, Telecom is now half owned by two American companies, Ameritech and Bell Atlantic, with the rest owned by small shareholders and New Zealand and overseas fund managers. Trow said the profit return was very high for a utility with secure cash flows and profits unlikely to be badly affected by economic downturns. He said Telecom was still in a position of substantial protection as its main competitor, Clear Communications, had not yet had the chance to provide effective competition in the local calling market. Friday's result show revenue growth of 22.7 million dollars or 0.9 percent compared with a 2.1 percent decline in the year ended March 1993. The number of telephone access lines grew 3.8 percent, national call volume 9.9 percent, international outward 11 percent and international inward 12.4 percent. Directories and tariff revenue grew 13.1 percent and income from enhanced services 23.6 percent. The average of both national and outward international call prices in March this year was around 15 percent lower than a year previously. "The directors see significant prospects for growth in products and services based on the capabilities of Telecom's intelligent network and modern transmission systems," the annual review said. "Market penetration and intensity of use of many of Telecom's products and services, including toll calling, enhanced network services and mobile services, are still low compared with other countries," it said. In 33 years of racing, Emerson Fittipaldi has never had an engine this good. The reigning Indianapolis 500 champion gave the Mercedes power plant his ultimate praise here Thursday after driving his Penske car to the month's fastest lap in practice for the 78th Indy race. The Brazilian circled the 2.5-mile (4 km) oval in 39.05 seconds at 230.438 mph (368.700 km/h). Fittipaldi reached a top speed of 245 mph (392 km/h). "I've never been 245 mph before in my life," Fittipaldi said. "This is the limit. Oh my. That must be a lot in kilometers. I don't want to even see it in kilometers. I'll keep it in miles." Fittipaldi's top speed replaced another Brazilian driver, Raul Boesel, atop the Indy practice speed list. Boesel's best was 230.403 mph (368.644 km/h). "We seem to be running in the same time slot more than anybody other than the Penskes," Boesel said. "We have been consistent and we have a good balance on the car." Fittipaldi and his Mercedes-powered Roger Penske teammates, Al Unser Jnr and Canada's Paul Tracy, are favorites in Saturday's 100,000-dollar pole battle for the May 29 race. Fittipaldi won his only Indy pole in 1990, one year after taking his first checkered flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Mercedes engine, designed by English motormakers Mario Illien and Paul Morgan, takes advantage of extra boost allowed stock block engines. The rule was aimed at allowing low-budget teams to be competitive here, but Penske's multi million-dollar investment in an engine legal only here has made his cars the ones to beat. "The reality is there is much less of an advantage than people think," Fittipaldi said. The advantage is enough for Ford motor racing director Dan Rivard to seek relief from Indy race officials. Most contenders here use his Ford-Cosworth engines across the Indy circuit, but Penske could make them uncompetitive. "We're working with the speedway so we can all work with the same engineering," Rivard said. "The speedway is faced with some very tough choices. They have to make the decision (on changing rules to kill the Mercedes)." Rivard and Cosworth's Steve Miller both said they could build an Indy- only engine similar to Mercedes for next year if they must. New rivals Honda and Toyota would likely do the same. "We're not adversarial in this, but we want to know what's going on," Rivard said. "If the Penskes have any luck at all, they could be unstoppable." Even rivals agree the Mercedes drivers ae likely to break the track records set by Roberto Guerrero in 1992. They are 232.482 mph (371.971 km/h) for a four-lap average and 232.618 mph (372.188 km/h) for a single lap. "It's going to be ludicrous. We're here to qualify in the second or third row," Britain's Nigel Mansell said. Unser, who has tested the Mercedes over 520 miles, dislikes the favored role, saying: "We're not a lock for the pole. You can have all the horsepower and it won't matter unless you can get around the corner." But his father, four-time Indy winner Al Unser Sr., likes what he sees from his son's engine. "We know the engine is capable. Penske doesn't let things sit back and relax," he said. "Whether it will stand up on race day, nobody knows. I bet you it will be a strong motor all day, though. Penske wouldn't come here without a good idea it would hold up." js94bb A pro-Islamic lawyer, Abdel Hareth Madani, who died in prison last week, had been tortured to death, an official preliminary pathologist's report has found. The office of the state prosecutor said it had called for a final report and summoned the doctors who carried out the autopsy on Madani's body for more information. Prosecutor Raga'a al-Arabi, who ordered the pathologist's report, is also expected to interrogate the police suspected of involvement in torturing Madani. Interior Minister General Hassan al-Alfi, questioned by journalists, said the matter was still being investigated and that the truth would be made public. The Cairo Bar said Monday that Madani's death, notified to his family the previous Friday, was premeditated murder, while Egyptian and foreign human rights organisations called on President Hosni Mubarak to clear up the matter. Madani was arrested on April 26 and taken away to an unknown destination. The opposition said he had been trying to mediate between the government and Islamic fundamentalists in the conflict which has killed some 400 people in the past two years. Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico cleared the way Thursday for a three- way free trade agreement after settling several longstanding differences, officials said. In statements issued here as well as Caracas and Mexico City, the three governments said the Group of Three treaty would be signed at the June 15 Latin American summit in the Colombian capital and would go into effect January 1. "This is a historic accord, the second most important in America," said Colombian Foreign Trade Minister Rafael Santos, saying the pact was second in importance only to the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada, Mexico and the United States. Santos called the measure a definitive step toward the political integration of Latin America. To reach agreement, officials decided to exclude Venezuela from textile and apparel, Santos said, adding that treatment of the petrochemical sector was handled on a product-by-product basis. "We could not allow several differnces in secondary matters to sidetrack this accord," Santos said. The dollar opened at 104.15 yen in Tokyo on Friday, up 0.05 yen from the previous day's finish of 104.10 yen. The opening rate was slightly below New York's late Thursday quote of 104.22 yen. Reduced costs and less stress are making state officials consider more multiple executions after putting two prisoners to death earlier in the week. "The attorney general is talking to us now about the next multiple execution," said Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Alan Ables Thursday. Convicted murderers Jonas Whitmore and Edward Charles Pickens died by lethal injection Wednesday within about an hour of each other in the same chamber. Ables said more than one execution on one day saves money spent on preparations and overtime. He also said prison workers face less stress with multiple executions. "Nobody wants to get up in the morning and go kill somebody," said Ables. Two or more executions on the same date "would lessen that anxiety that the officers are faced with," said Jim Clark, president of the International Association of Correctional Officers in Washington. "It should save the taxpayers a considerable amount of money and we certainly encourage multiple executions," said Dennis Martin, executive director of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. Arkansas called in 32 extra state police to the prison Wednesday night along with over 45 other people not normally on duty. Multiple executions were once common in the United States. Arkansas executed two people on four separate dates in 1960. Until Wednesday, no multiple executions had taken place in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Executions are are becoming more frequent with prisoners convicted since 1976 reaching the end of their appeals. Whitmore and Pickens brought the death total to 239 since 1977. More than 2,800 people are sitting on Death Row in the United States. The next multiple execution in Arkansas could take place in July or August, said Ables. The state has 41 inmates on Death Row. Chinese dissidents in the United States generally favor a partial withdrawal of Beijing's privileged trading status targeting state- owned firms, not complete revocation, dissident leaders said here Thursday. There are differing views among the dissident community in the United States on the best way to advance human rights in China, but "an overwhelming majority do agree on the middle policy of targeted revocation," Zhao Haiching, the president of the National Council for Chinese Affairs (NCCA) told a press conference. China has clearly not made the significant overall progress on human rights which President Bill Clinton said last year would be needed if he were to extend Beijing's most favored nation (MFN) trading status beyond June 3, Zhao said. But withdrawing MFN altogether would make everyone suffer for the government's intransigence, said Zhao, whose group coordinates dissident groups in the United States pushing for human rights and democracy in China. Revoking MFN just for products which come mainly from state-owned enterprises would continue US pressure on the government to improve its human rights record, while not punishing the private sector and market economy which everybody wants to promote, Zhao said. Zhao also said it was the United States's own fault that its decision to firmly link MFN to human rights this year had not borne more fruit. Mixed signals from Washington had convinced China "that all they have to do to win MFN is play tough, and they have been doing so," Zhao said. Economic officials in the government made it clear early that evoking human rights would be an economic disaster for the United States. Chinese dissident Wang Juntao, jailed for his part in the 1989 pro- democracy movement which was crushed in the Tiananmen Square massacre, is in Washington this week meeting with lawmakers and US officials. Wang said that his release was a miracle, but urged the international community not to forget all the political prisoners still behind bars in China. On Wedenesday, Wang called for Washington to aintain pressure on China but not by withdrawing MFN Wang met for half an hour at the White House with national security adviser Anthony Lake, with no details available from the talks, officials said. New York's Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision Thursday denying film star Woody Allen custody of three children in a bitter court battle with his ex-lover and former leading lady Mia Farrow. The court also ordered Allen to pay 1.2 million dollars to cover Farrow's legal expenses in the dispute over the couple's six-year-old biological son, Satchel as well as two children adopted by the couple. Elkan Abramowitz, Allen's lawyer, said the film director and actor was "bitterly disappointed" by the ruling and said he may seek further appeals. The appeals court ruled that Allen, who acknowledged sleeping with Soon-Yi Previn, Farrow's 22-year-old adopted daughter, showed "an absence of any parenting skill." The court maintained an order barring Allen from visiting seven-year- old Dylan and 16-year-old Moses, who were adopted by the couple during their relationship that ended in 1992. Allen was cleared of Farrow's accusations that he molested Dylan. Rain, lightning and wild winds wreaked havoc on the LPGA Championship Thursday, leaving two golfers, Alice Ritzman and Dottie Mochrie, sharing the lead with three still stranded on the course. Ritzman has never won a tournament in 17 years on the LPGA Tour. She carded a three-under 68 to share the lead with Dottie Mochrie, on a day in which only 16 of 141 golfers carded par or better. Golfers with early tee times played in the rain. Later thunderstorms stopped play for two hours, and after the break strong, chilly winds caused scores to balloon. "I kind of weathered the storm," said Mochrie, who was on the last hole when play was suspended. "It wasn't an easy day to play." France's Anne-Marie Palli was disqualified for practicing during the rain delay. Three other golfers withdrew: Nancy Lopez with a lower back injury, Spain's Tania Abitbol with a wrist problem and Sandra Palmer after allergies contributed to a disappointing 40 on her first nine holes. Lopez, winner of three LPGA Championships, said she did not want to jeopardize her season by playing through the injury. "It was useless," said Lopez, who started on teh back nine with a bogey and double bogey. "If I did keep swinging, it could have gotten worse. I want to finish the rest of the year." Mochrie remained steady in the face of the upheaval. She made 15 pars, with birdies at five, 12, and 15. "I think I played three different courses," she said. "The first holes in downpour, then the wind, and then the storm. With all that, I'm pleased with the way I played." Ritzman, 42, got to 68 in different fashion. Opening on the back nine she birdied the 11th and bogeyed the next from less than two feet. She chipped in from 69 feet for a birdie at 17, and added three birdies and a bogey on the front nine. "The wind was strong and gusting," she said. "The conditions were pretty tough. You had to maintain your patience to get the job done." Juli Inkster and Noelle Daghe were one shot behind the leaders, and England's Laura Davies was in a group of five on 70. The three players still on the course when darkness fell were to complete the round Friday morning. bb94 The Senate should approve a 14-year-old treaty to curb millions of landmines from being layed around world said President Clinton Thursday. Senate ratification would be "a matter of humanity, common sense and sound military doctrine," Clinton said. International representatives concluded the original agreement in Geneva in the fall of 1980. The United States signed on in 1982. Since then the treaty has languished, the subject of multiple US government reviews. More than 100 million landmines lie unexploded in at least 62 countries, human rights groups reported. They also said worldwide production may be reaching 10 million anti-personnel landmines annually. The American Red Cross reported landmines kill more than 200 civilians every week. Landmines are a particular threat in Afghanistan, Angola, and Cambodia. Clinton termed the treaty "a modest but significant humanitarian effort to protect the victims of armed conflict from the effects of particular weapons." He also said ratification would strengthen US efforts urging an international moratorium on the export of anti-personnel landmines. State Department and United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees personnel will testify before the Senate Friday on the issue. Leading first-round scores on Thursday in the 1.1 million-dollar LPGA Championship golf tournament (USA unless stated. Three players to complete round Friday): 68 - Alice Ritzman, Dottie Mochrie 69 - Julie Inkster, Noelle Daghe 70 - Robin Walton, Michelle McGann, Chris Johnson, Laura Davies (GB), Mardi Lunn (Australia) 71 - Meg Mallon, Shelley Hamlin, Tammie Green, Page Dunlap, Dana Dormann, Amy Alcott, Julie Larsen ... 72 - Jennifer Wyatt (Canada), Hiromi Kobayashi (Japan), Barb Bunkowsky (Canada), Florence Descampe (Belgium) 73 - Gail Graham (Canada), Jane Crafter (Australia), Helen Alfredsson (Sweden) 74 - Lisa Walters (Canada), Ayako Okamoto (Japan), Liselotte Neumann (Sweden) 75 - Jan Stephenson (Australia), Amaia Arruti (Spain) 76 - Nicky Le Roux (S.Africa), Marta Figueras-Dotti (Spain), Dawn Coe- Jones (Canada), Eva Dahllof (Sweden) 77 - Nancy Harvey (Canada) 78 - Sally Little (S.Africa), Suzanne Strudwick (GB), Alicia Dibos (Peru) 80 - Trish Johnson (GB) 82 - Pamela Wright (GB), Luciana Bemvenuti (Italy) WD - Sandra Palmer, Nancy Lopez, Tania Abitbol (Spain) DQ - Anne-Marie Palli (France) bb94 survey WASHINGTON, May 12 (AFP) - Purchasing power of US households has been rising and will continue to rise through the year 2000, the Conference Board business research organization said Thursday. Between 1960 and 1990, real per capita income doubled from 8,000 dollars to 16,000 dollars a year, the board said. "Frequent predictions of an emerging decline in US living standards have little basis in fact," said Conference Board director Fabian Linden. The survey found that a growing number of US households are joining the middle class and that the 35-55 age group would soon control half the nation's purchasing power. The survey predicted that the number of households with an income level of between 50,000 and 100,000 dollars annually will likely grow by one-third by the end of the century and that the number of households earning more than 100,000 dollars would jump 80 percent. Increased worker productivity, the greater participation of women in the work force and increased levels of education were cited as factors for the increase in purchasing power. Nine alleged bank robbers and two bystanders were killed when police foiled a bank robbery early Thursday, leaving bodies strewn along a five-block stretch of road, authorities said. The bank robbers entered a Banco de Colombia branch and took about 20,000 dollars before they were surprised by police. Police and the alleged bank robbers exchanged fire, and the nine were shot and killed as they attempted to flee. The dead included two passersby: a taxi driver allegedly shot by the bank robbers as they attempted to steal his vehicle and a bystander, police spokesmen said. Pioneer psychoanalyst Erik Erikson who widened the scope of psychoanalytic theory to take greater account of social, cultural and other environmental factors, died Thursday. He was 91. Erikson died at the Rosewood Manor Nursing Home, said Diana Eck, a Harvard professor and friend. "As they used to say of Gandhi, he was a mahatma, a great soul, very wise, very wide-ranging humanist and someone who really illuminated the stages of the life cycle from birth to death," Eck said. Erikson trained under Anna Freud -- the daughter of Sigmund Freud -- specializing in child pyschology. Erikson graduated from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute. He extended Freudian theory into adolescence and adulthood and coined the phrase, "identity crisis." He wrote numerous books on human development and was recognized in his field as a pioneer. His most influential book was "Childhood and Society" (1950). His psychohistorical studies, "Young Man Luther" (1958) and "Gandhi's Truth" (1969), explored the convergence of personal development and social history. The latter won the Pulitzer and National Book Award in 1970. Later works dealt with ethical concerns in the modern world. In addition to psychoanalytic works, Erikson also wrote biographies of Jesus, Albert Einstein, William James and Charles Darwin. Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany on June 15, 1902 to Danish parents, Erikson left Europe for the United States in 1933. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1939. Erikson taught at Harvard University in the mid-1930s and returned during the 1960s. He was professor emeritus of human development and psychiatry at Harvard. In his last years he had been living at the nursing home. His wife, Joan, lived nearby. Results on Thursday in the National Basketball Association playoffs: Conference semi-finals Atlanta 92, Indiana 69, series tied 1-1 bb94 Diplomats from Europe, Russia and the United States prepared to meet here Friday amid disarray for yet another attempt to get to grips with the conflict in Bosnia-Hercegovina. A senior US official said the aim was to "focus on cessation of hostilities linked with an early resumption of negotiations" between the Bosnian Serbs and the recently-agreed Moslem-Croat federation. But he acknowledged that the Serbs were demanding a lifting of UN sanctions against their backers in the rump Yugoslavia before they would return to the negotiating table, something which the United States opposes. Washington, represented by Secretary of State Warren Christopher, also went into the talks embarrassed by a vote Thursday by the US Senate that the administration should unilaterally allow US arms shipments to the mainly-Moslem Bosnian government in defiance of a 1991 UN embargo. US President Bill Clinton favours lifting the embargo to allow the government forces to defend themselves, but says it must be a multilateral move. The Senate vote, while having virtually no chance of becoming law, undercut him the day before the Geneva talks. Friday's conference also follows strong words from France that it might be obliged to pull its forces out of the UN peacekeeping operation in Bosnia if peace can not be obtained, and continuing disagreement over how territory might be divided among the warring sides. But despite earlier pessimism from Washington, the US official here said it was "possible to a large extent" to "agree on some kind of approach" towards resolving the problem. He said that both sides had indicated interest in a cessation of hostilities, the Serbs because of the 70 percent of Bosnia they controlled was "more they can effectively occupy," and the Sarajevo government because it wanted to "calm things down in the hope negotiations resume." The official said the Geneva conference should also reaffirm support for decisions on the six UN-declared safe areas and prevent offensive actions elsewhere. On Thursday fighting was reported at Tuzla and Bihac, both declared safe areas, and at Brcko, a potential flashpoint, while a UN military observer was killed and another seriously wounded on the edge of the Sarajevo exclusion zone. UN Secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali called Thursday in a statement published in New York for the boundaries of the safe areas, where Moslems are under siege from Serbs, to be clearly defined. He also ruled out extending the safe areas, for example to Brcko, saying the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) did not have the resources to cover them. "It must be recognized that safe areas do not in themselves represent a long-term solution to the fundamental conflict in Bosnia and Hercegovina, which requires a political and territorial solution," Boutros-Ghali added. The UN chief met in Paris Thursday with civilian and military chiefs operating in the former Yugoslavia, including special representative Yasushi Akashi, UNPROFOR commander General Bertrand de Lapresle, peace negotiator Thorvald Stoltenberg and his European Union colleague Lord Owen. The meeting covered Stoltenberg and Owen's mandate for the Geneva talks, as well as ways of improving communications between UNPROFOR, Boutros-Ghali and the UN Security Council. A communique said the UN wanted to see the participants at Geneva agree at least on the need to establish a general ceasefire in Bosnia as soon as possible and to deal with the whole problem of the conflict on a global and not a piecemeal basis. Questioned on the possibility of lifting UN sanctions against Belgrade, held responsible for inciting the conflict, to encourage the Serbs to return to the negotiating table, the US official said this could begin once the Serbs had made a verified withdrawal of their forces to agreed lines. As well as Christopher, Owen and Stoltenberg, the Geneva conference brings together the foreign ministers of Russia and five from the European Union: Britain and France which have the largest contingents of peacekeepers in Bosnia, current president of the council of ministers Greece, its predecessor Belgium and its successor Germany. Saturday sees the signature of the agreement between Bosnian Croats and Moslems on their federation, which the Serbs have refused to join. The federation has also caused unease by claiming 58 percent of Bosnia-Hercegovina, more than the Geneva participants have been prepared to agree. Japan's women's volleyball team launched their tour of the United States with a 3-0 victory Thursday night, taking their record against the Americans to 88-57. Japan cruised to a 15-5, 15-10, 15-5 sweep in front of about 3,000 fans. Mika Yamauchi led Japan with 19 kills and two blocks. Teammate Kazuyo Matsukawa added 12 kills and five blocks in the winning effort. The four-city tour continues Friday in Kansas City, Missouri. The two countries play in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Sunday and Denver, Colorado, on Monday. bb94 Six adults and two children died early Friday when fire swept through a furniture factory and salesroom in northern Bangkok, trapping the victims in their second-storey living quarters, police said. Iron grilles on doors and windows prevented the victims from escaping the blaze, police said. Radio reports said 10 workers managed to escape, but police could not immediately confirm the figure. The cause of the fire, which broke out at around 1:30 a.m. and raged for over an hour, was under investigation, police said. The film censorship board has decided that the Oscar-winning film "Schindler's List" may be shown uncut in Thai theaters despite nude love-making scenes which contravene local regulations. The board voted Thursday to lift a ban imposed earlier this month, and the film will be shown for the first time in Bangkok Saturday, a spokesman for distributors United International Pictures, Surachit Chanowan, said. In a 6-4 vote after hours of debate, the board decided that a 10-second nude sex scene was not after all objectionable as no sex organs were shown and it did not provoke sexual excitement, a police official told AFP Friday. The official noted that board members voting against showing the film uncut included the press association, despite recent calls in the local press to update Thailand's 1920s-era censorship regulations. Others voting against represented the defense ministry, the national intelligence agency and the Thai movie confederation, the official said. Steven Spielberg's epic of a German industrialist who smuggles more than 1,000 Jews to safety during World War II, winner of seven Academy Awards, ran into trouble in several countries when Spielberg refused to allow any cuts. Malaysia banned "Schindler's List," then grudgingly relented. The Philippines censorship board voted to cut certain scenes until President Fidel Ramos issued a decree to show the film in its entirety. Indonesia, where some Moslem organizations contend the film demonstrates morals and actions which run counter to the Indonesian way of life, remains undecided. In Thailand, where explicit sex shows can be seen in many night spots, films are routinely cut to meet censorship standards or a 90-minute time frame. Scenes of violence generally escape the cuts, but scenes with nudity do not. Another Oscar-winning film now making the rounds in Bangkok, "The Piano", is being shown at its full length, but with scenes involving nudity smeared into obscurity with petroleum jelly. The Atlanta Hawks held Indiana to the lowest points total ever in a National Basketball Association playoff game Thursday, leveling their second-round series 1-1 with a 92-69 victory. The Pacers' 69 points were one less than the previous playoff low of 70, set by Golden State against Los Angeles in 1973 and matched by Seattle against Houston in 1982. Atlanta's Mookie Blaylock posted 11 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds -- hitting double digits in all three categories for the fourth time in his career. Atlanta led by as much as 61-42 at one point in the third quarter. Indiana narrowed the gap to 65-57 but could not come any closer. The Hawks led from late in the first quarter, when Kevin Willis' shot from the corner broke a 19-19 tie. Atlanta led 47-32 at halftime. The best-of-seven series moves to Indianapolis, Indiana, for game three on Saturday. bb94 Venezuela's Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for a second set of charges to be filed against former president Jaime Lusinchi (1984-1989), chief justice Roberto Yepez Boscan announced. The high court found that there was enough evidence to try Lusinchi,a social democrat, for misappropriation of funds from the National Institute of Racecourses, an agency to manage racetracks. The next step would be for the court to ask congress to lift Lusinchi's presidential immunity, said Yepez Boscan. Lusinchi, like all ex-presidents, has a lifetime seat in the senate. The Supreme Court ruled in August that there was enough evidence to try Lusinchi for corruption in his handling of other state funds. That trial is now in "judicial limbo," said Lusinchi's lawyer, Morris Sierralta. Lusinchi is currently in Boston, Massachusetts, according to his attorney. Chinese President Jiang Zemin has issued an ominous warning that stability will be maintained at any cost, defending the bloody suppression of the 1989 pro-democracy movement just weeks before its fifth anniversary. Without the "resolute measures" taken by the army on June 4, China would not enjoy its current stability, said Jiang, whose remarks were carried on state-run radio and the front pages of all major newspapers Friday. By invoking the memory of June 4, Jiang has issued the strongest warning to date that the government is willing to take all measures necessary -- including military force -- to eliminate any perceived threat to its position. Since the beginning of the year, Chinese leaders have repeatedly stressed the paramount importance of stability and their rhetoric has been backed up by widespread arrests of dissidents and a law and order crackdown that has seen a sharp increase in executions. Jiang made the comments during a meeting here Thursday with visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohammad. "A bad thing has been turned into a good thing," Jiang said, referring to the 1989 unrest that at its height saw upwards of one million people taking to the streets of Beijing in a single day. "As a result, our reform and opening programme has forged ahead with steadier, better and even quicker steps, and our advantages have been brought into fuller play," Jiang said. Jiang was communist party chief in Shanghai at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre and consequently emerged untainted by its bloody aftermath, which makes his unequivocal endorsement of the military supression all the more significant. As well as the presidency, Jiang currently hold the posts of Communist Party secretary general and chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission. Israeli officials handed over at least three buildings to Palestinian police officers in the early hours of Friday as a small crowd of residents who had stayed up all night cheered on. The Israeli flag was lowered and replaced by the Palestinian flag at the central police station, the post office and a court house. The sites were transferred formally to some 20 officers who had crossed over from Jordan on Thursday. Israeli officials handed over at least three buildings to Palestinian police officers in the early hours of Friday as a small crowd of residents who had stayed up all night cheered on. The Israeli flag was lowered and replaced by the Palestinian flag at the central police station, the post office and a court house, witnesses said. The sites were transferred formally to some 20 officers who had crossed over from Jordan on Thursday. Another 40 officers and 386 policemen, formerly based in Iraq, are due to follow on Friday, as the Israelis relinquish control of the West Bank town to the Palestinians under the autonomy deal signed on May 4. "If all goes well, all the Jericho region will be in Palestinian hands by Friday afternoon," said Colonel Herzl, a member of the Israeli- Palestinian military liaison commmittee, whose full name was withheld for security reasons. "I didn't expect them to hand over the sites this quiet way," said taxi-driver Attia Barham, 40. "But there have been so many changes in plans that I'm not surprised. "The Israelis saw how happy we were and didn't want to let us rejoice," he said, referring to the discreet way the officers were let in to the region. India's ambitious nuclear and missile programmes will top Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao's agenda on his visit to the United States, his most controversial foreign trip in three years in office. The 73-year-old Indian leader, who embarks on the visit Saturday, is under tremendous domestic pressure to stand up to persistent US demands to cap the country's nuclear regime and freeze its missile defence programme. Opposition leaders have urged him to call off the visit to denounce what they describe as US arm-twisting over the nuclear issue, Kashmir, human rights and trade. No overseas visit by Rao has generated so much heat and controversy. Both Indian officials and US diplomats admit that the two countries have never been so far apart on crucial policy issues, but emphasise that the trip is nevertheless important to set the course for future ties. "There are some issues on which we agree, there are some on which we have differences," a US diplomat here said, underlining the growing chasm. "We shall try to find a common agenda." On Thursday, Rao indicated that a common ground would be hard to find when he vowed not to roll back India's nuclear and missile policies under pressure from Washington. "A leader would be worthless if he changes government policies during his visits to a foreign country," he told a meeting of MPs from his ruling Congress (I) party. Rao is under widespread attack that he has already bowed to Washington by postponing the final trial of India's surface-to-surface Prithvi missile that had been scheduled for Saturday. A day's secret talks between Indian and US officials in London last month on the nuclear programme added to rumours that Rao may be quietly preparing to surrender India's nuclear option. Commentator Nikhil Chakravarty said on Thursday in an article titled "Mr. Rao, go to Washington but go with dignity" that the week-long visit "looks as onerous as climbing Mount Everest." At the root of Indo-US differences is the refusal by New Delhi, which exploded a nuclear device in 1974, to sign the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or agree to a pact on a nuclear-free South Asia. Indian officials with an eye on China say any attempt at nuclear disarmament should be global and not restricted to a region. The US administration, which fears that South Asia is a potential nuclear flashpoint, also wants New Delhi not to induct the Prithvi missile into the army, and to halt research on the intermediate-range Agni ballistic missile. The demands, on top of statements by US officials seen here as tacitly encouraging the Moslem insurgency in Kashmir, have angered many in India, where the US is still widely seen as pro-Pakistan. A US proposal to supply 38 F-16 planes to Pakistan, with which India has fought three wars and which it accuses of backing Moslem separatism in Kashmir, has added to the list of irritants. The strains were evident on May 7 when the Indian foreign ministry, in a move unprecedented ahead of a prime minister's visit, lashed out at Washington. "India is equally disappointed that the US approach has not accepted India's position (on nuclear non-proliferation) and persists with its 'all-or-nothing' approach," a spokesman said. The American attempt to cap the country's nuclear program "is bound to fail," said Brajesh Mishra of the oppostion Indian's People's Party. "The prime minister is in no position to compromise in view of the overwhelming mood in the country." Amid the fireworks, Indian officials say they will try to sell New Delhi's three-year-old economic reforms which have made the country an attractive investment centre, in particular for US companies. Indonesian dissidents are either worried or outright indignant over this week's announcement that state security forces would become more involved in labour disputes. The head of the army's powerful social and political division, General Hartono, announced that the National Coordinating Agency for the Maintenance of National Stability (Bakorstanas) would become involved in social conflicts from their outset to prevent them from spinning out of control. In mid-April, strikes in the North Sumatran city of Medan degenerated into demonstrations against the country's ethnic Chinese, in which one person was killed amidst widespread property damage. On Tuesday Hartono criticised Indonesia's official trade union, the SPSI (Indonesian Workers Union), saying it had failed in its mission to defend the country's workers. His remarks were not welcomed by the president of the independent Prosperity union (officially called the SBSI), Mukhtar Pakpahan: "I think this move will not overcome the problem. The root of the labour dispute in Indonesia is because there is no freedom for workers to organise themselves," he said. "This involvement by Bakorstanas or the army is a step backwards," he added. Founded in 1992, Prosperity is not recognised by the government, which prefers to deal with the official SPSI only. Accused by the army of being behind the rioting in Medan, Prosperity has seen its freedom of movement further curtailed ever since. Three of its local officials have been arrested, and another twenty activists have been detained. "The move is also against our law. Even the ministerial decree which allows the intervention of the military to a labour dispute has been scrapped by the introduction of new ministerial decree number 15/1994 at the beginning of the year," Pakpahan said. "It will also protect the interest of the businessman and it leads to a militarisation," he said. The new measure was also denounced by the co-founder of another independent union, "Solidarity" (Setiakawan) -- older than Prosperity but now lapsed -- human rights activist Johanes Princen. "In the first place, the army should lower the informal cost that you have to pay to the manpower ministry, the military, the police, the mayor of the city, the people of the industry ministry, etcetera," he said, alluding to what he says are the numerous bribes employers have to pay the authorities here. "We all know that it does exist," he said. "The informal costs have to disappear. The profit could then go in part to the labour." Hartono defended the new involvement of Bakorstanas, calling it part of a legitimate concern for the stability of the country. "If they are not coordinated from the outset, social problems could increase and get out of hand ... they could become violent and then require even more difficult measures," he said. Observers here said that Hartono's carefully prepared remarks, which were read to a seminar here and then given widespread publicity in the national media the next day, were a reflection of the military establishment's concern with the subject. The Medan demonstrators were demanding to be paid minimum wage, which is around the equivalent of 1.50 dollars a day. But many employers ignore the law, even according to the government of president Suharto. Six Malaysians were hanged here Friday for drug trafficking, Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said. The six, convicted of trafficking cannabis and heroin and helping others to do so, went to the gallows at Singapore's Changi Prison at dawn. Under local laws, the death sentence is mandatory for those convicted of trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin, 500 grams of cannabis or abetting in such offences. Almost similar laws are enforced in Malaysia. The CNB said that the hangings raised to 59 the number of people executed for drug-related offences under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act which introduced the death penalty for trafficking in 1975. Australia announced Friday it had won a multi-million dollar contract to train 60 Vietnamese pilots to aid that country's air safety and tourism. The two-year nine-million-Australian-dollar (6.5-million-US) contract was sealed by national flag-carrier Qantas and the Australian Aviation College of Adelaide, South Australia. "This is a tremendous boost for Australia's aviation industry and for South Australia," said Gordon Bilney, minister for development cooperation. "This project will raise the Australian aviation industry's international profile, especially in Southeast Asia, one of the world's most important emerging markets." Training would boost Vientamese air safety and tourism, Bilney said in a statement. Vietnam planned to upgrade its current fleet of aging Soviet aircraft and leased modern aircraft from Western countries, Bilney said, and wanted to train its own pilots to take over from those currently on contract from overseas. The aviation college had already trained 677 pilots of whom 570 were from developing countries including China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, South Korea and Oman. The first Vietnamese trainee pilots were due to arrive in June. Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii denied Friday a news report that a "secret accord" to stop the dollar's fall had been reached late April at a meeting of central bankers and finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7). "There was no such accord," Fujii told a scheduled press conference. Quoting unidentified international financial sources, the Mainichi newspaper said Friday that the G7 agreed at the meeting in Washington to maintain the dollar above the "psychologically important" 100-yen line against the yen. They decided to take action together to defend the dollar, partly in response to a strong US request, the daily said. Commenting on the currently stable dollar-yen exchange, Fujii said it "reflected a basic idea of G7 nations closely contacting each other, based on a view that sharp movements in one country's currency is undesirable." The dollar opened at 104.15 yen in Tokyo on Friday, up 0.05 yen from the previous day's finish of 104.10 yen. The opening rate was slightly below New York's late Thursday quote of 104.22 yen. The Group of Seven comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas has criticised Lisbon for lax security for 41 pro-Indonesian East Timorese pilgrims visiting Portugal, the Antara news agency said Friday. The group was pelted with rotten eggs and garbage by a jeering crowd on arrival at Lisbon airport Tuesday. Its leader, roving ambassador Lopez da Cruz, was called a traitor and murderer. The group is making a pilgrimage to the Catholic shrine of Fatima. "I am surprised such an incident could not have been prevented by the local security," Antara quoted Alatas as telling journalists Thursday. He said if that was how Portugal welcomed a group from Indonesia visiting in the framework of confidence-building measures, then Jakarta would think twice before allowing any more such visits. The incident came a few days after Alatas and his Portuguese counterpart Durao Barroso met in Geneva for a new round of talks under the auspices of UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to try to find an acceptable solution to the question of East Timor. Indonesia invaded East Timor on December 1975 and unilaterally declared the former Portuguese colony its 27th province in 1976. The United Nations still recognizes Lisbon as the administrator of the territory. Portugal severed ties with Indonesia shortly after the Indonesian troops entered East Timor. Japan will send two senior officials to the United States next week in a bid to break the impasse in talks on bilateral trade, International Trade and Industry Minister Eijiro Hata said Friday. He told a press conference that the officials to be sent to Washington are Sozaburo Okamatsu, his deputy for international affairs, and Sadayuki Hayashi, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs. China has appointed 13 more members to its Preliminary Working Committee (PWC) -- Beijing's shadow policy-making body in Hong Kong. The PWC is charged with mapping out Hong Kong's post-1997 political system in conjunction with top Beijing officials led by Foreign Minister Qian Qichen. The latest appointments, which include businessmen, former government officials, and academicians from Hong Kong, were made Thursday after the seventh meeting of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress in Beijing, the semi-official China News Service said. They included businessman Paul Cheng, chairman of Inchcape Pacific, a subsidiary of British-owned Inchcape PLC, and former chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce, Wong Ying-wai, former deputy trade and industry director-general, and Arthur Garcia, a former government ombudsman. New PWC members from the Chinese side included Guo Fengmin, the Chinese team leader of the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group, and Wulan Mulun, the deputy director of Xinhua News Agency in Hong Kong. Beijing has now handpicked 141 advisers from the territory to help it prepare for the transfer of sovereignty in 1997. Beijing set up the PWC and advisory bodies after Governor Chris Patten ignored Chinese objections and pushed ahead with political reforms for Hong Kong ahead of 1997. Philippine Vice President Joseph Estrada Friday asked local organizers of a controversial East Timor conference to hold it abroad so the Philippines could avoid a diplomatic rift with Indonesia. "Let us not invite unnecessary irritants to this relationship. Moving the conference out of the country is for the larger national interest," said a statement issued by Estrada's office. Estrada recently returned from Johannesburg where he had attended the inauguration of the new South African government. While in South Africa he met Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas to distance Manila from the May 31-June 2 meeting, organized by activist groups here, European jurists and exiled Fretilin rebels. "While we respect the human rights issue, the holding of the conference is untimely because of the ongoing peace talks in Indonesia," Estrada said, referring to Jakarta's sponsorship of peace negotiations between the Philippine government and Moslem guerrillas. But the local organizers said the conference, intended to expose Jakarta's human rights record in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, would go ahead despite the abrupt and unexplained withdrawal of French First Lady Danielle Mitterrand, who was to have delivered the keynote address. President Fidel Ramos said Wednesday that bilateral ties were strong enough to withstand such "irritants," but stressed that it would be unconstitutional for Manila to try to stop the holding of the conference. The navies of Japan and South Korea will hold their first exercises together when they take part in US-led "Rimpac" maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean from May 26, the Defense Ministry announced Friday. This will be South Korea's third time participating in the biennial exercise, "Rimpac," since 1990, but its first time conducting maritime exercises with Japan, a ministry spokesman said. The exercises will be staged in the West and Mid-Pacific region from May 26 through July 16 by the navies of the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea to secure maritime transportation routes and promote combined operational capabilities, he said. South Korea will send two escort destroyers and 360 men for the maneuvers, which involve two aircraft carriers, 58 other vessels, 200 aircraft and 25,000 crew members, he said. The United States, Japan and South Korea will jointly conduct "offensive-defensive battle maneuvers," including gunfire exercises and guided missile and torpedo firing, the ministry said. In the three-nation exercise, however, US vessels will form two separate training units, one with South Korea and another with Japan because Japan's post-war constitution allows it to take part in international exercises only within the framework of its bilateral security pact with Washington, it said. US ships will also lead a second task force with Canada and Australia, the ministry said, without elaborating on the schedule. Hong Kong's airline Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., will hold another round of talks with disgruntled pilots over pay rises on May 23, an airline spokesman said Friday. Talks between management and the Aircrew Officers' Association (AOA) ended Thursday without agreement in a dispute over pay and productivity. Airline spokesman Phil Burfurd said pilots had been briefed on changes in service conditions at Thursday's meeting. "We are happy to give a pay rise but it must be accompanied by increased productivity" to maintain profitability, he said. Cathay earlier had offered a five percent pay raise which the pilots rejected. The AOA represents about 90 percent of Cathay's 1,200 pilots and flight engineers. Cathay has already reached agreements with the Flight Attendants Union and the Local Staff Union, increasing wages by five and eight percent respectively. A first officer has a starting salary of 21,000 Hong Kong dollars (2,691 US) per month, while senior captains can get as much as 158,000 dollars (20,256 US) plus housing, education and travel benefits. Cathay Pacific reported in March its profits had fallen 23.8 percent to 2.293 billion dollars (294 million US) due to inflation in Hong Kong and a costly flight attendants' strike last year. A Chinese court has sentenced two US citizens to prison terms of 20 and 14 years for their part in a major fraud case, involving letters of credit totalling some 10 billion dollars, Xinhua said Friday. Hung Moy and Raymond Lee, both Chinese-Americans were sentenced to 20 and 14 years respectively by a court in the northern province of Hebei, the official news agency said. A local Agricultural Bank of China official was sentenced to 11 years for "revealing state secrets" as part of the swindle. Australia and a number of other countries are considering increased military aid to bolster and restructure Cambodian forces to help them fight the far-left Khmer Rouge, officials in Canberra said Friday. France, the United States and some Asian countries are said to be discussing the most appropriate form of assistance because of the growing fear the Cambodian goverment is incapable of properly defending itself against a more disciplined Marxist guerilla force. But Thailand would not be involved and has actually warned Australia to stay out of Cambodia, one official said. Although Australia is a major supporter of Cambodia -- last month doubling its aid package to 92 million dollars (66 million US) -- current military aid is minimal and mainly focused on mine clearance and naval training. "We are looking at military assistance," a foreign affairs department official said. "But whether that package is training, material or whatever has yet to be determined." "There would need to be assurances that what was being provided if any was properly utilised, not sold off, that they are going to take care of it and that the structure of the army is improved to the extent that they would become more competent and be able to use that equipment more effectively." "The Khmer Rouge are still active, still being obtrusive and while it is judged that they do not have the capacity to overthrow the Royal Cambodian government they continue to be an ongoing thorn in their side." This was preventing Cambodia from being able to move on to developmental work it had hoped to start after last year's election. Thailand had made clear to Australia its view that no other country should be involved in providing military assistance to Cambodia, which Bangkok believes should fight its own battles, the official said. But Australia, which played a key role in developing the Paris accords that brought a measure of democracy and for a time relative peace to Cambodia does not intend to play a leading role in countering the Khmer Rouge. Its talks with other countries are focused on strengthening the capacity ofCambodian forces. "I dont think any country wants to step out ahead and take the lead, partly because the Paris accords prevent that to a certain extent," the official said. "Equally, I dont think any country realistically wants to take on that level of responsibility so the approach would be a concerted one." King Norodom Sihanouk, speaking after a series of reversals for the Cambodian government forces against the ultra-left guerrillas, expressed despair Thursday for his country's future, and said military aid seemed to be only solution. But he has also admitted to the widespread problems of indiscipline and corruption within the army's ranks. Taiwan is to cut tariffs on 758 items, about one-third of them agricultural products, by an average of 2.81 percent to promote free trade and boost its chance of being admitted to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT,) financial officials said Friday. The cabinet Thursday approved a revised tariff schedule reducing import duties on 514 industrial goods and 244 farm products as proposed by the ministries of finance and economic affairs, the officials said. The rates would become effective after endorsement by parliament, they said. Average tariffs on the affected industrial items would be lowered from 6.52 percent to 6.38 percent, while those on the agricultural goods would be cut from 21.64 percent to 20.79 percent. The liberalization move, aiming to stimulate domestic industries and buoy Taiwan's position in consultation talks with GATT member countries over the country's bid to join the world body, the officials said. The tariff reductions would cost 94.3 million dollars in custom revenues, they added. Fruits, vegetables, juice, beef and marine products were among the affected agricultural imports while general consumer goods such as cosmetics and home electrical appliances would also enjoy lower rates, they said. Chinese President Jiang Zemin has issued an ominous warning that stability will be maintained at any cost, defending the bloody suppression of the 1989 pro-democracy movement just weeks before its fifth anniversary. Without the "resolute measures" taken by the army on June 4, China would not enjoy its current stability, said Jiang, whose remarks were carried on state-run radio and the front pages of all major newspapers Friday. By invoking the memory of June 4, Jiang has issued the strongest warning to date that the government is willing to take all measures necessary -- including military force -- to eliminate any perceived threat to its position. Since the beginning of the year, Chinese leaders have repeatedly stressed the paramount importance of stability and their rhetoric has been backed up by widespread arrests of dissidents and a law and order crackdown that has seen a sharp increase in executions. Jiang made the comments during a meeting here Thursday with visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad. "A bad thing has been turned into a good thing," Jiang said, referring to the 1989 unrest that at its height saw upwards of one million people taking to the streets of Beijing in a single day. "As a result, our reform and opening programme has forged ahead with steadier, better and even quicker steps, and our advantages have been brought into fuller play," Jiang said. Jiang was communist party chief in Shanghai at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre and consequently emerged untainted by its bloody aftermath, which makes his unequivocal endorsement of the military supression all the more significant, according to analysts here. "This is 100 percent a warning to anyone considering any open action to mark the upcoming anniversary," a western diplomat said. In the last six months, dozens of dissidents have been arrested across China, effectively neutering prominent pro-democracy groups in Beijing, Shanghai and the central city of Xian. China's most celebrated dissident Wei Jingsheng is currently in detention and could face fresh criminal charges. "It is certainly the most explicit reference by a Chinese leader to June 4 in the past few years, and the fact that Jiang was the mouthpiece underscores the severity of the message." As well as the presidency, Jiang currently hold the posts of Communist Party secretary general and chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission. "History shows that anything conducive to out national stability is good," Jiang told the Malaysian premier. "In the past five years, China has enjoyed economic development, social stability and improved the livelihood of the people, thanks to our consistent efforts to take stability as an overriding priority," Jiang said. "Facts prove this is absolutely correct." The fear of social unrest has dominated policy at the very heart of the Chinese leadership since the launch at the beginning of the year of far-reaching economic reforms that have fuelled inflation and regional economic disparities. "While Jiang's timing reflects concern over the Tiananmen anniversary, there is also clearly an implied general warning that the government will not allow discontent to derail the reform process," the western diplomat said. The authorities are especially concerned that rumblings in the countryside over rising prices and low incomes could develop into a major challenge to the communist party's rural base. A Chinese court has sentenced two US citizens to prison terms of 20 and 14 years for their part in a major fraud case, involving letters of credit totalling some 10 billion dollars, Xinhua said Friday. Francisco Hung Moy and Raymond Lee, both Chinese-Americans, were sentenced to 20 and 14 years respectively by a court in the northern province of Hebei, the official news agency said. Two local Agricultural Bank of China officials were sentenced to 19 and 11 years for "revealing state secrets" as part of the swindle. The sentences were handed down by the Hengshui intermediate people's court last month and upheld by the Hebei higher people's court on appeal. According to Xinhua, Hung Moy and Lee tricked the two bank officials -- Zhao Jinrong and Xu Zhiguo -- into issuing 200 irrevocable and transferable standby letters of credit to the amount of 10 billion dollars. The letters of credit were to cover three agreements signed by Zhao, Hung Moy and Lee in April last year on "cooperatively introducing foreign capital for investment and development projects" worth five billion, 1.6 billion and 3.4 billion dollars. Taiwan will shortly let foreign insurers join their US counterparts to operate on its soil as part of an effort to liberalise the economy, finance ministry officials said Friday. Authorities here have only permitted US firms to participate in the local insurance market since 1987, in response to strong demands by Washington. Under a set of regulations drafted by the ministry, insurance companies from other countries will be allowed to set up subsidiaries here on a reciprocal basis, the officials said. Foreign insurance firms can file applications to the ministry from June 3 to December 2 for operating licenses, they said. Each applicant is required to hold a minimum paid-up capital of two billion Taiwanese dollars (74.53 million US) they said, adding that the Department of Insurance under the ministry will take six months to process applications. The move is in line with liberalization required by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the world trade body which Taiwan is seeking to join, and will also help Taiwan's aim of becoming a financial hub, they said. Twenty-two US life and property insurance firms currently compete with 29 Taiwan insurers for the potentially lucrative insurance market here, while 23 other foreign insurers have set up liaison offices on the island. In May 1992, the authorities revised the insurance law to lift a 30-year ban on the establishment of new local insurers and allow a foreign enterprise to hold a maximum 30-percent equity share in a Taiwan insurance company. Total foreign investment in a local insurance firm must not exceed 49 percent of equity share. According to statistics compiled by the Taipei Life Insurance Association, 14 domestic insurers enjoyed an all-time high of 19.54 billion Taiwanese dollars in operating income for 1993, in contrast to a 1.52-billion-dollar deficit suffered by their 14 US counterparts. Among the 28 life insurers, Cathay Life Insurance, Shin Kong Life Insurance, Nan Shan Life Insurance and Kuo Hua Life Insurance cornered up to 95.44 percent of market share last year. The island's insurance penetration ratio -- the ratio of total premiums over gross national product -- was 4.39 percent in 1991, compared with 9.76 percent in Britain, 8.89 percent in the United States and 8.7 percent in Japan. Market analysts said that the ratio was rising, as Taiwan's per capital income broke the 10,000-US-dollar mark in 1992. Japan's first woman astronaut, Chiaki Mukai, 42, will blast off on July 8, in a 13-day mission aboard the US space shuttle Columbia, the Mainichi daily reported Friday. The shuttle, which will also have six Americans on board, will carry out 80 experiments in near-zero gravity conditions, under a programme vetted by the space activities commission of the prime minister's office, it said. Japan's first man in space was a journalist, Toyohiro Akiyama, who flew aboard the Soviet Union's Soyuz craft in December 1990. The Columbia mission takes off from the Kennedy space centre in Florida. Japan will object to proposals to create a whale sanctuary in the Antarctic because of its lack of scientific basis, a spokesman of the Fisheries Agency said Friday. Kazuo Shima, head of Japan's delegation to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) conference in Mexico May 23, said Tokyo would do its "utmost to block the proposal." And he warned, "If the proposal for the Antarctic sanctuary is adopted, we will have to have a basic rethink about our relationship with the IWC." Shima, who is also deputy director of the Japanese Fisheries Agency, said other countries were likely to oppose the move, among them Norway, one of the world's top whaling nations. A ban on commercial whaling was adopted by the IWC in 1982 but not enforced until 1986. Norway and Japan want the ban lifted. "The IWC's claim makes no sense," said the spokesman. "Statistics released by the IWC's scientific division showed that some 760,000 Minke whales exist in the Antarctic Ocean," he said. The proposal for a whale sanctuary was originally submitted by France. Israeli officials handed over five buildings to Palestinian officers in the early hours of Friday as a small crowd of residents who had stayed up all night cheered on. The Israeli flag was lowered and replaced by the Palestinian flag at the sites, as women ululated and the crowd continued growing. The sites were transferred formally to some 20 officers who had crossed over from Jordan on Thursday, and to 40 more officers who came in early Friday. Another 386 policemen, formerly based in Iraq, were due to follow later Friday, as the Israelis relinquish control of the West Bank town to the Palestinians under the autonomy deal signed on May 4. Four Palestinian flags fluttered on the roof of the central police station, which until Thursday had been the target of stone-throwing children and the center of clashes with Israelis soldiers. Children peered through the metal fence, talking to Palestinian soldiers within for the first time. "The Israeli flag had been brought down by the time we came in," said Ahmed Abu Saadeh, a policeman who crossed over earlier this morning. "There were no more Israeli soldiers left, we didn't shake hands with any of them." The Palestinians also took over the post office, a court house, an administration building and a nearby synagogue, Abu Saadeh said. The Israelis are also to formally hand over a main administration compound and historic ruins later Friday. "If all goes well, all the Jericho region will be in Palestinian hands by Friday afternoon," Colonel Herzl, a member of the Israeli- Palestinian liaison commmittee, whose full name was withheld for security reasons, said Thursday. The Jericho area is to remain a military closed zone until the handover, regional military commander Ilan Biran said. It will "stop Israelis hostile to the peace process creating trouble, because this town has become a symbol of autonomy in the West Bank," he added. Jewish settlers had protested the transfer of power, and some members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, staged a sit-in at the synagogue in protest. The synagogue lies within the Palestinian autonomy region but is expected to be controlled in coordination with the Israeli religious affairs authorites. "I didn't expect them to hand over the sites this quiet way," said taxi-driver Attia Barham, 40. "But there have been so many changes in plans that I'm not surprised. "The Israelis saw how happy we were and didn't want to let us rejoice," he said, referring to the discreet way the officers were let in to the region. The transfer took place in the presence of only half a dozen taxi- drivers on the main square near the police station, and about 50 people who had stayed up all night trying to track down the officers. An hour later, more than 100 men, women and children had gathered on the square. Israeli soldiers were stationed one kilometer (half a mile) away, at the junction of a road they will patrol Friday with the Palestinian police. The Palestinians are also due to take over a military base called Hanan, to be changed to al Aqsa, the name of one of their units. The Israeli army is also redeploying in Gaza to protect the 4,000 settlers who remain there. It pulled out of Rafah town early Thursday, where the first 300 police have already arrived. Palestinian police chief Nasr Yussef said the Israeli pullout from Gaza and Jericho would be finished by next Wednesday. "Our forces are ready to come immediately. Moreover we have the feeling that we are finally in our own country," Yussef said. Unlike the overcrowded Gaza Strip with its population of around 800,000, the Jericho police are taking over a quiet oasis of 15,000 people, which is known as both the oldest and lowest town in the world. US and Cambodian customs officials are holding a joint anti-drug seminar here aimed at helping Cambodia prevent the trafficking of drugs across its borders, a US embassy official said Friday. The eight-day seminar, which opened Tuesday, is aimed at "helping Cambodia combat international drug trafficking and increase customs skills across the board," US embassy spokesman Dave Miller said. Cambodia's lawlessness has contributed to the relative ease of transit of high-grade heroin from the Golden Triangle to its southern ports on the Gulf of Thailand. Cambodian law does not specifically outlaw drugs, but smuggling "contraband" -- which is undefined by law, but interpreted to include drugs and weapons -- carries a jail term of 25 years. The Philippine government on Friday ordered the immediate closure of four provincial airports, citing gross safety hazards to aviation. The Air Transportation Office said in a memorandum that international civil aviation rules and a Philippine building code "has been violated and continuously being violated with impunity and total disregard for the safety of flight operations" in the Dipolog, Bacolod, Cauayan and San Jose airports. "This cannot be allowed to continue any further as we are exposing every day passengers and crew to danger, and potential losses of property," the memorandum said, adding that local government authorities had failed to act on the violations. The closure order takes effect at one p.m. (0500 GMT) Friday and covers general aviation and non-tactical military operations. Bacolod, in the central islands, and Dipolog in the south are serviced daily by the national flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), which also flies four times weekly to San Jose south of Manila and twice a week in Cauayan in the north. PAL spokesmen could not be reached for comment on the order. Shining Path guerrillas set off bombs outside seven banks around Lima late Thursday injuring four people and causing widespread damage, police said. One of the injured was taken to hospital, the sources said. The blasts, heard throughout the city, caused heavy damage to some of the buildings. In the Surquillo suburb, one explosion shattered windows in a 100-meter (yard) radius, police said. Blackouts spread accross some neighborhoods south of central Lima after guerrilla commandos damaged power lines. Witnesses said rebel leaflets hailing the upcoming 14th anniversary of their movement were strewn around some of the bomb sites. Police said the attacks were part of the Shining Path's "celebrations" leading up to their May 17 anniversary. The Maoist rebel movement, seemingly unshaken by a three-year government crackdown that netted and jailed its founder and leader Abimael Guzman, has been blamed for 25,000 deaths in the past 14 years. Three hundred Palestinian policemen crossed into the West Bank overnight from Jordan and were heading by bus for the Gaza Strip, an army spokesman said Friday. The men from the Palestine Liberation Army will join 300 of their comrades who arrived in two groups on Tuesday and Wednesday nights through the Rafah border from Egypt. "They crossed the Allenby Bridge early this morning and will probably enter Gaza from the south," the spokesman said. Meanwhile, in Jericho the Israelis handed over five buildings to 60 Palestinian officers in the early hours of Friday as a small crowd of residents who had stayed up all night cheered on. Another 386 policemen, formerly based in Iraq, were due to follow later Friday, as the Israelis relinquish control of the West Bank town and the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians under the autonomy deal signed on May 4. And three more Palestinian police had been stuck all night at the Rafah border because of what PLO officials described as "a big problem", but refused to elaborate. Japan will send its top trade negotiators to the United States as early as next week in a bid to break the impasse in stalled talks, International Trade and Industry Minister Eijiro Hata said Friday. The announcement followed reports that the United States had softened its tough stance in the talks, which collapsed in February. Asked if this was the case, Hata told a news conference: "Rather than softening, it's better to think that the atmosphere is such that both sides must do their best." The negotiators going to Washington were named as Sozaburo Okamatsu, vice minister for international affairs at the international trade and industry ministry, and Sadayuki Hayashi, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs. Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa told a separate news conference the government had decided to accelerate moves toward an early resumption of the talks. The decision came during his meeting earlier Friday with Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Kumazai, he said. But Kakizawa said Washington had requested that Tokyo avoid discussing details of the negotiations in public for the time being. "The American side asked us not to make disclosure until the resumption of the talks," he said. An inventive Japanese housing cooperative is undercutting market prices by as much as a fifth, enabling it to sell a tiny home in the Tokyo suburbs for the (comparatively) rock-bottom price of 465,000 dollars. The cooperative, West Tokyo Home Center, purchases the land and carries out the construction itself, thus cutting out layers of intermediaries who inflate property prices, the Mainichi daily said Friday. The home, measuring 89 square metres (957 square feet), lies on a tiny parcel of land of 109 square metres (1,171 square feet) at Higashi- Kurume, a 40-minute train ride from central Tokyo. Housing prices in Japanese cities are notoriously high, although they have recently dropped, reflecting the country's economic difficulties, and the fall has accelerated this year. An Iranian Jumbo jet with 60 tons of explosives and raw materials for weapons landed in Zagreb May 4 in violation of a UN arms embargo, The Washington Post reported Friday. Two thirds of the shipment went to the Bosnian Moslems and the rest to Croatia, the daily said quoting Western diplomats and Bosnian Moslem sources in Sarajevo. The delivery underscores the fragility of the September 1991 arms embargo imposed by the UN Security Council on former Yugoslavia, and Iran's commitment to Bosnia's outgunned Moslems. News of the shipment came hours ahead of a meeting Friday in Geneva of European, Russian and American foreign ministers on Bosnia, and the US Senate's approval Thursday of a measure that would require Washington to unilaterally lift the arms embargo against Bosnia. President Bill Clinton, who could veto the measure should it be passed by the House of Representatives, has called for a multilateral lifting of the embargo to avoid undermining UN actions around the world. The Iranian Boeing 747 unloaded 40 containers, marked "Humanitarian Aid," of explosives, fusing equipment and other raw materials for the production of mortars and different types of ammunition, the Post said. The material intended for the Bosnian Moslems was loaded on a convoy of government trucks, the sources said. "This is the first weapons-related convoy from the highest level since the war began. It is a groundbreaker. We're hoping for more," a Bosnian military source told the daily. Western officials said the shipment adds to other foreign weaponry smuggled into Bosnia, such as Brazilian assault rifles and a Chilean- made anti-tank gun, from unknown sources. The stream of weapons has improved the fighting capability of the Bosnian Moslem forces, some of their officers said. "Tanks are not a problem for us anymore," one high-ranking officer told the daily. Two Indian Air Force Ilyushin transport planes flew home 381 Indian citizens Friday from strife-torn Yemen, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. The planes landed in Bombay, the news agency said. The evacuation followed the airlift Thursday of 201 Indians who had been caught in the civil war in Yemen, where some 7,000 Indians live. Three hundred Palestinian policemen crossed into the West Bank from Jordan overnight and headed by bus for the Gaza Strip under Israeli army escort, a military spokesman said Friday. The men from the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) will join 300 of their comrades who arrived in two groups on Tuesday and Wednesday nights through the Rafah border from Egypt. "They crossed the Allenby Bridge early this morning and will probably enter Gaza from the south," the spokesman said. They belong to the PLA's "Badr" brigade stationed in Jordan and were driving down the Dead Sea, up through the Negev desert and across west to the Strip. The men were armed but without munitions, which were held only by one officer on each of the 10 buses. Meanwhile, in Jericho the Israelis handed over five buildings to 60 Palestinian officers in the early hours of Friday as a small crowd of residents who had stayed up all night cheered on. Another 386 policemen, formerly based in Iraq, were due to follow later Friday, as the Israelis relinquish control of the West Bank town and the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians under the autonomy deal signed on May 4. And 300 more Palestinian police had been stuck all night at the Rafah border because of what PLO officials described as "a big problem", but refused to elaborate. Palestinian sources said the Israeli authorities objected to certain names among the 300 and that a major argument ensued. Israeli security forces have handed over control of all the south of the Gaza Strip to the fledgling police force, except for the Jewish settlements which remain under army protection. Security installations were given to the Palestinians at Khan Yunes in the night, the army spokesman said. Facilities in Gaza City were scheduled to be handed over on Sunday. The Palestinian police is due to have 9,000 men, 7,000 of them from PLA units scattered across the Arab world. China has named a propaganda expert to head the country's film, radio and television ministry, an indication that the communist party wants to strengthen its ideological control, political analysts said Friday. Sun Jiazheng, 50, who has made his career with the party in Jiangsu province, eastern China, replaces Ai Zhisheng, 66, who has been moved to a minor post with the central committee's propaganda department. "Naming a relatively young apparatchik, known to be ambitious and tough, the government is showing its determination to strengthen its media control," said a western diplomat. The government is tightening the screws everywhere because it fears social unrest might erupt, the diplomat added. The exceptional praise which Prime Minister Li Peng heaped on Sun in the People's Daily Friday underlined the importance the party attaches to his nomination. Li described Sun Jiazheng as having an excellent "ideological and political level" as well as great experience. The governent has taken several steps this year to reduce press, audiovisual and cultural freedoms in general. The authorities have decided to limit the number of parabolic antennae used to capture satellite programmes and also plan to reduce the number of joint cinema productions with foreign companies. The government regularly criticises artists who try to produce programmes independently, particular young film producers. The United States needs to start behaving like a superpower by showing commitment to friendly nations and respect for their laws, a Singapore newspaper said Friday. The Straits Times, referring to the caning here of American teenager Michael Fay for vandalising cars, said that there was still "too much rancour" in America's management of "fallout" from the row triggered by the affair. The paper said in an editorial that US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor was guilty of "gross indecency" in moving to block Singapore's bid to host the first meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The paper said that while Kantor's move was clearly linked to the Fay affair, the trade representative's hijacking of the decision-making prerogative of WTO members was an indiscretion that should be condemned. "Member states decide who shall be the host. Singapore may or may not get the vote, but it should not be because of the Fay case," it added. The Straits Times said that just as the Olympic movement was debased by arguments over China's human rights record, Kantor's move threatened to distort conduct of international relations by dragging the WTO into a bilateral squabble. The paper said that the affair raised the spectacle of the world's strongest nation being manipulated by the 18-year-old's overwrought family, adding: "It was amusing, now it gets tiresome." Fay received four lashes of the cane on his bare buttocks last week after pleading guilty to spray-painting cars, pelting them with egges and keeping stolen road signs and flags. The subordinate court sentenced him to six strokes of the cane, a fine and four months jail but President Ong Teng Cheong dropped two strokes after repeated appeals by President Bill Clinton to spare the rod. The Straits Times also accused the US government of waffling over admitting Singapore's claim that accounts by Fay's father, George Fay, and his American lawyer, Theodore Simon, on the teenager's condition after the caning were exaggerated. Singapore's Prisons Department in a statement last week denied claims by George Fay and Simon that the lashing left Fay unable to sit during a meeting with a US embassy official and that blood had run down the teenager's legs during the beating. "If it (the United States) does not believe the Prisons Department account, it should say outright that the Singapore government is lying," the Straits Times said. "If the US accepts it as accurate, it owes Singapore an obligation to be forthright," the paper added. China jailed two US citizens on Friday in a fraud case of staggering proportions, emphasizing the campaign to stem the wave of crime that has swept the country since economic liberalisation. Francisco Hung Moy and Raymond Lee, both Chinese-Americans, were jailed for 20 and 14 years respectively after public trials in the northern province of Hebei, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. They were charged with bilking an Agricultural Bank of China branch in Hebei of 200 standby letters of credit worth 10 billion dollars last year, although no money was paid out. Two officials of the bank -- one of China's largest -- were also jailed for 19 and 11 years for "revealing state secrets" and for being conned by the businessmen, Xinhua added. The latest sentence in China's on-going battle against endemic corruption was handed down Friday by the Higher People's Court of Hebei Province, which upheld earlier convictions by two lower courts. It came three weeks before Clinton must judge whether to renew China's most-favoured-nation (MFN) trading status in the face of persistent concerns in Washington for human rights. "The timing is very provocative to the United States," one analyst said. The case, he said, may call into question the safety in China of overseas Chinese of any nationality, many of whom have found themselves detained in remote cities after running afoul with local business partners. US diplomats in Beijing had no immediate comment, although Xinhua claimed that their embassy had been informed of the trial date "in accordance with a Sino-US consular treaty." Moy, 45, was chairman of United Asia (Group) Corp., and Lee, 44, its finance manager, but Xinhua did not name the pair's hometown or place of business. The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, to which most US citizens doing business in China belong, had no record of either men or of their company on their database. According to Xinhua, Moy and Lee tricked the two bank officials, Zhao Jinrong and Xu Zhiguo, into issuing 200 irrevocable and transferable standby letters of credit to the amount of 10 billion dollars. Zhao was director of the Hengshui branch of the Agricultural Bank, while Xu was his deputy. The letters of credit were to cover three agreements signed by Zhao, Moy and Lee in April 1993 on "cooperatively introducing foreign capital for investment and development projects" worth five billion, 1.6 billion and 3.4 billion dollars, it said. "During discussions, Moy and Lee claimed that their corporation had many powerful business partners in many countries," Xinhua said. Later on, when "some foreign companies" questioned the authenticity of the letters of credit, Lee "cheated Zhao again" into agreeing to a letter "repeating their lie that the letters... caused no risk to the bank." The court held that the swindle caused severe social damage, infringed upon the rights and interests of the Agricultural Bank, and seriously hampered China's financial and social order, Xinhua said. More than 300 Palestinian policemen began crossing into the West Bank from Jordan on Friday as the Israelis handed over power in Jericho. The Palestinians are to be in full control of the ancient city by late Friday if all goes well, ending 27 years of occupation, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. The first five buses carrying the ex-soldiers of the Palestine Liberation Army, who were formerly based in Iraq, crossed the Allenby Bridge at the border with Jordan and were at the Israeli post on the West Bank side of the bridge. Another four buses were expected to follow, said Adel Barahmi, a Palestinian employee at the border. Sixty Palestinian officers arrived in Jericho over the last 24 hours and had begun taking over Israeli installations Friday morning. The Israelis handed over five buildings, including the central police station, the post office and administration offices in line with the PLO autonomy agreement signed in Cairo on May 4. Twenty of the officers arrived Thursday, and the rest came across in the early hours of Friday. Hundreds of Palestians turned out in the streets to celebrate. Ernesto Zedillo, of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), came under fire from his two main rivals late Thursday, in Mexico's first-ever televised debate of presidential candidates. During 90 minutes, millions of Mexicans watched the three leading contenders in the August 21 elections: Zedillo, Cuahtemoc Cardenas of the leftist Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) and Diego Fernandez of the conservative National Action Party (PAN). The son of a former president and PRI dropout, Cardenas, 60, promised to set up a constitutional assembly in 1997 if he is elected and called on Fernandez to "fight together for democracy." The possibility of the PRD and PAN joining forces, political analysts said, would make Zedillo a loser and put the lid on the PRI's 65-year stranglehold on the government. Fernandez, a 53-year-old lawyer and member of Congress, did not respond to Cardenas' proposal but joined him in calling for a "pluralist government" and for an "end to the party of state (the PRI)." After years of hearing only the soothing drone of official statements on television, Mexicans could hardly believe their ears as the opposition candidates tore into past and present government policy. Cardenas and Fernandez called for an end to corruption in the police force and the justice system, to current economic policy, to poverty gnawing at 40 million Mexicans, to the present constitution, to the urbanization of the country, to unemployment and job insecurity, and to rising prices and violence. Fernandez showed no mercy for Zedillo. "You are here because of two tragedies: the March 23 assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio (Zedillo's predecessor as PRI candidate) and the 'finger,'" the PAN candidate said referring to the age-old tradition of PRI presidents to personally choose their successors. "The first (tragedy) you had nothing to do with. The second, disqualifies you from speaking of democracy," Fernandez told the former, little-known education and programming minister. Cardenas pounded the PRI by saying that the July 1988 presidential elections -- that brought President Carlos Salinas to power -- were the most "fraudulent and tainted" in the country's history, echoing the same criticism made by the opposition and the international media six years ago. A year after leaving the PRI in 1987, his attempts at party reform having failed, Cardenas ran against Salinas on the National Democratic Front ticket but was soundly defeated by a 51-30 percent margin. Zedillo, 42, took a calmer approach telling viewers that "the first hurdle we will have to overcome is extreme poverty," and promising a "real and thorough reform of the justice system, even starting from scratch." Admitting that the police and justice system were far from perfect, the new PRI candidate called on Mexicans to "look to the future, not the past." Zedillo reproached his rivals for attempting to exploit Colosio's murder (in Tijuana), and reminded viewers that he rose from a modest background to twice become government minister because "Mexico is a land of opportunity...in Mexico effort has its reward." Police discovered the disembowelled bodies of four army majors in Kompong Speu province bordering Phnom Penh, a local newspaper reported Friday. The bodies of the four, who had been reported missing, were discovered by police May 6, the Rasmey Kampuchea paper said. Police said they were continuing their investigation into the brutal murders. But a local soldier, who was not named, told the paper that the four might have been killed because they had failed to come through with jobs they had promised in exchange for money. They had also borrowed money and failed to pay it back, the soldier said. A member of Israel's proxy militia was killed and two others were wounded Friday in a remote-controlled bomb attack in Israel's security zone in south Lebanon, the South Lebanon Army (SLA) said. The bomb was detonated as their patrol drove along a road on the edge of the zone, the militia said. SLA gunners retaliated by pounding the Kfarhune village facing the zone, where Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas are entrenched. Guerrillas fired a surface-to-air SAM-7 missile Wednesday at an Israeli helicopter as it circled over Kfarhune, but missed. Defying protests from Thailand, Australia and five other countries are considering new military aid for Cambodia following a plea by King Norodom Sihanouk to save Cambodia "from the yoke" of the Khmer Rouge, officials said Friday. Talks have been launched between Australia, France, the United States and some Asian countries about bolstering Cambodia's ill-disciplined, often unpaid and poorly equipped military, and a decision on aid could be made by June, they said. But Thailand, Cambodia's neighbour, has warned Australia against any external involvement that could escalate an already bitter conflict, the officials confirmed. Thai national security council chief General Charan Kullavanijaya condemned Australia's interest in providing military help, saying any hardware would be sold by corrupt Cambodian troops or used in banditry against their own people, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported Friday. Foreign Minister Gareth Evans said Friday in a statement Australia was giving "serious consideration" to Cambodia's request and would take into account the view of other countries, including Thailand. The situation has deteriorated, he said, but added that an upsurge in activity by the Khmer Rouge before the onset of the rainy season has been a traditional guerrilla tactic, and Australia does not view the situation as "alarming." King Sihanouk, speaking after a series of reversals for the Cambodian government forces against the ultra-left guerrillas, expressed despair Thursday for his country's future, and said military aid seemed to be only solution. But he has also admitted to widespread problems of indiscipline and corruption within the army's ranks. The United States on Wednesday said it was considering providing "lethal assistance" to Phnom Penh, but stressed the aid could not be on a unilateral basis. Foreign affairs official Lyndall McLean told AFP Cambodia had asked half a dozen countries for assistance but no country had yet committed itself. "There are discussions going on at the moment as to whether it could be done as an international package," said McLean, a former Australian charges d'affaires and deputy director of the UN transitional authority in Phnom Penh. But Australia was sympathetic to the situation in which the Cambodian government now found itself, embroiled in a conflict that was preventing it from carrying out development work. "We are looking at military assistance, but whether that package is training, material or whatever has yet to be determined," she said. She described the Khmer Rouge as more disciplined, better trained and organised and the Cambodian forces as "a bit of a rag-tag bundle" of three previously disparate armies. "Because of the economic difficulties (they are) still not getting fully paid, and they have nowhere near the level of discipline," McLean added. "So in looking at ways in which the Royal Cambodian Army could be strengthened, it is not just armaments. It really does need some top- to-bottom house cleaning, training and restructuring. "There would have to be assurances that what was provided, if anything, was properly utilised, not sold off, that they are going to take care of it and that the structure of the army is improved to the extent that they would become more competent and be able to use that equipment more effectively," she said. Although Canberra is a major backer of Cambodia -- last month doubling its aid package to 92 million dollars (66 million US) over four years -- military aid is minimal and focused at the moment on mine clearance and naval training. Australia, which played the key role in developing the Paris accords that brought a measure of democracy and, for a time, relative peace to Cambodia does not intend to play a similar role in the current Cambodian crisis, McLean stressed. An offer by ethnic Chinese tycoon Lucio Tan guaranteeing a two billion peso (71.43 million dollars) for Philippine Airlines (PAL) in return for full management control was Friday being examined by the government, its biggest shareholder. Tan controls PR Holdings Inc, the consortium which acquired 67 percent of the troubled airline from the government in 1992, but he is hampered by its dominance of the PAL board. Cesar Sarino, one of six government representatives on the 14-member board, said PR Holdings had guaranteed the airline would turn a two billion-peso annual profit should Tan be given "full management control." Tan, who holds five seats on the board, previously asked several foreign entities, including Hong Kong-based Robert Kuok whom he is believed to have personally approached, to buy into the government's holdings in PAL to ensure management of the airline was secured by the private sector. Spokesmen for PR Holdings and PAL management declined to comment on the reported offer. The government holds 46 percent equity in PAL, 33 percent directly and the rest through its companies which are members of the PR Holdings consortium. Those companies have have previously expressed reluctance to part with their holdings. PAL sources said the airline, which scrapped its unprofitable Rome flight this month, was in danger of going into the red. Revenue and profit figures for fiscal 1993 ended March still have to be made public. Its net profit in the first nine months of its fiscal year were 56.9 million pesos (2.03 million dollars), compared with 1.025 billion pesos (36.6 million dollars) for all of 1992. PAL attributed the decline to various charges, such as adjustment in earning figures, expenses on grounded planes and the write-off of unservicable parts. Indonesia on Friday said it was "happy" after the wives of the French and Portuguese presidents decided not to attend a controversial seminar on East Timor, the former Portuguese colony ruled by Jakarta. "We received this news with full relief. We are happy," Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Irawan Abidin said. The organisers of the private May 31-June 2 seminar in Manila had announced that Danielle Mitterrand, a well-known human rights campaigner and wife of French President Francois Mitterrand, and Maria Barroso Soares, wife of President Mario Soares of Portugal would attend. The meeting, attended by non-governmental organisation, intends to focus on the state of human rights in East Timor, where activists say tens of thousands have been killed in Indonesia's 18-year rule. The presence of Mitterrand and Soares threatened a diplomatic scandal, with Indonesia on Wednesday voicing anger at the Philippines as the choice of venue, and the Philippines retorting that it had no power to block the meeting. State Secretary Murdiono said Friday: "We will not send a protest note, but we are certainly very disappointed with (the holding of) such a conference." Irawan denied that Indonesia -- a fast-developing economy and major purchaser of arms -- had exerted any pressure in Europe to torpedo the invitations. "Those two ladies have their own judgement," he said. Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said Friday that he would make a statement on the issue later Monday after meeting a special envoy from Manila, former foreign minister Raul Manglapus, who is scheduled to arrive here Sunday. Irawan said: "if that conference was providing jobs, or investment for East Timor, we would welcome that. But not when it's trying to put Indonesia in the dock." Australia's teddy-bear like marsupial, the koala, could become extinct because of the frequency of bush fires and housing developments, the Australian Koala Foundation said Friday. The foundation, which has been monitoring the effects of the devastating January bush fires on koala habitats along the New South Wales coast, warned their numbers had been severely depleted. Research had found that in one area considered a koala stronghold, the Tweed Shire, their numbers had fallen from 1,000 animals per 600 hectares (1,482 acres), to one koala for every five or 10 hectares (24.7 acres). "The densities of koalas in the wild are much lower than it was previously suspected," said Steve Phillips, manager of the Koala Foundation's Brisbane-based environment division. "We suspect they will become extinct. They can't handle the impacts we have imposed on the environment whether roads, houses or fires." Phillips said major bush fires swept through koala habitats every four or five years, or twice in a koala's generation, and the animal took between 10 and 15 years to recycle. It was important to increase awareness of the endangered species, as Australians would never be able to conquer bush fires, which were a natural part of the environment, he said. "Too many people don't think of the consequences when they throw a cigarette out the window," he said. Thousands of refugees from Rwanda's ethnic slaughter have fled to northern Burundi and put a great strain on the country's limited relief food stocks, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) stated Friday. In a statement faxed to AFP here on Friday from the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, WFP officials said the greatest influx was in the northeastern province of Muyinga, where the refugee population rose from 2,000 to 20,000 in less than a week. Many of the refugees in Muyinga have arrived in a weakened state, some with wounds and most with few or no provisions, a WFP official based in Ngozi said Thursday, according to the statement. Refugees from Rwanda, where an estimated 200,000 people have died in civil war and bloodletting between the minority Tutsi and majority Hutu tribes, started crossing into Burundi a month ago, but the rate of arrivals suddenly rose last week as the refugee influx to Tanzania slowed. A total of 63,000 Rwandan refugees are now located in Burundi's north and northeastern provinces of Kayanza (5,700), Kirundo (13,500), Ngozi (17,000) and Muyinga (26,500), the statement said. To meet the growing needs of 900,000 people currently affected in Burundi, WFP has had to borrow food from relief stocks already in place for internally displaced people and Burundian returnees. Serious logistical constraints continue to make delivery of adequate food rations to Burundi very difficult, the statement added. Before the Rwandan and Burundian presidents, Juvenal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira, were both killed in a suspected rocket attack on their plane the Rwandan capital Kigali on April 6, triggering the Hutu-Tutsi war in Rwanda, WFP was already feeding 680,000 Burundians affected by ethnic violence resulting from the October 21 failed military coup which killed Burundi's first elected president from the Hutu majority, Melchior Ndadaye. But after April 6, an additional 145,000 Burundians returned from refugee camps in Rwanda, and with 63,000 new arrivals from Rwanda, the WFP has to provide them with relief until they can sustain themselves and/or return safely to their homes, the statement added. The Palestinian police were in control of the southern Gaza Strip on Friday as about 300 more reinforcements arrived and the Israelis pulled out of their last bastion. "Everything south of the river is in the hands of the Palestinian police," a senior Israeli military official said. The river, known as Wadi Gaza, cuts across the Strip south of the Jewish settlement of Netzarim. Israeli forces however remain in charge of security of the 4,000 settlers, most of whom live in the south of Gaza. Israeli security forces handed over security installations at Khan Yunes in the night, the army spokesman said. It was the last town in the south to be evacuated following Deir El Balah, Bureij, Nusseirat and Rafah. Before dawn the army handed over the military administration, border police and military command buildings in Khan Yunes to 30 policemen who had just entered the Strip from Egypt. The army said there was a small ceremony and the local commander, whose name was not revealed, wished the Palestinians "every success". Plans of building and telephones were handed over in the transfer. Facilities in Gaza City were scheduled to be handed over on Sunday, PLO officials said, and the transfer of authority to be completed by Wednesday. About 300 Palestinian policemen entered the Strip on Friday and were deployed in Rafah after travelling from Jordan overnight, PLO officials said. The men from the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) join 330 of their comrades who arrived in three groups on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights through the Rafah border from Egypt. The newcomers belong to the PLA's "Badr" brigade who were stationed in Jordan. They crossed the Jordan River and drove through the West Bank aboard six buses and three jeeps under Israeli army escort. Their arrival in Rafah, a stronghold of Palestinian resistance, ignited street celebrations and firing in the air in a repeat of scenes witnessed all over the strip as the police have taken over. Meanwhile, in Jericho the Israelis handed over five buildings to 60 Palestinian officers in the early hours of Friday as a small crowd of residents who had stayed up all night cheered on. Another 386 policemen, formerly based in Iraq, were crossing the River Jordan during the day. The Israelis were set to relinquish total control of the West Bank town by sunset. However more than 200 Palestinian police had been stuck all night at the Rafah border because of what PLO officials described as "a big problem", but refused to elaborate. Palestinian sources said the Israeli authorities objected to certain names and that a major argument ensued. Only 30 Palestinians had been allowed through to take over Khan Yunes. Israel's military commander for Gaza, General Doron Almog, told state radio the handover was proceeding according to plan. "We are continuing with the pprogramme drawn up in coordination with the Palestinian generals. "We have some problems and they have some problems but we get over the problems." "We don't want there to a vacuum on the ground. We want to hand over the buildings in an orderly fashion. "There is a timetable but anywhere Israelis soldiers remain there can be difficulties because people can get in the buildings and smash everything. We don't want that to happen." "At the start they will have difficulties. But the police are the same people are those who live in Gaza. I think that after a period of instability, stabilty will be established. "The fact that I am sitting down with Palestinian generals, that I am talking with them, sorting out problems around a table and not with guns is very moving." "The fact that we have a coordination office which is working now ... represents everyone's hope that perhaps in the future we will live a better, shared life, perhaps without almost any violence." The Palestinian police is due to have 9,000 men, 7,000 of them from PLA units scattered across the Arab world, in line with the autonomy deal signed on May 4. The Palestinian police were in control of the southern Gaza Strip on Friday as about 300 more reinforcements arrived and the Israelis pulled out of their last bastion. "Everything south of the river is in the hands of the Palestinian police," a senior Israeli military official said. The river, known as Wadi Gaza, cuts across the Strip south of the Jewish settlement of Netzarim. Israeli forces however remain in charge of security of the 4,000 settlers, most of whom live in the south of Gaza. Israeli security forces handed over security installations at Khan Yunes in the night, the army spokesman said. It was the last town in the south to be evacuated following Deir El Balah, Bureij, Nusseirat and Rafah. Before dawn the army handed over the military administration, border police and military command buildings in Khan Yunes to 30 policemen who had just entered the Strip from Egypt. The army said there was a small ceremony and the local commander, whose name was not revealed, wished the Palestinians "every success". Plans of building and telephones were handed over in the transfer. Facilities in Gaza City were scheduled to be handed over on Sunday, PLO officials said, and the transfer of authority to be completed by Wednesday. About 300 Palestinian policemen entered the Strip on Friday and were deployed in Rafah after travelling from Jordan overnight, PLO officials said. The men from the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) join 330 of their comrades who arrived in three groups on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights through the Rafah border from Egypt. The newcomers belong to the PLA's "Badr" brigade who were stationed in Jordan. They crossed the Jordan River and drove through the West Bank aboard six buses and three jeeps under Israeli army escort. Their arrival in Rafah, a stronghold of Palestinian resistance, ignited street celebrations and firing in the air in a repeat of scenes witnessed all over the strip as the police have taken over. Meanwhile, in Jericho the Israelis handed over five buildings to 60 Palestinian officers in the early hours of Friday as a small crowd of residents who had stayed up all night cheered on. Another 386 policemen, formerly based in Iraq, were crossing the River Jordan during the day. The Israelis were set to relinquish total control of the West Bank town by sunset. However more than 200 Palestinian police had been stuck all night at the Rafah border because of what PLO officials described as "a big problem", but refused to elaborate. Palestinian sources said the Israeli authorities objected to certain names and that a major argument ensued. Only 30 Palestinians had been allowed through to take over Khan Yunes. Israel's military commander for Gaza, General Doron Almog, told state radio the handover was proceeding according to plan. "We are continuing with the pprogramme drawn up in coordination with the Palestinian generals. "We have some problems and they have some problems but we get over the problems." "We don't want there to a vacuum on the ground. We want to hand over the buildings in an orderly fashion. "There is a timetable but anywhere Israelis soldiers remain there can be difficulties because people can get in the buildings and smash everything. We don't want that to happen." "At the start they will have difficulties. But the police are the same people are those who live in Gaza. I think that after a period of instability, stabilty will be established. "The fact that I am sitting down with Palestinian generals, that I am talking with them, sorting out problems around a table and not with guns is very moving." "The fact that we have a coordination office which is working now ... represents everyone's hope that perhaps in the future we will live a better, shared life, perhaps without almost any violence." The Palestinian police is due to have 9,000 men, 7,000 of them from PLA units scattered across the Arab world, in line with the autonomy deal signed on May 4. Boris Yeltsin's communist and nationalist opponents have agreed to devise a joint action program against the Russian president when they hold a national meeting at the end of May, press reports quoting communist party leader Gennady Ziuganov said Thursday. Yeltsin's arch-rival, former vice president Alexander Rutskoi who was a leader in the bloody October 1993 hardliners' revolt against Yeltsin but was freed from prison in February, also called for the opposition to unite, saying "strength lies only in unity," according to the reports. The two spoke at a public meeting Thursday night involving a handful of other movements linked since last February in a coalition called Understanding for Russia. Ziuganov and Rutskoi, who last week called for the "overthrow" of the Yeltsin government, repeated their aim to take over power in Russia by the 50th anniversary next year of the end of World War II in Europe, which is celebrated on May 9 in Russia. Rutskoi said the next Victory in Europe day will be "celebrated without the regime now in power." Rutskoi told the meeting he favored a takeover of power "in stages." He said he would wait until the term of the present legislature, to end in December 1995, before preparing himself for the presidential election. Yeltsin's current term runs out in June 1996. Rutskoi also criticized the absence of any joint ceremonies by Russians and its World War II Western allies to mark the departure of their troops from Germany. He said this was the "price of the dwarfish foreign policy led by Boris Yeltsin and Andrei Kozyrev," his foreign minister. Britain's three main political parties suspended their campaigning for the upcoming European elections on Friday as a mark of respect for the Labour opposition leader John Smith, who died on Thursday. Campaigning will not resume until after the funeral, for which the family has not yet announced a date. The Labour Party announced that it was suspending its campaign on Thursday afternoon, and the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats followed suit during the night. Politicians from all parties on Thursday, led by Prime Minister John Major, paid emotional tributes to the Labour leader in the House of Commons, which adjourned proceedings after the news. Smith, who was 55, died of a massive heart attack. The press on Friday was united in mourning his sudden death as the loss of a future prime minister. The Independent carried a front page picture with the headline "The man who would have led Britain," while the Times hailed him as a leader "who was on course to become the first Labour prime minister since 1979. Japan will send its top trade negotiators to the United States as early as next week in a bid to break the impasse in stalled trade talks, International Trade and Industry Minister Eijiro Hata said Friday. The announcement followed growing signs here that the United States had eased its tough stance in the talks, which collapsed in February. Asked if this was the case, Hata told a news conference: "Rather than softening, it's better to think that the atmosphere is such that both sides must do their best." The negotiators going to Washington are Sozaburo Okamatsu, vice minister for international affairs at the international trade and industry ministry, and Sadayuki Hayashi, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs. Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa told a separate news conference that the government had decided to accelerate moves toward an early resumption of the talks. The decision came during his meeting earlier Friday with Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Kumagai, he said. But Kakizawa, who held talks here Thursday with US ambassador Walter Mondale after telephoning Secretary of State Warren Christopher, said that Washington had asked Tokyo to avoid discussing details of the negotiations in public. "The American side asked us not to make disclosures until the resumption of the talks," he said. The two sides made similar promises last year, vowing not to publicise their respective proposals in Japanese business sectors targetted for action in the wide-ranging talks aimed at reducing the country's huge trade surplus. But the promises soon proved to be hollow as the two sides started to clash over the wording of an agreement reached in July between President Bill Clinton and Kiichi Miyazawa, who was prime minister at the time. The agreement called for "objective criteria" to monitor progress in implementing measures in priority sectors, which fall into the three broad categories of automotive trade, finance and Japanese government procurement. After the talks collapsed during former prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa's visit to Washington in February, the United States invoked the threat of trade sanctions, including the Super 301 provision of its omnibus trade law. But Japanese reports say Washington is now softening its approach given the fragile nature of Hata's new cabinet -- Japan's first minority government in 39 years -- and the negative impact of trade friction on currency markets. Bowman Cutter, deputy assistant to Clinton on economic policy, was quoted as saying Thursday that Washington would not resort to retaliatory trade measures against Japan if some progress were achieved in the talks. "We will not impose sanctions if there is progress in Japan's actions," he said in an exclusive interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. "With only two months remaining until the (Group of Seven) summit in Naples in July, I don't think we can settle everything," he said, referring to macroeconomic measures and the three priority sectors. But "we can't say that settling the government procurement issue, which is closest to agreement, would be enough. We still need efforts to get close to agreement in all priority areas and macroeconomic measures." Cutter said Washington was still "waiting for an answer from Japan" to three conditions for resuming the talks -- compromises in macroeconomic policies, the purpose of the talks and objective criteria. Clinton administration officials "understand the difficulty" Hata faces in reforming the Japanese tax system although "it is obvious that tax reduction is the best way to reduce Japan's current surplus," he said. As for the other conditions, Cutter said Washington wants to clarify that the aim of the talks was "to increase imports and market access in each sector". He also insisted that the United States was not pushing for numerical targets as objective criteria, the newspaper said. Aid workers have found the bodies of 88 people massacred in southern Rwanda, a UN spokesman in Kigali said Friday as a battle for the capital between rebels and government forces raged on. Abdul Kabia, spokesman of the UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (MINUAR), said relief workers found the corpses on Friday in the Butare region, but could not say who carried out the slaughter. "We thought that massacres in the Butare region had stoppped, but it seems they are continuing," Kabia said, reached in the Rwandan capital by telephone from Nairobi. Shellfire and shooting of every kind could be heard in Kigali on Friday morning, apparently coming mainly from rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front positions near the Meridien hotel, AFP's correspondent in the capital meanwhile reported. The central African highland nation plunged back into civil war between the RPF, drawn mainly from the Tutsi minority, and the Hutu majority, after Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana was killed in a suspected rocket attack on his plane on April 6. Aid agencies estimate that some 200,000 people have been slain in wholesale ethnic bloodshed during the weeks that followed, amid a massive humanitarian tragedy. UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has asked the UN Security Council substantially to reboost UNAMIR, which was originally sent to help implement a peace signed in August last year but cut back from 2,500 to just 400 men after the renewed violence broke out. The Spanish central bank cut its main lending rate a quarter point to 7.50 percent Friday. The move, which follows a similar cut in the rate on April 22, had been expected after the Bundesbank cut a half-point from its discount and Lombard rates on Wednesday. Analysts expected the Spanish bank to further cut the rate, already at its lowest level since the 1970s, to 7.0 percent by the end of the year. Thursday the bank announced that Spain's gross domestic product rose 0.5 percent during the first quarter of the year, ending 15 months of recession. Economists said this year's growth was due largely to exports and that domestic demand remained sluggish. report BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 13 (AFP) - US war games that began in the Caribbean and ended in North Carolina and Puerto Rico this week simulated an invasion of Haiti, The Boston Globe said Friday. Code-named Agile Provider, the military exercises involved 44,000 troops, amphibious vessels, fighter jets and a submarine, unnamed military sources told the daily. They were planned with Haiti in mind, the sources said. President Bill Clinton warned last week that he did not rule out a military intervention to restore democracy in Haiti, and the UN Security Council adopted his proposal to slap a full economic embargo on the former French colony. Although a White House source told the daily the military option was still in the air, military sources said the exercises were intended to put the option through a trial run to smooth out coordination problems. And they could also be a sabre-rattling effort by the Clinton administration to goad Haiti's military leaders into reinstating President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, whom they overthrew in September 1991, the military sources added. The swearing in of an interim president by the Haitian Senate Wednesday, however, appears to confirm the military's determination to resist all pressures. Organized by the Atlantic Command, based in Norfolk, Virginia, Agile Provider included the Marines and Army Special Forces, some of whom landed by submarine. Marine fighter jets flew more than 200 practice sorties during the exercises, the sources said. A spokesman for the command said the exercises had as a target a fictitious country run by an "unfriendly leader" who had suddenly seized power. The US military option for Haiti has received mixed reviews abroad. Visiting French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Thursday that his government would not participate in such a venture. The French diplomat, however, reiterated his condemnation of the military regime in Port-au-Prince and the naming of interim president Emile Jonassaint, whom Juppe described as a "puppet with no legitimacy." He said France was working to enforce the latest Security Council resolution calling for stiffer sanctions if the military refused to leave power and restore democracy by May 21. World Cup longshots and hosts the United States are favorites at least in the Philippines, where an autographed football from the team fetched the top price of 76,000 pesos (about 2,714 dollars) at a Miss Universe charity auction here. The ball, brought in by Miss United States, Frances Louise Parker, raised the highest price in a May 10 auction that included an antique Taiwan teapot, century-old prints from Britain, and ancient silver and brass Egyptian plates, organizers said. Contestants from 77 nations that are taking part in the May 21 pageant in Manila donated the presents to raise funds for local charities. Seven people died in three and a half weeks of political tension between rival groups at the Western Areas gold mine west of here, National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesman Jerry Majatladi said Friday. Majatladi said "politically motivated" fighting between supporters of the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the African National Congress (ANC) started on April 17, nine days before South Africa's first non-racial election. He said one person was killed on April 17, two others died in fighting during the April 26-29 poll and four were killed Wednesday. Nelson Mandela's ANC won the election, while the IFP came in third after the National Party; members of the three parties make up the government of national unity that was announced on Wednesday. Karl Wendlinger's condition was unchanged here on Friday morning, the Austrian Formula One driver remaining in a deep coma after his crash in Monaco on Thursday, hospital officials said. Wendlinger was badly injured when he crashed during a practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix. He appeared to brake late coming out of the tunnel, the fastest point on the street circuit. His parents arrived here overnight by car, and went immediately to their son's bedside. A medical bulletin on the Austrian was due to be issued later in the day. The accident came two weeks after Brazil's triple world champion Ayrton Senna and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger were killed at the San Marino Grand Prix. Ireland's rugby union side see their eight-match Australian tour as a major stepping stone to next year's World Cup in South Africa, skipper Michael Bradley said here Friday. "The squad of 30, including 12 uncapped players, will develop and learn during their three weeks here," the 31-year old scrum-half from Cork said after players arrived here ahead of Ireland's first visit to Australia in 15 years. The programme begins Wednesday with a night match against Western Australia at one of the world's best known cricket grounds, the WACA (Western Australian Cricket Association) Ground. Bradley, who made his international debut against Australia a decade ago, conceded that the squad's relative inexperience would make it a tough tour. Especially the two Tests in Brisbane and Sydney against reigning world champions Australia. "There are a lot of players the Australian public have not seen, and these guys are looking forward to expressing themselves on the pitch," he said. "This side are willing to learn and they learn fast," he said. "It depends on how games go, but I believe that by the end of the tour we will be a much better side. It's all part of our World Cup preparations." The Irish are in a buoyant frame of mind after beating England and drawing with Scotland in the recent Five Nations championship. Coach Gerry Murphy said extensive changes to the team meant that only four players from the side which almost defeated Australia in a 1991 World Cup quarter-final, now remained. They are full-back Jim Staples, wingman Simon Geoghehan, flanker Brian Robinson and lock Neil Francis. It is the first time Ireland have toured Australia since 1979 when they won the Test series 2-0. Western Australia, traditional easybeats of the Australian circuit, were thrashed 39-10 by Natal three weeks ago. But an optimistic coach Tom Browne said Friday:"We hope this time we may be able to reverse the usual result." A man was killed Friday and a woman and two children were wounded when a bomb exploded in their car in the Northern Ireland town of Lurgan, police said. Police could not confirm the identities of the four or say if they belonged to the same family, although informed sources said the man was a member of the British security forces. The bomb went off as the four were getting into the car Friday morning in Lurgan, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) southwest of Belfast. One of the children suffered multiple fractures, police said, but the condition of the other two injured persons was not immediately known. Late Thursday, a 23-year-old Catholic man was shot and killed by suspected Protestant militants in north Belfast and Sunday an elderly Catholic man was murdered in his home in the western town of Dungannon by members of the Protestant Ulster Volunteer Force. The dollar closed higher at 104.58 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market Friday, up 0.48 yen from the previous day's finish of 104.10 yen. Dealers attributed the dollar's advance chiefly to dollar buying by the Bank of Japan, the central bank, on the foreign exchange market. The size of the market intervention was not immediately clear. Investors bought dollars on press reports that Japanese officials were to visit Washington to pave the way for resuming framework trade talks with the United States, dealers said. The closing rate here Friday was higher than 104.22 yen quoted in New York in late trading overnight. After opening at 104.15 yen, the greenback moved between 104.07 yen and 104.73 yen in Tokyo Friday. Spot turnover increased from the previous day's 5.057 billion dollars to 7.248 billion dollars. The mark closed at 1.6705 to the dollar here Friday, against 1.6667 the previous day. Palestinians raised their flag over Jericho on Friday as 27 years of Israeli occupation came to an end and Palestine Liberation Army soldiers poured in to police the autonomous enclave. The Israelis handed over a series of buildings and a military base to 60 Palestinian officers in pre-dawn darkness on Friday to the cheers of a small crowd who stayed up all night. The Israeli flag was lowered and the red, green, white and black Palestinian emblem run up at the sites. Women ululated with joy and the crowd swelled as the news spread through the ancient oasis on the edge of the Dead Sea. Four Palestinian flags fluttered on the roof of the central police station, which until Thursday had been the target of stone-throwing children and the center of clashes with Israelis soldiers. Now children peered through the metal fence, talking to Palestinian soldiers within for the first time. "The Israeli flag had been brought down by the time we came in," said Ahmed Abu Saadeh, a policeman who crossed over earlier in the morning. "There were no more Israeli soldiers left, we didn't shake hands with any of them." The Palestinians also took over the post office, a court house, a military administration building and a nearby synagogue. The Israelis later handed over the main administration compound in an official ceremony. "If all goes well, all the Jericho region will be in Palestinian hands by Friday afternoon," said Colonel Herzl, a member of the commmittee whose full name was withheld for security reasons. Israeli soldiers were stationed a kilometer (half a mile) away, at the junction of a road they will patrol Friday with the Palestinian police. At the same time, 386 policemen began crossing into Jericho from Jordan following 20 officers arrived Thursday, and 40 others in the early hours of Friday. The first buses carrying the Palestine Liberation Army units, who were formerly based in Iraq, crossed the Allenby Bridge at the border with Jordan in the morning. They were being checked at the Israeli post on the West Bank side of the bridge. Another four buses were expected to follow, said Adel Barahmi, a Palestinian employee at the border. The Palestinian police force is due to have 9,000 men, 7,000 of them from PLA units scattered across the Arab world, in line with the autonomy deal signed on May 4. The PLA is the Palestine Liberation Organisation's regular army. Israeli Colonel A, told state radio: "As soon as we have the green light it will only take us a few hours to pull out. We will withdraw before sunset if all goes well." The radio said Israeli citizens would no longer be allowed to enter Jericho carrying arms. The Palestinian police took control of the southern Gaza Strip on Friday as about 300 more reinforcements arrived and the Israelis pulled out of their last bastion. "Everything south of the river is in the hands of the Palestinian police," a senior Israeli military official said. The river, known as Wadi Gaza, cuts across the Strip south of the Jewish settlement of Netzarim. Under the autonomy deal Israeli forces however remain in charge of security for the 4,000 settlers, most of whom live in the south of Gaza. Security installations at the Gaza town of Khan Yunes were handed over in the night, the army said. It was the last town in the south to be evacuated following Deir El Balah, Bureij, Nusseirat and Rafah. Before dawn the army handed over the military administration, border police and military command buildings in Khan Yunes to 30 policemen who had just entered the Strip from Egypt. Facilities in Gaza City were to be handed over on Sunday, PLO officials said, and transfer of authority on the Strip completed by Wednesday. Palestinian police chief Nasr Yussef said: "We have the feeling that we are finally in our own country." Unlike the overcrowded Gaza Strip with a population of nearly 800,000, the Jericho police are taking over a quiet oasis of 15,000 people, known as the world's oldest and lowest town at 250 metres (825 feet) below sea level. Palestinians broke into the Khan Yunes post office and stole everything they could carry just hours after the Israelis handed over the town to the Palestinian police, witnesses said. Dozens of youths smashed down the doors and made off with telephones, fax machines, desks and chairs. It was not immediately known if money was taken. The dawn raid came after Israeli security forces handed over the army, administration and police buildings to 30 Palestinian police officers and pulled out of the town. All post offices in the occupied territories, which have been run by the Israeli authorities, are due to be transferred to the Palestinians under autonomy. PLO officials said some 300 other policemen who are due to be stationed in Khan Yunes have been held up by the Israelis since Thursday at the border crossing from Egypt. More than 600 Palestinian police have entered Gaza this week and been given charge of the south of the strip, but they are not yet operational. A chicken in western Iran has been laying eggs at record speed, on average one egg almost every hour, its proud owner said Friday. Jalil Khorshidi from Kermanshah told IRNA news agency that the chicken, of Chinese stock, produced 42 eggs in a 52-hour period, backed by a diet of rice, wheat and vegetables. But it also eats twice as much as other hens. UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in a bid to deflect mounting criticism UN operations, said Friday that UN member states were to blame for any confusion in the world body's action in international crises such as ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda. "The UN is neutral and and carries out the decisions adopted by the 15 states (on the Security Council), which include the five superpowers," he said in an interview on French radio. The UN chief was in the French capital to discuss the Bosnian crisis ahead of an international ministerial conference on the matter Friday in Geneva. Paris earlier this week threatened to pull its forces out of Bosnia -- where they form the largest UN peacekeeping contingent -- if progress towards a negotiated settlement cannot be obtained. The French warning came ahead of the meeting Friday in Geneva by foreign ministers from the United States, Russia and five European Union states including France and Britain to try to restart the Bosnian peace process. Boutros-Ghali said the UN could only be "accused of subjectivity in the sense that it executes" Security Council decisions. But he conceded that member states might get "tired" about military and financial demands if UN peace operations carry on endlessly. When asked about the French threat of a force pull-out in Bosnia, Boutros-Ghali said it was up to the Security Council -- of which France is a permanent member -- to find replacements. He noted the example of Somalia, where after the departure of US, German, Belgian and French forces, the UN operation was handled essentially by African and Asian troops. "I have no way to prevent a member state from withdrawing its forces" from a UN military operation," he said. He also said he regretted huge outstanding financial commitments to the UN by member states, such as the United States which he said owes more than a billion dollars. It was the United Nations' duty "to help member states either find peaceful solutions to conflicts, or to serve as an alibi for states that need the United Nations to excuse their lack of action." He stressed the United Nations had been successful in recent years in El Salvador, Cambodia and South Africa. Even in Yugoslavia, he said, the United Nations could claim some successes, such as aid supplied for some two million refugees and displaced people, heading off the spread of trouble to Macedonia with a UN deployment and, up to now, having kept the war inside ex-Yugoslav borders. They are prisoners in their own capital, paralysed by fear and ravaged by hunger, sheltering from the gunfire in hotels and churches and the Kigali sports stadium. Some 20,000 Rwandans have fled their homes for what they hope are safer surroundings in the city. There are 3,000 in the Aahoro stadium, more than 6,000 crammed into the King Faisal hospital, several hundred in the Meridien hotel. They are in the sector held by rebels of the Patriotic Front (RPF), which draws support mostly from Rwanda's Tutsi minority. Across town where troops of the government dominated by the Hutu majority hold sway, 5,000 displaced persons have found a refuge in the Holy Family church and the adjoining school. There are 550 more in the Thousand Hills hotel. But shells hit the Holy Family compound last month, killing 15 people and leaving more than l00 wounded. There were similar attacks on the stadium and the hospital, leaving dozens of dead. Everybody else blames the warring forces, but they deny targeting the refugees. "It was an accident, mortars are inaccurate weapons," they say. Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka shows the hole in the church roof. Hundreds of people are lying in the nave, right up to the altar. In a big side chapel, Red Cross workers tend the wounded. Many of the refugees in the hotel are educated people branded as "intellectuals", along with traders, people under threat because of their political allegiances or tribal affiliation. They said they had received word they would be massacred before the week was out. They sent an SOS to the world community, asking it to put pressure on the authorities here to let them leave. The United Nations assembled a convoy l0 days ago to take 60 of them to the airport, but soldiers and militiamen turned them back, wounding several people in the process. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala-Lasso met the belligerents on Wednesday and Thursday and got promises that something would be done to let the "hostages" be evacuated. Some want to move to neighbouring countries, others want to go farther afield, while some simply want to change their prefectures, coded language meaning they want to go to an administrative district held by their own tribesmen. Not all the Tutsi want to go to RPF zones, however, for fear of being forcibly conscripted to rebel ranks. A refugee at the brand new King Faisal hospital said the rebel movement executed people who slipped out without permission. "We can no longer go looking for firewood, food or water," he said. Prudence spoke in a low voice, fearful of spies overhearing her. Her husband was an adviser to the murdered prime minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, and she does not know if he is still alive. The ordinary townspeople still in their own homes rush out when the shooting dies down to fill their cans with water or buy a bag of beans. But most of the fugitives have not ventured out from their shelters in more than a month, sure that only death awaits them on the streets. Benetton picked up their second Formula One team on Friday, when manager Flavio Briatore took control of French strugglers Ligier. Briatore, backed by the Italian clothing giant, had been angling for months to get hold of the team's Renault V-10 engine, which has powered Williams to two consecutive driver and constructor world titles. Ligier's entrepreneur owner Cyril de Rouvre, who had bought the team from Guy Ligier in late 1992, was forced to sell after becoming the subject of a fraud investigation last December. A statement, issued by Ligier's sponsors here for the Monaco Grand Prix, said that of several offers received: "Flavio Briatore's plan seemed the best solution, one will enable Ligier to make up lost ground technologically, get back to a competitive level and thereby ensure its future. "Benetton-Ford's results in the 1994 world championship, its technical reputation, notably in the area of aerodynamics and suspension, were a deciding factor in the choice." Benetton Ford driver Michael Schumacher has won all three Grands Prix this season. Briatore, whose Benetton-Ford team is based in Britain, is expected to outline his plans for Ligier on Saturday evening. The Principality authorities said on Friday that Prince Rainier had no plans yet to cancel Sunday's race. "There is no question of that at the moment," a spokesman said, adding that such a decision would come from the Automobile Club de Monaco and race organisers. The comment follows speculation that if Wendlinger died, the prince would have the race cancelled. Officials here were meanwhile awaiting the outcome of a drivers' meeting which started earlier in the morning. India has thrown open basic telephone services to foreign and domestic private investors in a liberalised telecommunications investment policy unveiled in parliament Friday. The policy is aimed at ushering in the eight-billion-dollar investment the government estimates is needed to provide a "telephone on demand" to its citizens by 1997. Individuals have had to wait five years for a connection. Communications Minister Sukh Ram said it also was aimed at introducing all "value-added telecom services available abroad" to raise the standard of Indian telecommunications to world class. The long-awaited policy, which has a theme of "telecommunications for all," was announced on the eve of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao's departure for a visit to the United States. Major US telecom multinationals such as US West Inc. and Motorola Inc. have been waiting to enter the huge Indian market, where basic telephone services have until now been a government monopoly. A UN military observer killed at the edge of the Sarajevo exclusion zone was a Malaysian, UN forces spokesman Eric Chaperon said Friday, adding that the shell which hit his vehicle was "not an accident." Another UN observer injured in the same incident Thursday was an Egyptian but his life was not in danger, Major Chaperon said. He identified the dead observer as Major Ariffin Zakaria. He said his body was to be flown to Kuala Lumpur Friday and a brief military ceremony would be held in his honor at Sarajevo airport. He said the Egyptian was Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Kamal El Din, who suffered shrapnel wounds to his legs and was evacuated by helicopter to a Canadian medical unit in Visoko, northwest of Sarajevo. The UN military spokesman said a single shell was fired on their vehicle after it got stuck in mud at Cermenica, 15 kilometers (eight miles) northeast of Visoko. "It is not an accident of firing," he stressed. But he refused to say whether the shell had been fired by Bosnian Serb forces who have a position only a kilometer (less than a mile) from where the observers' truck got bogged down. The two UN soldiers had called for assistance. The spokesman said a Bosnian army soldier was also wounded when he and a colleague on board a tractor came under fire as they were trying to tow away the UN vehicle. He said the Bosnian soldier had been hit in the back, but was out of danger. Members of the Israeli parliament opened two days of informal talks with PLO officials in the Austrian capital on Friday. The agenda covers autonomy in Palestinian regions, the future status of Jerusalem, refugees, Jewish settlements in occupied territories, and borders, a spokesman for the organisers said. The discussions are being held at the Bruno Kreisky Forum, a political and scientific institution named after the Austrian chancellor who promoted recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. The Israeli team includes Eli Dayan, head of the parliamentary group of the ruling Labour Party, accompanied by Yossi Katz and Avigdor Kahalani. The PLO side includes Ahmed Tibi, an adviser to PLO chief Yasser Arafat, Assan Abdel Rahrman, PLO representative in Washington, and Ibrahim Karain, from the PLO information office in Jerusalem. GATT chief Peter Sutherland all but ruled out Friday the possibility of China's rejoining the world trade body by the year's end, labelling the schedule put forward by Beijing "extremely demanding." While "encouraged" by three days of talks with senior foreign trade officials here, Sutherland made it clear that China was some way from realising its aim to be in at the inception of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which replaces the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) on January 1. "It is still going to be extremely difficult, with the best will in the world, to achieve the timeframe we have spoken of," Sutherland told a press conference. "The time schedule is extremely demanding." The GATT secretary-general also stressed there was "no practical difference" in whether China joined the international trading regime on "January 1, April 1 or June 1." "Really what we should be talking about is the likelihood of a satisfactory outcome at the end of the day. The end of the day being not too distant," he said. China, which was a founder member of GATT but left after the communists came to power in 1949, has repeatedly made it clear that it attaches great political significance to readmission before the new year. Sutherland said he had seen signs of "genuine will and flexibility" from the Chinese side during his visit, but added that doubts remained over the transparency of China's foreign trade regime, especially policies governing import quotas, licences and standards. "I do not wish to minimise the amount of additional discussion that has to be undertaken," he said. Israel officially handed over the town of Jericho to the Palestinian police on Friday with a handshake between two generals. Journalists watched as Israel's central region military commander General Ilan Biram grasped the hand of Palestine Liberation Army General Hajj Ismail to mark the transfer of power. China has released five Christians from re-education camps, the official news agency Xinhua reported Friday. They were identified as Chen Zhuman, Yan Peizhi, Xu Zhihe, Cui Tai and Zhang Li. The five had been sentenced to re-education in Fujian province, southeastern China, Shandong, in the east and Hebei in the north for having "disturbed public order and endangered public security by their religious activities," the agency said. Israel officially handed over the autonomous Jericho enclave to the Palestinian police on Friday with a handshake between two generals. Journalists watched as Israel's central region military commander General Ilan Biran (eds. correct) grasped the hand of Palestine Liberation Army General Hajj Ismail to mark the transfer of power. The ceremony took place by the Allenby Bridge which links Jordan with the West Bank after 386 Palestinian police crossed the River Jordan. "I wish you good luck," Biran said. "Thank you," Ismail replied. "I hope we will be successful together on the road to peace." Palestinian youths shouted "Allah u Akbar" (God is great) and pro-PLO slogans. "There are now 462 Palestinian policemen in Jericho," Ismail said. A first group of officers arrived Thursday followed by about 40 more overnight. Before dawn they took over a series of official buildings ranging from the police station to the post office . Palestinians woke up Friday to find their own policemen in charge of this sleepy oasis after the Israelis pulled out of the first autonomous enclave. "We went to bed expecting another day of waiting," said Khaled Abed after repeated delays in the handover of power since autonomy was officially launched on May 4 when Israel and the PLO signed an agreement in Cairo. "And then what a surprise this morning when we saw the police station we had learned to hate so much occupied by ... Palestinians," the 28 -year-old said. Israel officially handed over the town on Friday with a handshake between its central region military commander, General Ilan Biran, and Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) General Hajj Ismail. Earlier, the Israelis discreetly transferred key installations to Palestinian police officers under cover of darkness. Forty Palestinian police officers slipped into Jericho from Jordan in the middle of the night to join 20 of their colleagues who arrived Thursday, but kept out of the public eye. Before dawn they were handed over the keys to the police station watched only by half-a-dozen taxi drivers. But the news spread like wild fire as a series of buildings from the post office to a Jewish synagogue were handed over. Whole families rushed out to the main square to see for themselves. The front of the police station was hardly recognizable. Green, red, white and black Palestinian flags had submerged the whole facade and fluttered from the roof. Where youths once darted past lobbing rocks at the enemy behind the high wire fences, hundreds of Palestinians had gathered to throw sweets and kisses at the new occupants. Dressed in olive-green uniforms of the PLA, Kalashnikov rifles over their shoulders, the police looked stunned by it all. They appeared one by one to acknowledge the cheers and receive the kisses from the surging crowd. Abed decided it was a "historic" day for celebration and did not bother going to his job in a supermarket at the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, between Jerusalem and Jericho. "Mazel Tov, Mabruk," he shouted, happy to mix the Hebrew and Arabic words for congratulations. "I'm so happy. It's the first time we've seen our own soldiers, Palestinians," Abed yelled. Arab women gave voice to the shrill ululations of joy heard throughout the Middle East. They sang, they clapped and laughed. "My heart is filled with joy to see our policemen, who are our children, our brothers, our cousins," said 20-year-old Sabah Atrabhanah. She said she would pray for the release of all the Palestinian prisoners "so that peace will come at last with the Jews." Israel is to release about 4,000 prisoners in the coming weeks after setting more than 1,000 last week in line with the autonomy agreement. Throughout the town strangers and friends embraced to mark the occasion. On Allenby Bridge street, near the police station, several new policemen stood guard. Cars pulled up to make sure of what they saw. Pasengers would climb out and hug the guards. Further down the road, near the court, men, women and children queued up to have their photographs taken with police officers. A Kalshnikov was handed from a little boy to a grandmother for the family album. A captain from the PLA's Al-Aqsa unit was on duty outside the court. After 27 years in exile, he had not yet had time to go to find his family and friends. "It doesn't matter. I've got plenty of time now," he said. However not everyone joined in the party in the town of 15,000. "We want to see all the West Bank liberated," said Samy el-Muthafar. "And until that is done, the Palestinian uprising will continue," the unemployed 21-year-old said. The US currency was firmer against the main European currencies on Friday morning, as the market waited for publication of US retail prices later in the day for further indications on inflation. By midmorning, the greenback was trading at 1.6730 marks from 1.6675 at the Thursday close, and at 104.70 yen from 104.20. Despite figures on Thursday showing US wholesale prices fell 0.1 percent in April, the market was still expecting an imminent rise in US interest rates, said an analyst at JP Morgan. A rise of 50 basis points "should be sufficient to support the dollar" he said, adding: "If the market is disappointed by the US Federal Reserve, central bank intervention will probably not be sufficient to prevent the currency slumping to between 1.64 and 1.65 marks." Dealers believe next Tuesday's meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee could take action on short-term interest rates. The Bank of Spain cut its key interest rate by 0.25 percent to 7.50 percent in the wake of similar rate cuts by other central banks this week. The peseta, however, remained stable at 82.40 pesetas to the mark from 82.57 on Thursday. In the wake of Bank of Portugal's 0.25-point rate cut to 10.75 percent on Thursday, the escudo reamined firm at 103 escudos to the mark from 103.25 at the pervious close. By midmorning, the mark was trading at 3.4278 French francs from 3.4292 at the previous close and at 956.5 lire from 956.9. The day after the death of John Smith, leader of Britain's Labour party, sterling remained firm on uncertainty about a future leader, which helps the currently unpopular ruling Conservative party ahead of the European elections. The pound was trading at 1.4985 dollars from 1.4995 at the Thursday close, at 2.5070 marks from 2.5004, 156.89 yen from 156.25, 2.1421 Swiss francs from 2.1386, and at 8.5883 French francs from 8.5753. The greenback was trading at 1.6730 marks from 1.6675, at 104.70 yen from 104.20, 1.4295 Swiss francs from 1.4262, and at 5.7313 French francs from 5.7188. In Paris, the dollar was marginally higher at 1.6725 marks from 1.6685 at the Wednesday close, while the French franc remained stable. Markets were shut on Thursday for the Ascension holiday. By midmorning, the greenback was trading at 104.65 yen, and at 5.7325 French francs from 5.7220 at the Wednesday close. The French franc remained little changed at 3.4280 francs to the mark from 3.4303 on Wednesday. The pound was higher at 8.5864 French francs from 8.5451 at the Wednesday close. A Spanish fighter plane on NATO maneuvers crashed into the Mediterranean Friday after one of its engines caught fire but the pilot managed to eject and was unhurt, the Spanish Defense Ministry said. The pilot of the Harrier was quickly rescued by a Spanish Navy helicopter. His plane, taking part in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's so- called Dynamic Impact exercises, went down off Majorca, near the tiny island of Cabrera, part of the Balearic Islands off Spain's east coast. The ministry said when the pilot realized an engine was on fire, he tried to head back to an air base at Palma de Majorca but finally had to bail out. China exceeded by 171 percent its 1993 export quota set by the Association of Tin Producing Countries (ATPC), but has pledged to keep exports below 20,000 tonnes this year to fulfil its commitment as a new member, ATPC said Friday. China exported 40,700 tonnes, exceeding the 15,000-tonne limit it agreed to keep to last year, ATPC said in a communique at the end of its three-day 35th executive committee meeting here. "Beijing had exported about 9,750 tonnes in the first quarter of this year and has indicated it will keep its exports to within 20,000 tonnes for 1994, since it has already signed up to be a member," an ATPC official said. China, the world's largest tin producer, joined the 10-year old ATPC in Bangkok on April 29 as the association's eighth member. Its membership officially comes into effect June 29, ATPC said. Brazil, the world's number two tin producer and represented at the meeting by four members from the Parana Panema mining body, is an observer in the ATPC. But it is cooperating with a supply rationalisation scheme ATPC launched in 1987 to expedite depletion of surplus stocks and hasten a recovery of tin's depressed prices. "Brazil said its government has achieved control over Garimpeiro (illegal mines) tin mining operations, especially in the Bom Futuro region. This should enable Brazil to expedite her entry into the ATPC in the near future," the official said. Tin closed on Friday one sen higher at 14.09 Malaysian ringgit a kilo (2.2 pounds) on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market. ATPC officials said China's excessive exports last year had led to a reaccumulation of the rocketing excess stocks, exacerbated by continuing large disposals by the United States Defence Logistics Agency (USDLA) and new supplies from non-ATPC members such as Peru, Portugal, Russia and Vietnam. The ATPC had declined to provide an update of the global excess, which is unofficially estimated at 38,700 tonnes at the end of March, beyond saying: "With China's closer cooperation, and if the USDLA keeps disposals down, there would be significant depletion this year." ATPC, which has as members Australia, Bolivia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand and Zaire, accounts for 67 percent of the world's supply of tin. While tin industry experts have called for Brazil's membership, saying it would be more meaningful if it came on board after China, ATPC officials said Brazil's 1993 export of 23,100 tonnes was 3.8 percent below the agreed limit. "Brazil's export of 4,500 tonnes for the first three months of the year was 10.8 percent below its agreed limit for the period," the official said. Output of ATPC members last year of 73,268 tonnes was 20.7 percent below its agreed limit, while production of 14,258 tonnes for the first quarter of the year was 26.9 percent below target, officials said. "Producers would continue efforts to urge the US government to have a mutually-agreed long term disposal-plan such that market disruptions could be minimised when the USDLA disposes of tin," the official said. ATPC is expected to formulate a more effective approach at its ministerial conference in Bangkok scheduled for September 19-20, to be preceded by an executive committee meeting from September 12-16, he said. The move came a day after Chinese authorities released two dissidents but arrested a third, sending mixed signals to Washington some three weeks ahead of President Bill Clinton's decision on renewing China's most favoured nation trade status. Zhang Ruiyu, a Chinese dissident sentenced to four years' jail in 1991, was released on parole and dissident intellectual, Yu Haocheng, was given permission to go to the United States. But in Shanghai police arrested Yang Zhou, spokesman of the Chinese Association for Human Rights. Yang's arrest was the fifth in a month in Shanghai and confirmed observers' beliefs that the release of some dissidents would not affect the repression of others ahead of the fifth anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen massacre. Another dissident, Wei Jingsheng, is under police watch in a state- owned residence in a Beijing suburb, according to family members. In April, well-known dissident Wang Juntao was allowed to travel to the United States for medical treatment, after being thrown in prison for involvement in the 1989 pro-democracy movement. Wang had been sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, receiving the harshest penalty given to any leader connected to the movement. Also Thursday the daughter of Bao Tong, the most senior Chinese official arrested after the pro-democracy demonstrations, said her father had been transfered from prison to a Beijing hospital about a month ago. Bao, 62, an economist and former top aide to disgraced Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang, is serving a seven-year sentence imposed in 1992 for "counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement" and "leaking important state secrets" during the 1989 demonstrations. The battle for the Rwandan capital Kigali between rebels and government forces raged on Friday as the United Nations said aid workers had discovered 88 bodies of victims of a new massacre in the south. Abdul Kabia, spokesman of the UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (MINUAR), said relief workers found the recent victims of Rwanda's bloodletting on Thursday (eds: correct) in the Butare region. "We thought that massacres in the Butare region had stopped, but it seems they are continuing," Kabia said. He was unable to say who had carried out the slaughter, which was another instance of more than a month of genocide among the minority Tutsi people and the majority Hutus, estimated to have claimed almost 200,000 lives. Early Friday, shellfire and gunfire of every kind could be heard in the capital of the central African highland nation, apparently coming mainly from rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) positions near the Meridien hotel. Small arms fire went on into the day in several parts of the strife- torn city, while Kabia said there was shooting and occasional mortar fire around the road leading out towards the airport. Pro-government forces were also fighting the predominantly Tutsi RPF on Friday at Ruhengeri in the northwest of the country and at Bugesera in the south, Kabia added. Rwanda plunged back into civil war between the RPF, drawn mainly from the Tutsi minority, and the Hutu-dominated army and pro-government militias after Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana was killed in a suspected rocket attack on his plane on April 6. Aid agencies estimate that some 200,000 people have been slain in wholesale ethnic bloodshed during the weeks that followed, amid a massive humanitarian tragedy. Hundreds of thousands of others have fled abroad and face dire conditions in camps in Tanzania, Burundi and other neighbouring countries, while some 20,000 people are prisoners sheltering in a church, a stadium and other buildings in their own capital, in need of food and terrified for their lives. Late Thursday, French former minister for humanitarian action and founder of the charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF; Doctors without Borders) Bernard Kouchner arrived in Kigali by road from the Ugandan capital Kampala. Kouchner met rebel leader Paul Kagame, who has expressed his determination to take the capital, and said he also planned to meet other Rwandan leaders as part of an assessment mission. With the evacuation of the wounded, orphans and displaced people at the centre of his preoccupations, Kouchner said: "I'm here wearing my own hat. That's to say none at all." Last month, 170 injured people, mainly Tutsis, were slaughtered in a Butare hospital by members of the Hutu presidential guard. Hutu militia forces early in May killed 13 Red Cross volunteers and 21 orphans who had been taken from Kigali to Butare in the belief that they would be safer there. UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has asked the UN Security Council substantially to reboost UNAMIR, which was originally sent to help implement a peace signed in August last year but cut back from 2,500 to just 400 men after the renewed violence broke out. "There will be about 1,500 (policemen) when we are at full strength," said the Palestinian general who had been based in Iraq until last week. About a dozen buses and jeeps brought over the ex-soldiers of the PLA who stuck Palestinians flags and pictures of PLO chairman Yasser Arafat on their rifles. "I'm so happy to be back in Palestine," shouted one officer. "I want to plant flowers and olive trees. "There's been enough death, enough killing. We want peace," he said. Jericho is the first autonomous town on the West Bank. The size of the enclave is still in dispute but Israel has set the area at 62 square kilometres. It does not include any Jewish settlement and houses about 15,000 people. Sudanese President Omar el Beshir on Friday blamed rebel leader John Garang and "foreign intervention" for the country's lingering civil war, and said Garang never kept promises made during peace talks. Addressing reporters here ahead of a new round of talks to open Monday in the Kenyan capital, Beshir said: "The problem here is Garang personally." He said it was easier to negotiate with Riek Mashar, Garang's former deputy in the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) who broke away in 1991 to form an SPLA splinter group called SPLA United. With Riek's faction, Beshir said agreements remained valid, whereas Garang's group went back on its commitments. "With Garang's group ... they do not recognise the agreements which we reached in each session of negotiations," said Beshir, the leader of Sudan's Islamic fundamentalist military government which is fighting mainly Christian and animist southern rebels. "In negotiations with other groups, we find that we negotiate on all issues on the agenda and everything that we agree on continues to be valid," Beshir said. Riek's split from Garang triggered an internal war between the two southern factions, divided along tribal lines. Riek has repeatedly denied Garang's accusations that he grants government soldiers safe passage through his territory to attack Garang's troops. Beshir, in Nairobi for the African Development Bank's 30th anniversary celebrations, will not take part in the forthcoming peace talks, at the which the government will be represented by parliamentary speaker Mohamed al-Amin Khalifa. Riek and Garang will send a joint delegation, and both were expected to attend the opening session Monday, according to rebel sources. Khartoum launched a massive offensive against the south at the beginning of the year, sending warplanes and tens of thousands of soldiers against the rag-tag rebel guerrillas. Khartoum apparently conceived the offensive as a final push to crush the southern rebellion draining its already overstretched coffers, diplomats said. But the government forces seem to be have got bogged down and have failed to drive the rebels out of the south or cut their supply lines from Uganda. Beshir also blamed the rebels for a failure to agree on opening safe corridors for relief supplies to millions of southerners hit by famine, stemming mainly from the displacement of huge populations by the decades-old conflict between north and south. Beshir said one of main obstacles to peace was "foreign intervention," by unnamed countries bankrolling the rebels. "The leaders of the rebel movements do not control their decisions," he said. He added that a dispute with Eritrea, which last year accused Sudan of sponsoring Islamic fundamentalist groups that launched cross-border raids into Eritrea, had been resolved. He blamed an Eritrean faction opposed to the country's government for the attacks and said Sudan had curtailed its activities following talks with Eritrean representatives who recently visited Khartoum. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has passed on one of the secrets of his success to young Vietnamese aspirants, advising them not to sleep with their girlfriends three weeks before a bout. The former three times heavyweight boxing champion was warmly received late Thursday by boxing hopefuls at a training centre in the Vietnamese capital. Ali is known here for having refused military service during the Vietnam War. He was stripped of his first world heavyweight title in 1970 because of it. But encouraged by the enthusiasm shown by young boxers here, the 52 -year-old Ali who suffers from Parkinson's disease was carried back to his years as a famous pugilist, displaying punch combinations and testing the reflexes of his admiring fans. "You have the potential to become good boxers and everbody I met today is fast," he said after meeting with about 20 youths, who challenged him as sparring partners, and passing on some advice. Ali said he was willing to help Vietnam develop boxing and sponsor meetings between amateurs here and in the United States. Ali has been on a goodwill mission here since Tuesday aimed at assisting in settling the fate of 2,234 US soldiers still listed as missing in action since the war. He was accompanied here by the families of two American pilots who were lost in action over the border with Laos, and asked Vietnamese authorities to approach their Laotian counterparts in resolving the pilots' cases. On Thursday, Ali told Minister of Youth and Sports Ha Quang Du that he had made the right decision "in refusing to serve in Vietnam." Ali is scheduled to leave Vietnam Saturday after visiting Danang on Friday. China has released five Christians from re-education camps, the official news agency Xinhua reported Friday, a day after the authorities announced that a jailed Roman Catholic dissident had been freed on parole. They were identified as Chen Zhuman, Yan Peizhi, Xu Zhihe, Cui Tai and Zhang Li. The five had been sentenced to re-education in Fujian province, southeastern China, Shandong, in the east and Hebei in the north for having "disturbed public order and endangered public security by their religious activities," the agency said. The move came a day after Chinese authorities released two dissidents but arrested a third, sending mixed signals to Washington some three weeks ahead of President Bill Clinton's decision on renewing China's most favoured nation trade status. Zhang Ruiyu, a Chinese dissident sentenced to four years' jail in 1991, was released on parole and dissident intellectual, Yu Haocheng, was given permission to go to the United States. But in Shanghai police arrested Yang Zhou, spokesman of the Chinese Association for Human Rights. Yang's arrest was the fifth in a month in Shanghai and confirmed observers' beliefs that the release of some dissidents would not affect the repression of others ahead of the fifth anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen massacre. Another dissident, Wei Jingsheng, is under police watch in a state- owned residence in a Beijing suburb, according to family members. In April, well-known dissident Wang Juntao was allowed to travel to the United States for medical treatment, after being thrown in prison for involvement in the 1989 pro-democracy movement. Wang had been sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, receiving the harshest penalty given to any leader connected to the movement. Also Thursday the daughter of Bao Tong, the most senior Chinese official arrested after the pro-democracy demonstrations, said her father had been transferred from prison to a Beijing hospital about a month ago. Bao, 62, an economist and former top aide to disgraced Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang, is serving a seven-year sentence imposed in 1992 for "counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement" and "leaking important state secrets" during the 1989 demonstrations. A German company which organises summer language courses for young Germans has asked families putting them up not to serve beef to their guests, a spokesman said Friday. Europartner said it feared that parents, worried by the German government's campaign against British beef imports, would refuse to send their children to Britain. Bonn is concerned because bovine spongiform encephalopathy, so-called "mad cow" disease, can be transmitted to man. The majority of cases in cattle have been detected in Britain. Several hundred families who regularly welcome students into their homes in the summer holidays have received a letter to that effect. "There is a lot of media coverage about mad cow disease in Germany at the moment and many people are very nervous about it. There was a real concern that there may be a mass cancellation of bookings, and Europartner has to remain competitive" spokeswoman Jennie Parsons said. The German authorities have threatened to take unilateral measures to drastically limit imports of British beef unless the European Union reaches an agreement on the problem by the end of May. Syria warned Friday it still insisted on a total Israeli withdrawal from the Golan and was sceptical ahead of US Secretary of State Warren Christopher's second peace shuttle in a month. "Any settlement not based on the central issue of land is useless," an official in Damascus said. The official, asking not to be named, charged that Israel had "minimized the US role by reducing it to a mere postman delivering the Israeli point of view without any amendment." The Israelis, during Christopher's last shuttle between Israel and Syria earlier in May, had proposed "security arrangements before a peace treaty, then a phased withdrawal over a long period," he said. But any peace deal with Israel depended on a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which the Jewish state seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East and later annexed. "Syria will not accept anything less than a total pullout from the Golan and southern Lebanon," the official newspaper Ath-Thawra said. The task facing Christopher, who arrives here on Sunday before travelling to Israel, is to "tone down the Israeli position and ensure the implementation of UN resolutions" on land-for-peace, it added. "It's important to keep the process moving forward," a State Department spokesman said Wednesday. "I don't think that it is the secretary's expectation to make a major breakthrough on this trip or any trip for some time. There will be a lot of trips," said Michael McCurry. A sceptical Syrian press snapped up the comments. "This pessimism ... is the result of Israel's negative stand and the king of proposals and ideas that it submitted to Syria," said Ath-Thawra. Christopher is expected to deliver an Israeli response to Syrian proposals. After his last shuttle in early May, he believed Syria and Israel were moving into a new phase in their discussions. But Syria rejected an Israeli plan for a phased withdrawal over a period five to 10 years, although Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara has said his country's position was "neither obstinate nor extremist." The length of Christopher's latest mission is flexible, depending on whether he makes progress, according to the State Department. Japan's Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Ltd. suffered a special loss of 130 billion yen (1.25 billion dollars) in the year to March after writing off bad loans by six affiliates, industry sources said Friday. The industry sources said the writeoffs were the the first ever by a Japanese life insurance company and offset by sales of property and securities which raised some 80 billion yen. Sumitomo's unrealised gains on property and securities holding at the end of March were estimated at being some 25 times larger at 2,000 billion yen. Japanese bank lending in April grew 0.3 percent from a year earlier, down from 0.5 percent in March and a record low which reflected banks writing off non-performing loans, the Bank of Japan said Friday. Demand for funds is unlikely to recover in the short term as bigger companies continue to restrain capital spending, a central bank official said. Another factor behind the weak demand for loans is the tendency of companies to bypass their banks and borrow directly from financial markets, he said. The official said growth in lending would have been 0.4 percent if the impact of write-offs and the stronger yen were excluded. Advances by city banks grew 0.1 percent in April, down from 0.4 percent in March, while advances by trust banks plunged 2.7 percent, surpassing the previous a 2.2 percent decline. The drop in lending by long-term credit banks also eclipsed the March figure, falling 0.4 percent compared with 0.3 percent. Lending by regional banks rose 1.9 percent, down from two percent in March, and loans by second-tier regional banks rose 1.6 percent, up from 0.8 percent. Advances by foreign banks plunged 22.3 percent, exceeding the 18.5 percent decline recorded in March, the central bank said. After seven boom years, Malaysia is now fighting inflationary pressures exacerbated by rising spending and profiteering, analysts said Friday. A marathon effort to fight inflation is underway through a national campaign to be launched by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday, which aims to curb excessive price hikes and get "every Malaysian consumer" to spend less. The inflation rate of 3.6 percent last year was considered relatively low, given the country's 8.5-percent economic growth rate, but analysts said soaring wages, ample liquidity and arbitrary price increases are putting pressure on prices. Most economists have predicted inflation will rise to 4.2 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 1995. "There is a psychological trend among our traders that prices of goods must go up every few months regardless of whether there is a genuine rise in inflation," said Ramon Navaratnam, the chief executive of Bank Buruh. The inflationary trend was reflected by the overall 7.4-percent hike in prices of non-controlled foodstuffs in the first quarter, compared to the corresponding period last year, said Navaratnam. "These price increases are domestically generated and not import- inflated. Therefore, there should have been more countervailing action to stop them," Navaratnam said. A precursor of the main anti-inflation campaign was the classification on Wednesday of bread as a controlled item to expand an inventory of essential consumer goods of which the price cannot be raised without government approval. Analysts said the dynamic growth of the Malaysian economy over the last seven years, at an average rate of eight percent a year, had led to an estimated 70- to 100-percent surge in the income of Malaysia's middle and upper classes since 1987. The boom had also brought an influx of foreign funds meant for capital and money market investments, officials said. The Malaysian banking system alone enjoyed a surplus of 7.8 billion ringgit (2.9 billion US) from total desposits of 9.8 billion ringgit last year while the overall money supply grew by five percent, officials said. Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said last week he was confident that a series of measures imposed by the central bank in January to mop up liquidity and deter foreigners speculating in the ringgit would help to cap inflation. Bank Negara, the central bank, had increased the statutory reserve requirements (SSR) of financial institutions and disallowed commercial banks from undertaking non-trade related swaps and foreign transactions with foreigners under the measures. It also imposed negative interest rates on the vostro accounts of foreign banks here but this was revoked on Wednesday, although the SSR was raised a further one percent to 10.5 percent to control liquidity. "The higher SSR could effectively remove some 1.5 billion ringgit from the financial system monthly," said Navaratnam. Rival Yemeni troops battled Friday for control of a key town north of Aden, as an Arab League team issued an urgent appeal for a ceasefire in the week-old civil war. Northern troops loyal to President Ali Abdallah Saleh and southern forces backing Vice President Ali Salem al-Baid were locked in a grim struggle for Al Daleh, which lies near the former border between the old North and South Yemen. The Sanaa authorities announced Thursday said the town had fallen, and a military spokesman said here Friday that "pockets of resistance" were being mopped up. Northern reinforcements had been dispatched to Al-Daleh, which lies 90 kilometres (50 miles) north of Aden on a key road to a southern air base. But military sources in Aden said southern troops had launched a counter-offensive and recaptured some positions around Daleh. There was also another battle underway in the Kharaz region, 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of Aden. The defence ministry in Sanaa said northern forces were advancing and had inflicted heavy losses on a rival armoured brigade. But as the rival communiques continued to fly, southern commander Colonel Ali Qassem Taleb said that the northern offensive through Kharaz had been beaten back and the region was controlled by Baid's men. And as the fighting raged on, an Arab League mission was due to hold urgent talks with Saleh. Mohammed Bayraqdar, the league's military affairs chief, urged Yemen's leaders to "immediately halt" the fighting and open a dialogue, which they have so far refused to do. He was to give the president a message to that effect from the League secretary-general, Esmat Abdel Meguid. Saleh and his northern leadership decided to oust Baid as vice president last week and sacked several southern ministers, branding them "secessionists" who should be put on trial. Baid's side in the meantime has demanded the withdrawal of northern forces from the south. Saudi Arabia's King Fahd has spoken by telephone with both Saleh and Baid, and Gulf states have issued appeals for an end to the fighting, which has shattered the fragile unity of Yemen, an impoverished country on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. As foreigners continued to flee the fighting, two air force C-130 troop transports left the Philippines for Saudi Arabia on Friday to evacuate up to 700 Filipinos. Another 580 Indians have been evacuated in the past two days from the 7,000- strong community in Yemen. Evacuees airlifted from Sanaa by the British Royal Air Force told of their experiences during a stopover in Larnaca, Cyprus. A Hungarian neurosurgeon who asked not to be named said "medical supplies are extremely low" at the main hospital in Sanaa, where he had been working. He said the operating theatres in the 500-bed hospital were barely functioning and virtually all the hospital's foreign staff -- mostly Bulgarians and Indians -- had left. About 10 Jordanian doctors arrived at the hospital a few days ago. The surgeon said some 15 Somali refugees caught in the crossfire were admitted with serious bullet wounds, and "at least two of them died later." The hospital was hit by electricity cuts and there was virtually no maintenance, he said. One of the Hercules pilots, Flight Lieutenant Nick Young, said communications at Sanaa airport were "excellent" and praised the help offered by the Yemeni authorities. He said he saw no damage to the airport, despite reported bombing raids by southern jets when the conflict erupted last week. Oil engineers who were working for the US company Yemen Hunt Oil in the Marib field east of Sanaa said about 200 oil workers had stayed behind to keep operations at the field running. It produces up to 60,000 barrels of oil per day. More than 4,000 foreigners have now fled the country since fighting erupted. London share prices here were slightly lower on Friday morning, on the last day of the current account, after rising on opening on the back of higher share and futures prices in New York. By midmorning, the FT-SE 100 index in leading shares had dipped 2.4 points to 3,134.8 -- a fall of 0.07 percent, after lifting 3.7 points on opening. In Paris, the CAC-40 showed a rise of 0.65 percent to 2,190.98 points. Dealers generally remained prudent ahead of US retail prices later in the day, which will give further indications on US inflation. In London, Unilever slumped 36 pence to 1,044 after lower-than- expected first quarter results, which showed sluggish sales growth and continuing problems in North America, particularly regarding detergents. Insurance companies were firmer after a series of good quarterly results published this week: Sun Alliance lifted four pence to 325 and Royal Insurance was up four pence to 266. Pharmaceuticals also lifted, particularly Wellcome, which rose five pence to 584 after publication of a study in the Lancet medical journal showing that post-operative infusion of its Panorex drug reduces the death and recurrence rate for patients with colorectal cancer. Glaxo rose five pence to 570 and Zeneca was up pence at 719. Building stocks were mixed with English China Clays (ECC) down 17 pence at 479, while RMC Group were eight pence higher at 878. Among the biggest falls was London Weekend Television, down 15 pence to 725. In Paris, shares were higher, reassured by encouraging US wholesale prices on Thursday and by a decline in the French 10-year borrowing rate to below the seven percent barrier at 6.89 percent. The bond market's June futures lifted 0.3 percent to 120.50. LVMH was 1.34 percent higher, while Total was up 0.92 percent and Eurotunnel 3.56 percent. West European, Russian and US foreign ministers met in Geneva Friday in a fresh effort to agree a workable peace plan for Bosnia- Hercegovina and end the civil war in the former Yugoslav republic. The ministers of Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Russia and the United States, together with a top official of the European Union, began their talks shortly after 1:00 p.m. (1100 GMT) at the US embassy. After two years of destruction and division leaving tens of thousands of people dead, wounded or displaced, frustration at the failure of previous peace proposals has marked the week's run-up to this high- level encounter. France and its west European partners are set on wresting agreement from US Secretary of State Warren Christopher and his Russian counterpart Andrei Kozyrev for an agreed ceasefire and political settlement formula. French foreign minister Alain Juppe, whose country has furnished the largest contingent for the United Nations in Bosnia, has warned that the UN forces will not weather another winter there without an agreed peace plan. But the Clinton administration has been reluctant to see an existing European settlement plan imposed on the Moslem-led government in Sarajevo. The US Senate Thursday meanwhile voted to lift the arms embargo on Bosnia, in a move to bolster the Bosnian government against the Belgrade-backed Serb forces who have carved out their own "ethnically- cleansed" territory. France and the United States have officially smoothed over their differences of approach, after Juppe went to Washington for talks with Christopher about the Bosnia situation. The White House said Thursday they had a "common approach". It said they agreed the Geneva meeting "offers an important opportunity for the US, France and the international community to continue cooperative efforts to press the parties to the conflict to negotiate a political settlement". Juppe for his part spoke of a "broad agreement of views". The French minister indicated that a joint declaration expected to come out of the Geneva meeting could call for a six-month ceasefire, offer a gradual lifting of sanctions against Belgrade and deal with the division of territory. The European plan apportions 51 percent of Bosnia-Hercegovina to the Croats and Moslems, and 49 percent for the Serbs, who through their war-gains currently control about 70 percent. But the Bosnian Croats and Moslems, who under US auspices have separately reached agreement to set up a federation within the former Yugoslav republic, are now demanding 58 percent for this federation. The president of the self-proclaimed Bosnian Serb "parliament", Momcilo Krajisnik, has rejected the deal cut in Vienna, declaring that "the percentage of territory we each receive depends on many aspects of our struggle." "Anything over 50 percent cannot be considered," Krajisnik said on a Serb radio late Thursday, monitored by the Tanjug news agency in Belgrade. A senior US official in Washington, who asked not to be named, also said the Moslem-Croat deal was not in line with previous agreements. Bosnia's vice-president Egup Ganic and prime minister Haris Silajdzic have both arrived for a ceremony in Geneva Saturday with Christopher and Croatia's foreign minister Mate Granic to formally mark the federation agreement. Whatever the outcome of the Geneva meeting -- and diplomats have not been very optimistic -- the whole Bosnian question will also be high on the agenda of a meeting in Brussels Monday of European Union foreign ministers. A man was killed Friday and his wife and two children were wounded when an IRA bomb exploded as they were getting into their their car in the Northern Ireland town of Lurgan, police said. The man was a maintenance worker at the local police station. The bomb, for which the Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed responsibility, went off at 0720 GMT as the four were getting into their car in Lurgan, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) southwest of Belfast. One of the children, a three-year old girl, suffered multiple fractures and cuts to her face while her mother and nine-year-old brother were hospitalized with lesser injuries. Late Thursday, a 23-year-old Catholic man was shot and killed by suspected Protestant militants in north Belfast and Sunday an elderly Catholic man was murdered in his home in the western town of Dungannon by members of the Protestant Ulster Volunteer Force. GATT chief Peter Sutherland all but ruled out Friday the possibility of China rejoining the world trade body by year's end, labelling the schedule put forward by Beijing "extremely demanding." While "encouraged" by three days of talks with senior foreign trade officials here, Sutherland said China was some way from realising its aim to be in at the inception of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which replaces the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) on January 1. "It is still going to be extremely difficult, with the best will in the world, to achieve that timeframe," Sutherland said at a joint press conference with Vice Foreign Trade Minister Gu Yongjiang. "The time schedule is extremely demanding," he added. In a further indication that China's plans may be frustrated, the GATT secretary general emphasised that there was "no practical difference" in whether China joined the WTO on "January 1, April 1 or June 1." "Really, what we should be talking about is the likelihood of a satisfactory outcome at the end of the day. The end of the day being not too distant." He also pointed out that the deadline was even closer than December, as the negotiating parties would have to reach a substantive protocol agreement on re-entry by June in order to have any hope of inducting China before January 1. China, which was a founding member of GATT but left after the communists came to power in 1949, has repeatedly made it clear that it attaches great political significance to readmission before the new year. Sutherland said he had seen signs of "genuine will and flexibilty" from the Chinese side during his visit, but added that doubts remained over the transparency of China's foreign trade regime, especially its policies governing import quotas, licences and standards. "I do not wish to minimise the amount of additional discussion that has to be undertaken," he said. His remarks contrasted with Gu's assertion that China had already made enormous efforts to comply with GATT requests for import tariff and non-tariff reductions as well as increased transparency. Gu, the chief Chinese negotaiator to the GATT, also accused some countries of creating "political obstacles" to China's re-entry and making "excessive" demands. As China is not yet a developed nation, "it should undertake obligations (to GATT) commensurate with the status of a developing country," Gu said, adding that such commitments "must be within the economic affordability of our country." At the same time, he said he did not rule out the necessity of further explanation and clarification of China's foregn trade regime in order to address the concerns of GATT members. Sutherland, however, dismissed as "simplistic" the labelling of countries as either developed or developing. While recognition will be given to the particular transitional status of China's economy, "it is the balance of rights and obligations that will ultimately determine the reality of China's status in the WTO," he said. Sutherland also took issue with the assertion by Assistant Foreign Trade Minister Long Yongtu that the United States was using the Sino- US row over the renewal of China' Most Favoured Nation (MFN) trading status to hamper China's GATT re-entry. Long, who also participated in the press conference, said the US insistence on linking MFN renewal with human rights was "a typical example of political elements interfering with trade" and was holding up the GATT negotiations. But Sutherland appeared to disagree, saying the United States had assured him that it was constructively and positively engaged in seeking a speedy resolution to the issue of Chinese re-entry, "I have absolutely no reason to believe that that represents anything other than an accurate statement," he said. An appeal court in this French southeastern city Friday threw out an appeal by Mayor Michel Noir against a bail order served when he was charged with embezzling public funds this year. The court also upheld a judicial control order also served in March against Noir, a prominent conservative politician alleged to have embezzled one million dollars to finance his political activities. The 49-year-old former trade minister and mayor of France's second largest city was once viewed as potential presidential contender but his political future dimmed after the March charges. He was ordered at the time to put up bail of 2.4 million francs (420,000 dollars). Noir's lawyers said they take the matter to a higher court. Russian border guards Friday said they impounded a vessel bound for Japan carrying 20 tonnes of illicit crab on board. The unit's chief os staff, quoted by ITAR-TASS agency, said officers boarded and impounded the "Okhta" when it took on the load from a shipping trawler in the high seas after leaving a Sakhalin island port Thursday en route for Japan. A long handshake between two generals and the Palestinians officially took control of Jericho on Friday, sparking popular celebrations after 27 years under occupation. Israel's central region military commander General Ilan Biran grasped the hand of Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) General Hajj Ismail to mark the transfer of power for the first autonomous enclave. "I wish you good luck," Biran said. "All the best. I hope to coordinate and to cooperate." "Thank you," Ismail replied through an interpreter. "I hope we will be successful together on the road to peace." The ceremony took place by the Allenby Bridge which links Jordan with the West Bank, after 386 Palestinian police crossed the River Jordan to Jericho. Biran told reporters: "Part of our job is over, a new life is beginning. We have handed over authority to their commanding officer." Palestinian youths shouted "Allah u Akbar" (God is great) and pro-PLO slogans. Ismail said: "There are now 462 Palestinian policemen in Jericho. There will be about 1,500 when we are at full strength," said Ismail, who was based in Iraq until last week. "This is a great and historic day thanks to the sacrifices of our people. "We want peace and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from all the occupied territories," he said. A dozen buses and jeeps brought over the former soldiers of the PLA who stuck Palestinians flags and pictures of PLO chairman Yasser Arafat on their rifles. "I'm so happy to be back in Palestine," shouted an officer. "I want to plant flowers and olive trees. There's been enough death, enough killing. We want peace." The Palestinians had already raised their red, green, white and black flag over Jericho before dawn. The Israelis handed over a series of buildings and a military base to 60 police officers who slipped in overnight and Thursday. Only half-a-dozen taxi-drivers witnessed the historic event. But word spread fast and whole families poured on to the streets to hail their heroes. Women ululated with joy as the celebrations got into full swing in the ancient oasis on the edge of the Dead Sea. Four Palestinian flags fluttered on the roof of the police station, which until Thursday had been the target of stone-throwing children. Now children through sweets and kisses at the Palestinian occupants. "The Israeli flag had been brought down by the time we came in," said Ahmad Abu Saadeh, a policeman who crossed over in the morning. "There were no more Israeli soldiers left, we didn't shake hands with any of them." The Palestinians also took over the main military adminstration building, the post office, a court house, a military administration building and a nearby synagogue. Israeli soldiers were stationed a kilometer (half a mile) away, at the junction of a road they will patrol Friday with the Palestinian police. Israeli Colonel A, whose name was not revealed, told state radio: "As soon as we have the green light it will only take us a few hours to pull out. We will withdraw before sunset if all goes well." The radio said Israeli citizens carrying arms would no longer be allowed to enter the Jericho enclave, the size of which is still in dispute. Israel has set the area at 62 square kilometres (37 sq. miles). It does not include any Jewish settlement. Palestinian police took control of the southern Gaza Strip on Friday as hundreds more reinforcements arrived and the Israelis pulled out of their last bastion. "Everything south of the river is in the hands of the Palestinian police," a senior Israeli military official said. The river, known as Wadi Gaza, cuts across the Strip south of the Jewish settlement of Netzarim. Israeli forces however remain in charge of security of the 4,000 settlers, most of whom live in the south of Gaza. Security installations at Khan Yunes were handed over in the night. It was the last town in the south to be evacuated following Deir el- Balah, Bureij, Nusseirat and Rafah. Facilities in Gaza City were to be handed over Sunday, PLO officials said, and transfer of authority on the Strip completed by Wednesday. Unlike the overcrowded Gaza Strip with a population of nearly 800,000, the Jericho police are taking over a quiet oasis of 15,000 people, known as the world's oldest and lowest town at 250 metres (825 feet) below sea level. The police is due to have 9,000 men, 7,000 of them from PLA units scattered across the Arab world, in line with the autonomy deal signed May 4. The latest agreement between Russia and Ukraine on sharing out the Black Sea fleet will fail, fleet commander Eduard Baltin said Friday, warning of power cuts to some Ukrainian navy units. The Russian admiral made the gloomy forecast to the Interfax news agency. He said the Russian part of the naval command was getting ready to cut off electricity to some Ukrainian navy units in the Crimea, because the Ukrainians owed the fleet 4.5 billion rubles (2.5 million dollars). It was not a political decision, since "one must not mix politics and economic matters," he said. Last month Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Leonid Kravchuk concluded a new agreement in principle on dividing the fleet, an issue which has bedevilled bilateral relations since the collapse of the Soviet Union. But the two sides have failed since then to agree on practical measures. "The April agreement will fail like all the previous ones," Baltin told Interfax. He reiterated Russian opposition to letting Ukraine keep bases at Sevastopol the fleet headquarters, saying it was "against all common sense and has already aggravated tensions". The port is in Crimea, which belongs to Ukraine but has a Russian majority population. The prosecutor's office here began an investigation Friday into comments made by former Russian vice president Alexander Rutskoi to determine whether he should be held liable for his recent calls to overthrow the current regime. Moscow's prosecutor, Guennady Ponomaryev, was instructed to "begin making verifications concerning illegal events that occurred May 9," when a gathering of radical opponents to President Boris Yeltsin was organized, the prosecutor's office said in a communique carried by Interfax. The investigation will focus on comments Rutskoi made during the gathering as well as the burning of a Russian flag by one of the protesters and anti-semitic statements. Rutskoi at the time told the gatheriang of some 20,000 people that Yeltsin's regime must be overthrown and he promised that the current administration would be replaced within a year. The Russian penal code includes articles forbidding offensive comments against the leadership or calls to overthrow the government and anti- semitic propaganda, a spokesman at the prosecutor's office said. He added that the prosecutor "would use the full weight of the law to put an end to these unconstitutional actions." Rutskoi and various other leaders of the failed October 1993 revolt against Yeltsin was amnestied by the new legislature in February. Yeltsin, who opposed the amnesty, warned the revolt leaders at the time that they would be arrested if they broke the law. The revolt leaders refused last month to join a civic peace pact called for by Yeltsin, which forbids political action that could lead to upheaval. Karl Wendlinger's condition was described as "stationary" here on Friday morning, the Austrian Formula One driver remaining in a deep coma after his crash in Monaco on Thursday. But the next two days are set to be crucial. Wendlinger suffered head injuries when he crashed during a practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix. He appeared to brake late coming out of the tunnel, the fastest point on the street circuit. Andre Falcy, the deputy head of Nice's university hospital, quoting Professor Dominique Grimaud who is in charge of the unit caring for Wendlinger, would only say that the Austrian's "state of health is stationary." However, a doctor speaking on grounds of anonymity told AFP: "Wendlinger is bound to suffer major functional after-effects, but if he pulls through the next 48 hours, he could come out of this alive." Wendlinger's parents arrived here overnight by car, and went immediately to their son's bedside. A medical bulletin on the Austrian was due to be issued later in the day. The accident came two weeks after Brazil's triple world champion Ayrton Senna and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger were killed at the San Marino Grand Prix. A huge blaze Friday gutted much of Lucerne's historic 14th century tower, the Schimerturm, city officials said. It took 150 firemen about an hour to extinguish the fire which broke out just before dawn, sending flames licking 30 metres (yards) high, firemenn said. The old stones of the tower, part of the city's ancient fortifications, remained standing but the wooden bowels of the structure were totally destroyed, officials said. It was the second blaze in nine months to gut an historic building in the city. In August, the Kappellbruecke -- a wooden-covered bridge -- was ravaged by a blaze. It was rebuilt and reopened a few weeks ago. A Palestinian policeman stood guard outside the ancient synagogue of Jericho on Friday, pledging it would remain open to Jews under Palestinian self-rule. "This is a sacred place of religion," said Lieutenant Abu el-Abed as he stopped a Palestinian woman trying to place a flag at the entrance. "I hope there will not be any problem. This is a place of worship, open to all in our land, Palestine." Jewish settlers, enraged by the inclusion of the synagogue in the autonomous zone, have staged protest sit-ins, and had to be forcibly removed by Israeli police. The Shalom al Israel (Peace upon Israel) synagogue was one of the last sites in Jericho to be transferred to Palestinian authority on Friday as hundreds of policeman arrived to take charge. Out of respect, there will be no Palestinian flag fluttering over the building. Just before the last Israeli soldiers had pulled out of the synagogue set in fields away from the town, three die-hard Jewish settlers showed up to pray and show the place was still theirs, despite Palestinian self-rule. When the soldiers refused to let them in, they produced scissors and cut up their clothes. "We do this by tradition," said one of the three men, who had driven down from the Ofra settlement, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Jericho. "It means that we are in mourning, or that we have given up land to the enemy." Under the self-rule deal, the Byzantine-era synagogue will be administered in coordination with Jewish religious authorities. A synagogue employee is to hold the key to the building, which houses 5th-6th century mosaics. The site will open daily, including the Friday-Saturday Jewish Sabbath, said a Palestinian officer. The army declared the synagogue off-limits, and regional commander General Ilan Biran declared Jericho a military closed zone until the completion of the handover. The general said it was to "stop Israelis hostile to the peace process creating trouble, because this town has become a symbol of autonomy in the West Bank." Joint Israeli-Palestinian patrols are to guard the roads around the religious site. Share prices moved up on continued buying supported by institutional investors at the close of the week's trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange Friday. The 30-share BSE sensitive index was up 27.40 points to finish at 3,808.50 points. Analysts said trading sentiments were improving gradually. "There is a little bit of foreign institutional investor buying and also buying by offshore funds and Indian financial institutions," analyst Manish Prasad said. He said prices should improve gradually with more corporate results coming in. Associated Cement Company moved up 560 rupees to finish at 3,550 rupees, Bombay Dyeing was down 2.50 paise to finish at 342.50 and Century Textiles gained 50 rupees to close at 8,950. Glaxo lost five rupees to close at 410, Reliance Industries gained five rupees to finish at 333.75, Tata Engineering was up 7.50 rupees to finish at 515 while Tata Steel gained five rupees to finish at 226.25. Next year's Cannes Film Festival -- the 48th -- has been ousted from its normal mid-May slot to make way for France's presidential elections, festival sources said Friday. The world's largest filmfest will take place from May 17-28 next year, a week later than its usual prime position in the calendar of the world's film industry. The exact dates of the French presidential election has not been fixed. The first round is due to take place at the end of April, with the second round two weeks later. The Cannes International Film Festival traditionally starts on a Thursday in the second week of May, and finishes with the selection of the winner of the Golden Palm on the Monday 11 days later. Venezuelan President Rafael Caldera has completed his first 100 days in office with protests shaking the capital and a somber economic outlook fed by a 25 percent plunge in the currency in over a week. Caldera took office on February 2, just days before the country was hit by a banking and financial crisis that started in Banco Latino, the second-largest bank in the country, and up to now has cost the government 5.3 billion dollars to keep in check. "The government's hands are tied by an inherited economic crisis it has only managed to tackle with band-aids, while the macro-economic problem goes unaddressed," a businessman told AFP. While Venezuelans were eagerly awaiting his new economic plan, Caldera issued a decree suspending economic safeguards and -- against the advice of experts -- caved in to protests and lifted a highly unpopular consumer tax that had gone into effect on January 1. In its place, Caldera instituted a tax reform that included higher taxes on wholesale and luxury items and bank borrowing. To do this he managed to get a law through Congress giving him a free hand in economic matters until next week. But despite Caldera's relative success in the political arena and in maintaining a positive public image, analysts predict the economic reality and its social repercussions will soon catch up with him. A government budget deficit that equals 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and a sustained drop in oil prices have forced the government to consider subsidizing the oil industry which runs up more than 300 million dollars in losses a year. But raising gasoline prices conjures up the horrors of February 1989, when higher fuel prices led to higher public transport fares igniting riots that killed 250 people -- more than 1,000 according to human rights groups -- and caused millions of dollars in damage. This week, even without a rise in gasoline prices, students rioted because of a government failure to live up to plans to offer students discounted bus fares and hundreds of government workers marched to demand pay rises promised by Caldera's predecessor. Some 15,000 court employees went on strike to protest the government's failure to deliver promised pay raises and agricultural workers have threatened to stop work and block provincial highways next week if their debts with private banks cannot be refinanced. Caldera, who was president from 1968 to 1972, also had another success: even before he was inaugurated, Caldera successfully asked for the resignations of the top military command because of their opposition to pardoning officers who participated in attempted coups in February and November 1992. In three months, he stopped the cases against nearly all the officers imprisoned for the uprisings, including the the leader of the first attempted coup, commander Hugo Chavez, most of whom have been released. Despite this success and the perception that Caldera's new government is free of corruption, voters are still uncertain about their future. "Honesty doesn't put food on the table," a passerby told AFP. Frankfurt stocks scored a moderate gain on Friday, as the DAX index finished the day at 2,258.75 points, up 0.67 percent from 2,243.63 points at the Wednesday close. The market was closed on Thursday for Ascension. Taiwan's entry in the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival tells a story of cultural confusion in Asia, but which will be appreciated worldwide, its director told AFP Thursday. Edward Yang, speaking an hour before the premiere of "A Confucian Confusion" here, said the film was about a specific culture, but has far wider resonances. "I don't think its referring just to Taiwan, its referring to Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Singapore, all the confucian-influenced societies," he said in an interview with AFP. And he added: "If I've done a good job to tell a human story, then people from other parts of the world will appreciate it ... I wouldn't be surprised at it because were all human." "That's why drama is so interesting because its about humanity not just because were Chinese or French or British. It's a document to look back on in the future," he said. The movie, starring new faces Chen Xianqi, Ni Shujun and Wang Weiming, tells the story of a group of 12 former schoolfriends living hectic professional and romantic lives in Taipei. The relentlessly urban setting -- much of the action is set in cars driving from one apartment to another in downtown Taipei -- contrasts with key artist characters who turn against the modern technological environment. Yang says the polarity of the setting and characters relects the cultural confusion felt by young people not only in Taiwan, but also other Asian democracies. "There's a dilemma whether you want to do more about your life or whether you want to accept the intimidating pressure which puts you back in your place," he said. "This is basically what all these societies ... not the ones that are still developing, but the ones that are already developed, like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea .. pretty soon China is going to be in that position. This is what is happening in Asia. "The West hasn't really realized this culture change. Every one of these states is trying to implement democracy," he added. Yang, 47, is in the official competition on the Croisette for the first time after an appearance in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival in 1987. But he insists he is not intimidated by seeing his film premiered on the first full day of the 47th Cannes International Film Festival -- the world's biggest filmfest. Above all he has no expectations of winning the top prize, the Golden Palm, he says, admitting that he has not seen last year's Chinese winner, Chen Kaige's "Farewell To My Concubine." Asked how he rates his chances, he replies simply: "I don't. I'd be stupid if I did. There's nothing I can do now. I've done my best to make the film. I'm happy about it." And is he nervous ahead of the public premiere? "No. After five years in this business you know whats going on. There is nothing you can do about it ... its not a big deal at all," he says. A little boy screamed as he arrived at the Kigali Red Cross hospital, covered in shrapnel wounds. Another boy's foot was wrapped in a blood- soaked cloth and a one-month-old baby came in a cardboard box, his face riddled with cuts. The children, a group of eight brought to the hospital, were out alone on the streets when the shell landed. No one knows where their parents are, or whether they are even alive. The eight were the latest victims in Rwandan's bloody conflict between majority Hutus and minority Tutsis, which has left tens of thousands of people dead since President Juvenal Habyarimana was killed in a suspicious plane crash on April 6. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) set up its field hospital soon afterwards, in a boarding school at the centre of the Rwandan capital. It runs the place with the help of the Paris-based medical aid group Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders - MSF), mustering a staff of eight foreigners and 125 local volunteers. The hospital receives about 90 wounded people a week and currently has about 260 patients, including 50 children, administrator Andre Musy explained. The Red Cross has also opened a station near Gitarama, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south-west of Kigali, and supplies the city's main hospital with medical supplies brought from neighbouring Burundi, or flown in from further afield when the airport is not being bombed. At the crowded main hospital, a little further up the hill, there are about 1,200 civilian wounded and "a great number of soldiers," said Musy. Even at the field hospital, they have set up tents on all the lawns to cope with the large numbers. Arrows on the wall point the way to the bomb shelters, which have already been used several times. Some tents, wedged between an embankment and a wall to protect them from shells, are reserved for the children who have suffered every injury -- amputation, rape, beatings, bullet and shell wounds and machete cuts. One little girl has only one arm, another boy's leg is cut below the knee. "One day they brought us two children who had been playing together," remembered Rene, an MSF organiser. "One child had both feet cut off, the other both hands." Rene sang the children a rhyme in the Rwandan language Kinyarwanda. They joined in, at first shyly, and smiled as they grew bolder. "A child that smiles is a battle won," said Rene. "It is hard to win with these children, most of whom have seen their families massacred." The hospital's biggest problem right now is the water shortage, according to ICRC delegation chief Philippe Gaillard. There is no running water in Kigali, because of a shortage of aluminium sulphate which helps cut down impurities. "If we use the muddy water without this product, the plumbing will get blocked up very quickly," said Gaillard. In the meantime, "everyone must make economies and draw water where they can." Big tanks have been set up under the gutters to catch rainwater and search parties are being sent to the edges of the city. Some of the hospital's wounded stay on even after recovery, homeless or fearful of further massacres. Those who find a refuge leave. The Red Cross does not chase the others away. Boris Becker earned a free ride into the Italian Open semi-finals here on Friday, when fellow German Michael Stich pulled out before their quarter-final with back pains. Stich, the world number two, had complained of "a cold in the back" after Thursday's third-round victory over Moroccan surprise qualifier, Karim Alami. On Friday, a report from tournament doctors said Stich was suffering from "pain in the lower lumbar region and in both legs, with consequent loss of muscle strength." They prescribed muscle relaxants and pain killers. Becker and Stich have only met on clay once, two years ago in the semi-finals at Hamburg, when Stich thrashed his compatriot 6-1, 6-1. The semi-final was Becker's top career showing on clay, his least favourite surface, although the three-times Wimbledon champion still has an all-surface career record of 5-3 over Stich. Becker has also won their last two matches -- at Wimbledon last year and Stuttgart in February. World number Pete Sampras was playing Italian Andrea Gaudenzi in the day's opening match at the Foro Italico, basking in warm spring sunshine. Gaudenzi advanced from the third round through injury to Austrian sparring partner and seventh seed Thomas Muster, who also withdrew with back pains during their first set while trailing 4-1. Sampras has been through a solid tune-up this week during his first outing on clay this year. The 22-year-old American is aiming for a long-shot victory at the French Open, which would give him four Grand Slam titles in a row. Goran Ivanisevic, who knocked out fellow big-server Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands on Thursday, will take on another Dutchman, Jacco Eltingh, for a place in the semis. Second seeded American Jim Courier was to play Slava Doesdel of the Czech Republic. The graffiti on a school wall in Khagrachari said it all: "Just like a black cannot become a white, a pahari (hill people) cannot be a Bengali." Twenty years since the fighting began here, peace in Bangladesh's southeastern hill tracts region still seems an elusive proposition, regardless of whether tribal Shanti Bahini rebels in India can agree with the government on returning home. Some 56,000 tribesmen languish in camps over the border in India's Tripura state, their leaders sticking to demands for "autonomy and a separate entity" for the 600,000 Chakma tribespeople living in the region, which has been settled by Bengali-speakers from the densely- populated flatlands below. For now, they have dropped the idea of an armed struggle, but warn that they could re-adopt it if the current series of peace talks, initiated in 1991, were to fail. Successive Bangladeshi governments have rejected the question of autonomy, which for some tribals does not amount to demanding complete independence. In the mid-1980s the government set up tribal-managed Hill District Councils which work mainly to develop the region. The three-district region of Bangladesh bordering India and Burma that is the focus of the conflict has been the scene of intermittent bloody clashes between government troops and rebels for the past 20 years. Shantu Larma, the head of one rebel group, said the tribals were "not fighting whimsically, but for the cause of our historically recognised rights to our homeland." Khisha, a tribal spokesman, warned that "the current policy of the government can keep the situation calm temporarily, but (it) will burst again in the future. "The younger generation will burst in anger when they learn their father is in jail, their brothers maimed or killed to protect their rights," he said. The tribespeople fled their homes in 1986, alleging military persecution in clashes which officialy left more than 2,500 people dead, but the toll is widely believed to be much higher. A military officer in Khagrachari hill district said the current process for peace "has reached a point of no return" and that the ball was basically in the court of the tribal leadership. The two sides also accuse each other of violating the current ceasefire. Upendra Lal Chakma, chairman of the Chakma Refugee Welfare Association, recently said after visiting his home that his people still felt insecure and some "major problems" would have to be solved. The army officer accused some of the groups of wanting "to keep the insurgency alive for their own interest," claiming the tribals were getting "more than they deserve" in terms of education and other facilities. Official sources said because of the insurgency the area was one of the most developed in terms of roads, telecommunications and power compared to other such towns in Bangladesh. Tribal leader Khisha disagreed: "This development is not bringing good for our people, but it is counter-insurgency under the cover of development," he said. Facing rising calls for action from the public and Congress, the Pentagon has agreed to carry out a major clinical study of the mystery illness affecting hundreds of Gulf War veterans. The symptoms of the so-called "Persian Gulf Syndrome" have included chronic fatigue, arthritis, insomnia, hair loss, nervous breakdowns, respiratory problems and diarrhea. But doctors have been unable to trace the causes of the ailments. The National Institutes of Health said last month that the ailments could not be traced to a specific disease or syndrome, but were were a series of different diseases, some with common symptoms. While the number of veterans affected is not known, some 20,000 combatants have complained of health problems they claim are related to their service in the 1991 conflict. The problem has been aired at congressional hearings and some have compared it to the syndrome attributed to the defoliant Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War. Some veterans contend the symptoms are the result of exposure to nerve gas or to pills given to counteract the effects of nerve gas, although military health officials have denied this. Other suggested causes are pesticides, desert parasites or chemical or biological agents released into the atmosphere by bombings or Iraqi weapons installations. A series of internal Defense Department studies showed similar symptoms among soldiers exposed to fumes from oil wells set on fire in Kuwait. "We have to provide a diagnostic explanation veteran by veteran," said Stephen Joseph, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. "We are obligated to do everything we can do to try to find what the cause of the disease is." The four-month studied at an unspecified cost is expected to involve a detailed examination of all troops who served in the region and have complained of symptoms. Dr. Harrison Spencer, director or the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, has been asked to review plans for the new study, and a forum of other public health experts will advise officials on the matter. "This is a very important step forward," said Representative Lane Evans, chairman of a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee looking into the matter and a critic of the US administration's handling of the matter. The death rate from cancer and other diseases has shot up around the Aral Sea in the last 30 years since cotton-growing started to dry out the giant inland waterway, experts have warned here. Salt content has tripled in the sea, situated between the former Soviet central Asian republics of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, according to studies quoted at conferences held recently in the Uzbek capital Tashkent. As a result, infant mortality among the four million people living around the sea has reached 60 per thousand births, compared to the western European average of less than 10, and respiratory problems of all kinds are increasing. Typhoid and hepatitis cases have increased by a factor of 30 since 1960 and a study carrried out in 1990 showed that the number of cancerous tumours was three times the norm elsewhere in Kazakhstan. Tuberculosis is endemic and serious skin deases affect tens of thousands of people, studies showed. In addition, hospitals are ill equipped to cope with the situation, with only a tenth of them supplied with running water. At least the conferences -- one sponsored by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's scientific service, the other by the UN educational forum UNESCO -- show signs of concern by the regional authorities, whom western experts have long accused of apathy. "The Aral Sea is becoming the obsession of humanitarian aid groups,". commented one European expert based in Tashkent. "The Uzbek and Kazakh governments have done nothing about research, while some 300 international missions have followed each other over the last few years." The problems started in 1960 when the Soviet authorities imposed mass cotton cultivation -- a thirsty crop which dried up the deltas of the two rivers feeding the Aral, the Amou Daria and Syr Daria. Even now, 90 percent of the region's water goes to cotton monoculture, according to a report published by the Uzbek authorities. The massive use of chemical pesticides makes things even worse. The Aral was once the world's fourth biggest inland sea. But now its old intake of 108 cubic kilometres (65 miles) of water per year has dried to a trickle of no more than 10 cubic kilometres, cutting its volume by three-quarters and its surface by a half within 30 years. "A distance of 110 kilometres (67 miles) separates the old shore from current water banks, drying up land equal to the three Baltic states," said one report by the Kazakh Ministry of Health. So far, the solutions being proposed "are not serious," the European expert said. One proposal, for example, involved building a canal 500 kilometres (300 miles) long, linking the Aral to the Caspian Sea, while another involves diverting Siberian rivers. "You need a commercial motivation to launch projects on this scale," the western expert said, giving the Suez Canal as an example. India opened up basic telephone services to foreign and domestic private companies in a long-awaited telecom policy unveiled Friday, taking the first step towards private phone networks. The policy is aimed at meeting an eight-billion-dollar shortfall in the nearly 14 billion dollars required to modernise India's antiquated telephone system and provide a phone on demand to its citizens by the year 1996. Ordinary Indians with no political influence and no money to pay bribes to jump the queue now have to wait up to five years for a connection, which may not even work when they get it. Three million people are on the waiting list, which is growing by 15-20 percent every year, but the list is expected to vanish when foreign companies bring their telecom dollars to provide phone services. Communications Minister Sukh Ram told parliament the policy also was aimed at bringing to India all sophisticated phone services available in advanced countries and build a world-class network. The long-awaited policy document, whose theme is "telecommunications for all," was released on the eve of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao's departure for a visit to the United States. Major US telecom firms such as US West and Motorola have been eagerly waiting to enter the huge Indian market of nearly 900 million people, where basic telephone services have been a government monopoly. Hardware manufacture and value-added services, such as radio paging and mobile cellular phone systems, have been thrown open. The policy document said currently there was not even one telephone for every 100 Indians against a world average of 10 for 100. India's telephone distribution average per 100 persons is 0.8, compared to 1.7 in China, two in Pakistan and 13 in Malaysia. Tens of thousands of villages have no phone connections. By 2000, demand for telephones is expected to grow to 20 million in the country, seen as the largest telecom market after China. But the task of serving all Indians on the waiting list for a telephone connection and meeting future demand is "beyond the capacity of government funding and internal generation of resources," the policy document said. It said the aim was to ensure that all the more than 500,000 villages in India had a phone connection and that a public call office was available for every 500 Indians by 1997. Private phone companies would have to strike a balance between covering urban and rural areas, the document said. A company's track record, its technology, the commercial terms it would offer and the ability to give the "best quality of service to the consumer at the most competitive cost" would determine who gets New Delhi's approval. Private investment would be supplemented by government efforts to raise additional money to fund a rapid expansion and modernisation of the telecommunications network. The telecom policy also envisages allowing private companies to install an exchange, operate it for a specific period and transfer it to the Department of Telecommunications after recovering investment. Foreign investors invited to put money in India under a 1991 liberalisation programme have often cited inadequate telecommunications as an infrastructural bottleneck restricting their entry. Local manufacturers of telephone instruments meanwhile complain that they are burdened with large inventories because of the government's failure to match the demand for connections. Privatisation has been held up so far mainly because of political and bureaucratic resistance, while the cash-strapped state phone network has found it hard to raise money from the market to bankroll expansion plans. Indians have patiently tolerated the shoddy government-run phone network in the absence of an alternative. In Calcutta, a citizens' organisation has held ritualistic burials for "dead" telephones that never work. Clashes between rival political groups at one South African gold mine and a crippling strike at another Friday dampened some of South Africa's post-election euphoria. Seven people died in three and a half weeks of political tension between supporters of the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the African National Congress (ANC) at the Western Areas gold mine west of here, National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesman Jerry Majatladi said Friday. Security forces under the new government moved swiftly Thursday to prevent further clashes at Western Areas and confiscated up to eight tonnes of homemade and traditional weapons from the mine hostel, Frans van Rensburg, a spokesman for mine owners Johannesburg Consolidated Industries (JCI), said. "The weapons were found inside the hostel and have now been destroyed," he told AFP. Majatladi said "politically motivated" fighting between IFP and ANC supporters started on April 17, nine days before South Africa's first all-race elections. He said one person was killed on April 17, two others died in fighting during the April 26-29 poll and four were killed Wednesday. Nelson Mandela's ANC won the election, ending more than 300 years of white-minority rule. The IFP of Zulu leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi came in third after the National Party; members of the three parties make up the government of national unity that was announced on Wednesday. Because most miners stay in large hostels accommodating thousands of people, ethnic and political differences often boil over and result in violence. Majatladi said the clashes flared at Western Areas mine when rival groups tried to drum up support in the run-up to the April 26-29 election. In one of the worst incidents, four miners were killed Wednesday in an underground battle in the mine's south shaft between workers armed with axes and picks before security forces moved in to help restore order, Majatladi said. The situation at the mine was quiet Friday ahead of peace talks between the rival groups, he said. Both Majatladi and Van Rensburg said the crisis would be resolved by the miners and management and that they would not seek government intervention, apart from calling in security forces to quell violence. "It's none of our business," a spokeswoman for the new Department of Labour said when asked if the government would intervene. About 9,500 miners were still on strike Friday after defying a court order Thursday that ordered them back to work at the Kloof gold mine near Carletonville, 50 kilometres (32 miles) west of here, Majatladi said. The owners of the Kloof mine, Gold Fields, estimated production loss since the strike began on May 5 at around 25 million rands (6.8 million dollars) and Friday ordered the strikers to return to work by Sunday. Workers had downed tools eight days ago following the dismissal of NUM branch chairman Jackson Mafika for allegedly intimidating workers during a strike in March. US-based Hughes Aircraft Co is to be awarded a contract to supply satellite control equipment for Malaysia's first telecommunications satellite, company officials said Friday. Hughes is to seal the deal with Binariang, Sdn Bhd, the telecommunications company licenced by the government to own and operate the Malaysia East Asia Satellite (MEASAT), Binariang said. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will witness the signing of the deal Tuesday, Binariang said, declining to provide details yet. France's Arianespace is keenly vying to launch the 200 million US dollar MEASAT, targetted for a September 1995 launch from French Guyana. Malaysia's Telecommunications and Post Minister Samy Vellu Sanglimuthu recently said Beijing was also vying for the launch contract. Binariang signed in November 1991 a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Arianespace and Hughes Communications International Inc respectively for the launch and manufacture of the satellite. But latest reports said US-based McDonnell Douglas was also making a determined effort to get the launch contract. The rand remained weak against the dollar Friday, opening at 3.6415/30 to the greenback from Thursday's close of 3.600/15. Dealers said the local unit was expected to remain weak against the strong dollar. The financial rand for non-resident investors also opened softer at 4.79/80 to the dollar from Thursday's close of 4.78/79. Gold opened at 380.90/381.40 dollars an ounce, up from Thursday's close in New York of 379.80/380.30. Other currencies were: Friday's opening Thursday's close Sterling: 5.4146/56 5.4175/85 German mark: 0.4588/98 0.4595/605 Swiss franc: 0.3950/60 0.3918/28 Yen: 28.70/80 28.58/68 The Gdansk shipyards (Stocznia Gdanska) are to built two steamships for a Greek shipping firm worth a total of 250 million dollars, a shipyard spokesman said. He said they would be "the first steamships ever built in Poland", 180 meters long and 27.2 meters wide. Each will be able to take 950 passengers in 400 cabins, while there will be a crew of 170. The contract calls for the first ship to be ready at the end of 1996, and the second six months later. Stocznia Gdanska employs 9,000 people and had sales last year of 135 million dollars. The search for an opposition Labour Party leader to replace John Smith promises to be long and complex, due in part to democratic reforms pushed through by Smith himself last year, observers said Friday. Smith, whose political acumen and common touch had positioned him as the man most likely to become Britain's first Labour prime minister in 15 years, died suddenly of a heart attack Thursday at 55. By a swift stroke of destiny, the party that seemed on the brink of sweeping away a faltering Conservative Party suddenly found itself with a jagged leadership void. Smith's funeral was expected to be held in his native Scotland next week. His deputy, Margaret Beckett, 51, who took over the interim reins, was only one of several lining up to succeed the dynamic and acerbic- tongued Smith, being termed by many Friday as "the best prime minister Britain never had." Two top contenders emerging were Labour shadow home secretary Tony Blair, 41, and shadow chancellor Gordon Brown, 43, both from the party's right, both described as "modernisers," both Smith's loyal lieutenants. Shadow industry spokesman Robin Cook, 48, was also being mentioned, as was transport spokesman John Prescott, 55, the tough-talking former merchant seaman credited with helping Smith ram through his controversial "one member-one vote" reforms at the party conference last year. Those reforms, which effectively wrested control of the party from the powerful unions that created it as their mouthpiece early in the century, were Smith's democratic legacy in broadening the base for choosing party leadership. They also promised to extend and complicate the selection process. Under the old block voting system, union officials would vote on their members' behalf, automatically controlling 40 percent of the total vote, with 30 percent going to party members and 30 percent to party MPs. Under Smith's reforms, votes in Labour's new electoral college will now be apportioned three ways: one-third to the party's 264 MPs and 45 Euro-MPs, one-third to the party's 250,000 dues-paying members, and one-third to some 4.5 million union members each of whom is now entitled to a secret ballot. Observers said voting under the new system could take up to six weeks, and that party's National Executive Committee (NEC) was unlikely even to begin the process until after next month's European Parliament elections. Candidates to succeed Smith would need the support of at least 12.5 percent of the Parliamentary Labour Party for their names to go on the ballot. The NEC will also decide whether to hold a special conference to announce the result, as happened in July 1992 when Smith was elected to replace Neil Kinnock. It could decide not to unveil them until the annual Labour Party conference in Blackpool in October, observers said. That prospect was said to be worrying several Labour leaders anxious for the succession to be completed as quickly as possible. They see a leadership void extended through the summer as threatening to neutralize the momentum the party gathered in last week's local council elections, which gave the governing Tories their worst defeat ever. In the most recent opinion polls before Smith's death, Labour enjoyed a commanding 50 percent lead among those asked who they would vote for in a general election, against less than 30 percent for the Conservatives. A previously unknown movement calling itself Anti-Fascist Action said it had set fire to a central Athens cinema overnight in protest at neo-Nazis, Greek police reported here on Friday. The l00 or so people in the cinema escaped unhurt. A phonecaller to a radio station claimed the attack as a protest against the cinema owner who hired it out several months ago the Greek neo-Nazi movement Chryssi Avghi for a meeting. Sinn Fein, the political wing of the outlawed IRA, has made what Irish government sources said Friday was a "genuine attempt" to break the deadlocked peace process by seeking clarification on certain points in the landmark Anglo-Irish declaration. The sources, quoted by the Irish Times of Dublin, said Sinn Fein had sent a document to the Irish government outlining the points it felt needed further explanation. Another source quoted by the Times described the document as "substantial" and said it would be transmitted immediately to London. Since the Anglo-Irish document was signed, Sinn Fein, which is led by Gerry Adams, has asked London for "clarifications" before giving any answer to conditions set down in the declaration. But London and Dublin have both criticized Sinn Fein's queries up to now as being too vague. The declaration was signed by Britain and Ireland to try to end 25 years of sectarian bloodshed in Northern Ireland. It broke ground with an offer from Britian to bring Sinn Fein into negotiations on Northern Ireland's future provided the Irish Republican Army fighters observed a total three-month ceasefire. On Thursday night before he left for a visit to the United States, Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds said he had hoped for a positive development to end the impasse over the declaration. Wendlinger's team, Sauber-Mercedes, decided in Monaco on Friday that their second driver, Germany's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, would not start Sunday's race as a mark of his respect. Frentzen, shocked by his teammate's crash, had not taken part in Thursday's first official practice. Russian President Boris Yeltsin met here Friday with German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel to discuss cooperation between Moscow and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Yeltsin, on the last day of his three-day visit to Germany, then headed to Stuttgart to meet with a group of businessmen. Earlier, Kinkel said he was looking forward to his meeting with Yeltsin to discuss cooperation with the NATO alliance and the Partnership for Peace Agreement. "It is an important issue for the Russians and for us as well," Kinkel said. Russian membership in the NATO partnership program recently ran into snags after NATO carried out air strikes in Bosnia last month without consulting Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said recently that the current partnership program was not "agreeable to Russia" and added that Moscow would soon be presenting an alternative plan. The partnership programs offer former Warsaw Pact countries closer military cooperation with the alliance but stop short of giving them full membership. "The meetings in Bonn have provided an opportunity to go forward with this question," Dieter Vogel, a German government spokesman, said Friday, adding that Yeltsin's visit here was positive overall. Yeltsin was to head back to Moscow later in the afternoon. Tajik government and opposition leaders are to met here in June to resume UN-sponsored talks to resolve the crisis in Tajikistan, Iranian officials said Friday. A first round of talks between the democratic and Islamic opposition and the pro-communist government was held in Moscow in March, after the assassination of Deputy Prime Minister Mouzabcho Nazarchoiev, but without progress. However, a leading member of the the Islamic Movement of Tajikistan (IMT), Akbar Turjanzadeh, predicted earlier this week that the two sides could reach a settlement in Tehran, according to the Iranian news agency IRNA. A special UN envoy on Tajikistan, Pierre Baben, met Thursday with Iran's deputy foreign minister Mahmud Vaezi, who confirmed that Iran, Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan would attend as observers. Vaezi said Tehran favored a "peaceful solution to the crisis" through the formation of a "national reconciliation government," official Iranian sources said. Baben thanked Iran for its "constructive efforts" in helping bring peace to Tajikistan, the sources added. Tajik opposition groups agreed to hold direct talks with the Dushanbe government after Iran and Russia offered to mediate. Neo-communists took power in Dushanbe in December 1992, unseating the ruling coalition of democratic and Islamic forces. The Tajik opposition is currently made up of the IMT, the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, the Popular Resurrection Movement and the Popular Movement of Badakhshan. The Ferranti defence business has been sold to GEC-Marconi, a 100 -percent-owned subsidiary of British group General Electric Co. (GEC), Ferranti receivers announced here on Friday. The receivers, from Arthur Andersen chartered accountants, did not indicate the value of the deal, which becomes effective Thursday evening. According to the British press, the amount should be around 50 million pounds. GEC is taking over Ferranti Defence Systems Integration (FDSI) and Ferranti Simulation and Training (FS and T), which employ 1,110 people between them. The receivers said the deal opens the way to finalization in the next few weeks of negotiations concerning Ferranti satellite communications and civilian and industrial activities. At the end of March, the receivers designated GEC as the favored candidate for acquisition of the main Ferranti defence activities and said an agreement-in-principle had been reached on the matter. They said separate negotiations on other Ferranti activities would continue with other interested companies. Ferranti Group started sliding into slow bankruptcy four years ago with the discovery of a large-scale fraud involving fake contracts at its US subsidiary, International Signal and Control (ISC), bought in 1987. US consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in April, the Commerce Department said Friday. Most experts forecast a 0.3 percent advance in the department's Consumer Price Index. The government announced Thursday that wholesale prices in April fell 0.1 percent, surprising experts who predicted a 0.2 percent increase. Danish Interior and Immigration Minister Birte Weiss said Friday she asked Albania, Hungary and Slovenia for authorisation to set up Danish-run camps for refugees from former Yugoslavia on their territories. In a note to parliament, Weiss said there was no agreement so far to the requests, made in April, but that the government was continuing to seek an accord with the three countries. Denmark runs a refugee camp in Bosnia-Hercegovina amd another in Croatia but the Croatian authorities last month refused to allow Denmark to set up another one there. Denmark has also offered shelter for some 18,000 refugees from ex- Yugoslavia but believes haven should be provided as close as possible to home to facilitate return and to cut government spending. Two men, both English, were convicted Friday and jailed for 30 years each for their part in an Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombing campaign that included last year's huge blast at Harrod's department store in central London. "You are both evil men whose business is terror, death and destruction," Judge Anthony Hidden told former army corporal Jan Taylor, 51, and computer expert Patrick Hayes, 41. Both men were convicted of the explosion in a litter bin outside Harrod's in January last year, in which four people were injured, and a blast on a train the following month, which led to massive damage. They had been caught in the act of placing the Harrod's and other bombs by security video cameras. Both were also convicted of possession of semtex and other explosives and firearms. Hayes was additionally found guilty of plotting to cause explosions at Canary Wharf, Tottenham Court Road and Woodside Park Tube station, all in London, in 1992. Both men smirked and nudged one another as the judge told them, "It is only by the greatest good fortune no lives were lost. "You both go about the business of terrorism with no thought for the lives and limbs of members of the public and no concern for the massive destruction you set out to unleash and the terror you seek to instill," he said. Hayes and Taylor left the dock waving clenched fists and shouting, "Up the IRA" (Republican Army) and a Gaelic slogan meaning, "Our time will come." Striking sailing staff of the SNCM shipping company decided to resume work on Friday after a court ordered suspension of their strike earlier in the day, company management announced. The announcement said the first ferries for Corsica would sail in the evening. Traffic will resume "as soon as loading and sailing preparations have been completed, whatever the number of passengers may be", it said. The conflict related to staffing and working conditions. Bavarian and Italian police have arrested two Sicilian Mafia suspects for smuggling forged Italian banknotes worth one million marks ( 606,000 dollars) into southern Germany, police here reported Friday. A wine merchant here, identified only as Luigi P., 48, was picked up this week, and in Sicily police held Paolo Lo lacono, 35, in his home village Partinicio. Lacono's father Francesco, 59, a senior "godfather" who spent six years in Germany, has been in prison in Palermo for the past year awaiting trial for the murder of four rival clan members whose bodies were dissolved in acid. Kawasaki Steel Corp., the only big Japanese steelmaker not to curtail capital spending this year, announced Friday plans to streamline its steel activities while cutting its number of board members by six. The company said it would realign its four steel divisions into a production and development division and a sales and planning division from July. The board will be reduced from 34 to 28 by eliminating the posts of vice chairman, cutting the number of vice presidents and senior managing directors from three to two and lowering the number of other directors from 15 to 12. Kawasaki Steel, which along with other Japanese steelmakers has been crippled by the strong yen, has forecast a pre-tax loss of 32 billion yen (310 million dollars) for the year to last March. While its rivals announced plans last month to slash capital investment this year, Kawasaki said spending would rise from 135 billion yen to 170 billion yen because of existing commitments under a five-year plan to modernise a mill. Ajello MAPUTO, May 13 (AFP) - The head of the United Nations mission in Mozambique, Aldo Ajello, said Friday he was dissatisfied with virtually all aspects of the peace process ahead of October elections after 16 years of civil war. "There is no progress with assembly of troops, we've wasted time with demobilisation and we still have serious problems with forming a new national army," Ajello said. He said he was calling a meeting of Mozambique's main peacekeeping committee next week to discuss these problems and the UN's latest resolution, which is to reduce its Mozambican peacekeeping mission (ONUMOZ) by 2,000 soldiers immediately and terminate the mandate completely on November 15. The government called a halt to demobilisation of its forces three weeks ago, claiming the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) opposition was not keeping pace with the process. "Unfortunately, by the time they made that announcement, RENAMO was already catching up," Ajello said. He added that the government apparently needed time to correct its lists of soldiers, as some names were marked down both for demobilisation and for joining the new national army. ONUMOZ now has names of 2,459 RENAMO fighters from the 4,000 due to be demobilised, against 17,593 names from the government. The government was originally expected to discharge 62,00 soldiers but now claims it only has some 50,00 soldiers to demobilise. Ajello dismissed government claims that ONUMOZ "misunderstood" the number of soldiers it presented, saying: "There was no confusion nor any misunderstanding on our side. "Anyone can make a mistake including the government, the only thing to do is admit and correct it". He added that he would accept the new government figures, despite RENAMO's suspicion that the government was hiding troops instead of demobilising them. Western diplomats in Maputo suggest some government army officials deliberately inflated the numbers of soldiers in order to draw salaries and attract donations on behalf of men who were no longer in the army. A Palestinian stabbed a Jewish settler on Friday near Tapuah settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, military officials said. The army launched a manhunt after the Palestinian fled. The settler was taken to hospital for treatment but he was not in danger. Earlier Friday, Palestinian police took control of the West Bank town of Jericho ending 27 years of Israeli occupation, under the May 4 deal to launch Palestinian self-rule. Formula One drivers joined together to form a pressure group here on Friday in a bid to improve safety in a sport now overshadowed by death and injury. The move follows Thursday's crash here which left Austrian driver Karl Wendlinger fighting for his life, and the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix two weeks ago. Drivers met for four hours on Friday, deciding a plan of action -- primarily to call for circuit safety inspections at the next three races -- and electing four men to represent them. The main concern was to get their safety concerns across to the ruling International Automobile Federation (FIA) and its British president, Max Mosley. Austria's former world champion Niki Lauda announced after the session at the Automobile Club de Monaco, that: "We agreed to form a Grand Prix Drivers Association. "It was agreed that the representatives of the association would be Niki Lauda, Michael Schumacher, Gerhard Berger and Christian Fittipaldi. "The GPDA requests representation on or with the FIA to improve the safety of Formula One." He said the association was concerned about "the immediate situation" and wanted "to look at the next three Grand Prix circuits together with the FIA for possible improvements." All the current world championship drivers were at the meeting, along with three currently without a team -- Britain's Derek Warwick, Frenchman Patrick Tambay and Italian Riccardo Patrese. A GPDA had been set up during the 1970s, but petered out in the early 1980s. Drivers have been without any formal representation within the FIA for several years. Hearts manager Sandy Clark has reacted furiously to suggestions the Edinburgh club will play out a tame draw at Partick Thistle on Saturday that would guarantee both clubs Premier Division football next season. In theory either club could go down if Kilmarnock take at least a point at Hibernian and relegation favourites St Johnstone upset the odds by scoring a big win at Motherwell. Hearts and Thistle sit a point clear of Kilmarnock, who are in turn a point ahead of Saints in the third relegation place above the already doomed Raith Rovers and Dundee. Clark said: "I am sure Thistle will think the same as me that we are too professional to look for a draw and, besides, one of the best ways of ensuring at least a draw is to go for a win." Saints manager Paul Sturrock admits his six months in Perth have been traumatic but the former Scotland international is still looking forward to the Saturday showdown. He said: "We have been written off five or six times already this season and dug ourselves back into contention. "We have to be positive and go for a win because the worst thing to happen would be for Hibs to beat Kilmarnock but we lose at Motherwell." Killie too have to look after their own interests first without worrying about others. "What we are looking for is one last big effort from the players," admitted assistant manager Billy Stark. "Hibs might have lost 4-0 to Dundee last week but professional pride will ensure this is a tough game." With Rangers already champions, Falkirk are in pole position to win the first division title and promotion ahead of Dunfermline. Victory at Clydebank would clinch it. "We don't have to lift the players this week, rather it's a case of calming them down," said Falkirk manager Jim Jefferies. dm94 Liberia's biggest armed faction, Charles Taylor's NPFL, Friday ruled out peace talks with its Liberian Peace Council (LPC) foes, contradicting an earlier LPC report that the two enemies planned negotiations. "We are not aware of any meeting with the LPC," said NPFL spokesman John Richardson. The talks had been announced last week by the transition government's information minister Joe Mulbah, a former NPFL spokesman. But Richardson said that holding talks with the LPC, which the NPFL has been fighting for supremacy along the Atlantic coast and the border with Ivory Coast, "would be tantamount to recognizing it as a faction. "That could encourage others to go into the bush and take up arms." The LPC was set up in September 1993 but at the time did not sign on to a peace accord reached two months earlier between the NPFL, the United Liberation Movement for Liberation (ULIMO), and the former interim government. The accord was aimed at ending a civil war that killed some 150,000 since December 1989. But disarming all the warring factions has proven difficult due to continued clashes between the NPFL and the Peace Council as well as various other ethnic clans. Richardson said Friday that the NPFL had ceased to disarm its toops "due to the inability of the the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, to stop the fighting between the NPFL and LPC, as well as the tribal fighting between elements in ULIMO." He added that the "NPFL is presently maintaining a defensive position to stop all aggressions from those who want to hijack the peace process." A treaty of asociation between Russia and the European Union will be at the top of Germany's agenda during its forthcoming presidency of the EU, Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel told visiting Russian President Boris Yeltsin on Friday. Yeltsin, on the last day of a three-day visit to Germany, met Kinkel to discuss cooperation between Moscow and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The Russian leader then headed to Stuttgart to meet businessmen. Kinkel said in a statement released after their talks that he had pledged Bonn would make the treaty "one of the top priorities of the German presidency of the Union." Bonn takes over the six-month rotating presidency from Greece on July 1. The statement added that much of the meeting centered on new European security arrangements. Kinkel expressed hopes Russia would soon play an active role in European security policy by joining the NATO-proposed Partnership for Peace programme. "President Yelstin stressed Russia had no difficulty (with the accord) and would sign soon," the statement said. "But Russia wishes to set out in a protocol the specific content of the cooperation between NATO and Russia." Kinkel, echoing an earlier pledge by Chancellor Helmut Kohl, also reassured Yeltsin that Germany would back Russian efforts to obtain full membership of the GATT world trade accord and of the G7 group of most industrialised countries. Earlier, Kinkel said he was looking forward to the talks with Yeltsin. "It is an important issue for the Russians and for us as well," Kinkel said. Russian membership in the NATO partnership programme recently ran into snags after NATO carried out air strikes in Bosnia last month without consulting Moscow. Kozyrev said recently that the current partnership programme was not "agreeable to Russia" and added that Moscow would soon be presenting an alternative plan. The proposed partnership offers former Warsaw Pact countries closer military cooperation with the alliance but stops short of giving them full membership. "The meetings in Bonn have provided an opportunity to move forward on this question," said German government spokesman Dieter Vogel Friday, adding that Yeltsin's visit here was positive overall. Yeltsin was to head back to Moscow later in the afternoon. Israeli intelligence chief JERUSALEM, May 13 (AFP) - The PLO will need support if the peace process is to succeed, the head of Israeli military intelligence Uri Saguy said in an interview published Friday. Saguy told the right-wing daily Maariv that "backing the PLO is a necessary condition for the success of the peace process." He warned that radical and Moslem fundamentalist groups opposed to the peace process were likely to step up their attacks on Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as "inside Israeli territory." But in the newly autonomous Gaza Strip, "terrorist attacks will go down or at least will come up against PLO opposition." He warned however that supporting the Palestine Liberation Organisation could "whet the appetite of this organisation and its demands for the creation of a Palestinian state." FIFA General Secretary Sepp Blatter urged Japan on Friday to ease tough anti-drug immigration rules and grant Argentinian soccer captain Diego Maradona a visa, describing the convicted drug-user as "a victim not a culprit." Maradona and his Argentinian teammates are set to pull out of the Kirin Cup tournament after Tokyo stuck by it's stringent policy of denying visas to individuals like Maradona convicted of narcotics offences. "It is my personal opinion that it is unfair for a government to continue to punish any person who has been convicted of such an offence but has served his punishment," said Blatter, who is visiting the Asian Football Confederation Congress being held in Malaysia. Maradona was arrested in Buenos Aires in April 1991 for concaine possession and five months later was given a 14 month suspended sentence by an Italian court on the same charge. Blatter said neither Japanese nor Argentinian soccer officials had raised the controversy with him and the first he heard of it was when a journalist raised the issue at a press conference. "It does not directly involve FIFA because it is a friendly tournament afterall. If they contacted us we would simply offer them this advice," said Blatter. Blatter also pleaded for a little understanding of Maradona's cirumstances, which he said made him more likely to be arrested than anybody else. "I ask you this, if he were not a footballer would there have been a problem because he most likely would not have been caught? "said Blatter. Meanwhile Blatter told a press conference it was likely that FIFA's executive committee meeting next Friday would agree to raise the World Cup format to 32 teams in time for the 1998 competition, an increase of eight sides. But Blatter said the extra places would be shared between the regional confederations and would be decided "after knowing the results of the performances of the regions in the 1994 World Cup." Delegates at the Asian Football Confederation congress dealt a humiliatig blow to Japan's high-profile 2002 World Cup bid Friday, when they rejected the country's top official Tadao Murata in two high-profile elections. Murata, secretary general of Japan's 2002 bidding committee, polled only two out of 32 votes in the bitter battle for FIFA's vice- presidency which was won by his arch-rival South Korean Chung Moon- Jung with 11 votes. Murata, who used English soccer legend Bobby Charlton and free bottles of 12-year-old malt whisky as campaign tools, was further stunned when he again came last in polling for his old seat as one of the AFC's four vice-presidents. "I learned a lot of things today," said Murata after a roller-coaster day of elections which saw only one incumbent AFC official out of six secure re-election. Murata's defeat means Japan, one of Asia's soccer powerhouses after the launch of the popular J-League last year, has no senior official in the AFC for the first time since Murata first became AFC vice- president in 1964. Commenting on a dramatic day in which 36 candidates were jostling for 17 elected positions, FIFA General Secretary Sepp Blatter said, "I just felt it from the very moment I arrived here that this was going to be an exciting election. There was a measure of good news for both Japan and South Korea's World Cup campaigns when Blatter told a press conference on Friday that FIFA definetely wanted to stage the 2002 World Cup in Asia. The Chinese government has released five more religious dissidents in its latest gesture of human rights concessions to the US in the run-up to a renewal of its most favoured nation (MFN) trade status. Three members of the Protestant Church of the New Testament, Chen Zhuman, Yan Peizhi and Xu Zhihe, along with Roman Catholic priests Zhang Li and Chu Tai, were recently released early from reeducation camps for good behaviour, the official Xinhua news agency said Friday. The five had been given sentences of between one and three years in labour camps from 1992-93 for having "disturbed public order and endangered public security by their religious activities." Chen Zhuman, 50, was sentenced in Fujian, in July 1992, to three years in a reeducation camp for having illegally rejoined a group of the Church of the New Testament. Yan Peizhei, 35, and Xu Zhihe, 50, both peasants from Shandong, also belonged to the Protestant organization when they were sentenced to three years in labour camp in December 1992. Zhang Li and Chu Tai, both Catholic priests from Zhangjiakou in Hebei province, were sentenced to three years and one year, respectively, in November 1993. When the communist government came to power in 1949 after a civil war, it created several officially sanctioned churches and suppressed the activities of Christians who refused to join -- especially Catholics who remained loyal to the Vatican. On Thursday, Chinese authorities announced the release on parole of another Christian dissident, Zhang Ruiyu, who had been sentenced to four years in prison in 1991. "The Chinese authorities are trying to charm (US President Bill) Clinton by adeptly playing on religion and swaying American public opinion," a western diplomat here said. Clinton must decide by June 3 whether or not to renew China's privileged MFN trading status which allows Chinese products easier access to US markets. Washington however has made the improvement of the human rights situation in China a precondition to MFN renewal. International human rights organizations have rallied for the release of the six religious dissidents on several occasions. Observers here said it was less dangerous for Beijing to release the religious dissidents than more militant political dissidents who could stir up more trouble ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4. Authorities over the past few weeks have rounded up at least six active political dissidents here and in the eastern city of Shanghai. The latest arrest was that of Shanghai-based dissident Yang Zhou on Thursday. Zhou is a spokesman for the Chinese Association for Human Rights. China's most famous dissident, Wei Jingsheng, is meanwhile kept under police guard at a state residence in a Beijing suburb. President Jiang Zemin, who is also head of the Chinese Communist Party, on Thursday for the first time publicly defended the bloody suppression of the 1989 pro-democracy movement at Tiananmen Square, saying authorities were determined to use all methods available to avoid another such incident. Chinese leaders are also employing another tactic to convince the United States to renew MFN -- allowing a few dissidents to leave the country. In April, 1989 pro-democracy movement leader Wang Juntao was given permission to leave in order to seek medical treatment in the United States. Wang had been sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, receiving the harshest penalty given to any leader connected to the movement. Dissident intellectual Yu Haocheng early this week received the green light from authorities to visit the United States to teach at New York's Columbia University, after several years of trying to secure permission. But most observers here believe the release of dissidents is aimed solely at guaranteeing the continuation of MFN. Indian company Gujarat Torrent Energy Corp. (GTEC, in Ahmedabad) has chosen a consortium led by Siemens Group to build a turnkey power- station, the German group announced here on Friday. The plant at Paguthan, in Gujarat State, will have a power rating of 655 MGW and will be able to operate on natural gas or light oil. The investment amounts to 1.3 billion German marks, 800 million of which goes to Siemens, the announcement said. Siemens has also acquired a holding in GTEC, the partners in which are private group Torrent and government-owned Gujarat Power Corp. Siemens said a contract had been signed on Thursday in Ahmedabad, capital of Gujarat, by Indian electricity minister N.K.P. Salve and regional industry minister Chandrikaben Chudasama. The new plant will play a key role in industrializing Gujarat State, the announcement said. It will be the first private power-station in the state since the electricity sector was opened to private investment. The electricity produced will be bought by Gujarat Electricity Board. The facility is to start production in 24 months and be fully operational in three years. Suspected Islamic militants shot dead three policemen and wounded a fourth on Friday in the Asyut region, a fundamentalist stronghold in southern Egypt, the interior ministry said. The assailants sprayed automatic weapons fire at conscripts guarding a police station in Badari, near Abu Tig, 400 kilometers (240 miles) south of Cairo, killing two and wounding one. A few hours later, Sergeant Abdel Mohsen Eteifi Nasser was shot dead as he stepped out of his home in Abu Tig, and his machine-gun was stolen. Both attacks were carried out by the same group, which managed to escape, sources close to the security services said. The latest killings bring to 138 the number of policemen murdered since Islamic militants launched a campaign to topple President Hosni Mubarak two years ago. The campaign has also cost the lives of 144 militants. Almost two-thirds of the police victims died in the Asyut region, a stronghold of the main militant group, Jamaa Islamiya. Two Saudis convicted of rape and a Pakistani drug-smuggler were beheaded by sword Friday in Saudi Arabia, the interior ministry said in a statement broadcast on television. Saudis Saleh Selimi and Kasseb Zahrani were sentenced to death for raping a woman at knife point after breaking into her house. They were beheaded in Jeddah, on the western coast. Pakistani Hakam Khan Said Ismail Khan, who had attempted to smuggle heroin into the kingdom, was executed in the capital Riyadh. Twelve people have now been beheaded in Saudia Arabia this year, according to figures compiled from interior ministry statements. Saudi Arabia decided in 1987 to sentence to death drug traffickers, pushers and persistent users in a bid to stop drug abuse. Beheadings are usually performed publicly, after the weekly collective prayer on Fridays. The Indian government will not privatise the two state-owned airlines, Air India and Indian Airlines, until their services improve, federal civil aviation secretary K. Padmanabhiah said here Friday. He said the government had delayed plans to sell a part of its 100 percent stake in both airlines and float a Euroissue to raise funds for ambitious expansion plans. "The privatisation will not proceed till we improve the quality of our product," Padmanabhiah, who is also chairman of both airlines, said. "Most of the year we are handling labour problems instead of improving the quality of the service. This must end, and the employees must see the writing in the skies," he said, referring to increased competition by private airlines on the domestic sector. Padmanabhiah revealed that Air India had carried 2.2 million passengers in 1992-93 against 2.1 million in 1987-88. "There is no appreciable growth as the number of seats and schedules had not gone up," he said, adding that the airlines planned to buy five more aircraft as part of their expansion plans. Padmanabhiah also unveiled Friday a frequent-flier program by both airlines for passengers flying to overseas destinations. The program called "flying returns" will be launched on June 1 and will initialy be limited to Indian residents, he said. He said the two airlines will also shortly operate a world-wide advanced reservation system to attract more passengers. Air India is the single largest airline operating out of India. Indian Airlines, until recently the monopoly domestic carrier, also operates international flights. China has indicated its readiness to consider possible voluntary export restraints to curb the explosive growth in Chinese textile exports to Japan, government sources were quoted as saying Friday. The evening edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun quoted international trade and industry sources as saying that Chinese trade officials had informed the ministry they were "studying" introducion of export controls. The newspaper said the Chinese move was aimed at discouraging Japan from restricting imports of textiles from China under the 1974 multilateral fibre arrangement of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). But it also noted that a bilateral deal to "voluntarily" restrict the flow of textile trade between the two countries could attract international criticism of Japan while damaging China's bid to join GATT. The ministry refused to confirm the report, but confirmed that Yukio Doi, director general of its consumer goods industries bureau, was scheduled to visit Beijing from May 23 for "regular" talks with Chinese trade officials. Japan's imports of Chinese textile soared 31 percent to almost eight billion dollars in the year to March, accounting for almost half of the overall 24 percent jump in imports from the country to 21.7 billion dollars. Walt Disney Co. plans to raise funds in the Japanese market for the first time with a 30 billion yen (290 million dollar) issue of samurai bonds as early as next month, a local underwriter said Friday. A spokesman for Nikko Securities Co. Ltd. said the offering, targetted at Japanese retail investors, would have a three-year maturity. Other terms including the coupon rate have not yet been finalised. Japanese investors bought 1.6 billion dollars worth of bonds issued by foreign borrwers in the domestic market in March, boosting net purchases for the fiscal year to a three-year high of almost five billion dollars. The dollar firmed against other major currencies in quiet trading here early Friday after the government reported an unexpectedly small rise in April consumer prices and because of a long holiday weekend in Europe. Gold, meanwhile, rose to 381 dollars an ounce, up 1.10 dollars from late Thursday. The dollar jumped to 1.6730 German marks just after the announcement that consumer prices rose a modest 0.1 percent in April, much lower than the 0.3 percent advance many analysts had expected, and then fell back slightly. At about 9:45 a.m. (1250 GMT), the greenback traded at 1.6705 German marks, up from 1.6675 late Thursday. It stood at 1.6730 marks an hour earlier in London. Against the yen, the dollar stood at 104.85, up from 104.22 late Thursday. In London, it had climbed to 105.35 yen after the announcement that US-Japanese trade talks would resume in Washington next week. The US currency also firmed against other major European currencies, rising to 5.7288 French francs from 5.7200 late Thursday, to 1.4277 Swiss francs (1.4245) and to 0.6673 pound sterling (0.6669). A trader with a major European bank in New York predicted the dollar would move between 1.6650 and 1.6750 marks for the rest of the day. Traders were cautiously awaiting the Federal Reserve's next meeting of its policy-setting Open Market Committee, on Tuesday. Analysts expect the Fed will raise the federal funds rate, the interest charged on overnight interbank loans. An official Japanese task force studying measures to give greater market access to foreign products and services has listed 21 areas for deregulation, officials said Friday. The proposals were made by the Office of Trade and Industry Ombudsman (OTO) in a report submitted Friday to Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata. The report proposed that Japanese regulations and testing procedures on imports of foods and industrial products, including construction materials, should be relaxed. Japan is to announce market-opening measures before the end of June under pressure from foreign countries, particularly the United Statets which suffers chronic huge trade deficits with Japan. Hata was quoted as saying at a meeting of economic ministers Friday that each ministry and government agency should make efforts for economic deregulation. Those attending the meeting included Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii and Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa. Taiwan's entry in the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival tells a story of cultural confusion in Asia, but which will be appreciated worldwide, its director told AFP Friday. Edward Yang, speaking an hour before the premiere of "A Confucian Confusion" here, said the film was about a specific culture, but has far wider resonances. "I don't think its referring just to Taiwan, its referring to Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Singapore, all the confucian-influenced societies," he said in an interview with AFP. And he added: "If I've done a good job to tell a human story, then people from other parts of the world will appreciate it ... I wouldn't be surprised at it because were all human." "That's why drama is so interesting because its about humanity not just because were Chinese or French or British. It's a document to look back on in the future," he said. The movie, starring new faces Chen Xianqi, Ni Shujun and Wang Weiming, tells the story of a group of 12 former schoolfriends living hectic professional and romantic lives in Taipei. The relentlessly urban setting -- much of the action is set in cars driving from one apartment to another in downtown Taipei -- contrasts with key artist characters who turn against the modern technological environment. Yang says the polarity of the setting and characters relects the cultural confusion felt by young people not only in Taiwan, but also other Asian democracies. "There's a dilemma whether you want to do more about your life or whether you want to accept the intimidating pressure which puts you back in your place," he said. "This is basically what all these societies ... not the ones that are still developing, but the ones that are already developed, like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea .. pretty soon China is going to be in that position. This is what is happening in Asia. "The West hasn't really realized this culture change. Every one of these states is trying to implement democracy," he added. Yang, 47, is in the official competition on the Croisette for the first time after an appearance in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival in 1987. But he insists he is not intimidated by seeing his film premiered on the first full day of the 47th Cannes International Film Festival -- the world's biggest filmfest. Above all he has no expectations of winning the top prize, the Golden Palm, he says, admitting that he has not seen last year's Chinese winner, Chen Kaige's "Farewell To My Concubine." Asked how he rates his chances, he replies simply: "I don't. I'd be stupid if I did. There's nothing I can do now. I've done my best to make the film. I'm happy about it." And is he nervous ahead of the public premiere? "No. After five years in this business you know whats going on. There is nothing you can do about it ... its not a big deal at all," he says. Malaysia's national car-maker and Japan's Mitsubishi group have obtained approval to set up a joint company with a Vietnamese firm to assemble and sell automobiles in Vietnam, officials said Friday. Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton) and its partners, Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Motor Corporation, are to join forces with Vietranscimex to establish the Vina Star Motor Corporation, Proton said in a statement. The four parties are each to hold 25 percent stakes in Vina Star, which is to assemble the Delica minibus before it begins assembly of Proton cars later, Proton said. Vina Star, which involves a total investment of 50 million US dollars, is expected to start operations by March next year in Ho Chi Minh City, Proton said. It will initially produce 1,000 units of the Delica, and a year later will raise output to reach 12,000 units a year, it said. "The investment licence was approved by the Vietnamese State Committee for Cooperation and Investment in April. Registration procedures are expected to be completed by this month," a spokesman for Proton said. Vina Star is to be capitalised at 12 million US dollars, which will later be raised to 16 million dollars. Proton, listed on the local bourse, would source its contribution of four million US dollars for the venture through its internally generated cash resources, the company said. Mitsubishi Motor Corp and Mitsubishi Corp hold 17 percent equity in Malaysia's nine-year-old national car venture, a brainchild of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Ajello MAPUTO, May 13 (AFP) - The head of the UN mission in Mozambique, Aldo Ajello, gave a heavily critical assessment Friday of the peace process here ahead of October elections, the first slated after 16 years of civil war. Ajello said he was dissatisfied with virtually all aspects of the peace process, attacked delays in demobilisation and warned organisational problems which had hit South Africa's recent poll boded ill for underdeveloped Mozambique. "There is no progress with assembly of troops, we've wasted time with demobilisation and we still have serious problems with forming a new national army," Ajello said. He said he was calling a meeting of Mozambique's main peacekeeping committee next week to discuss these problems and the UN's latest resolution, which is to reduce its Mozambican peacekeeping mission (ONUMOZ) by 2,000 soldiers immediately and terminate the mandate completely on November 15. The government called a halt to demobilisation of its forces three weeks ago, claiming the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) opposition was not keeping pace with the process. "Unfortunately, by the time they made that announcement, RENAMO was already catching up," Ajello said. He added that the government apparently needed time to correct its lists of soldiers, as some names were marked down both for demobilisation and for joining the new national army. ONUMOZ now has names of 2,459 RENAMO fighters from the 4,000 due to be demobilised, against 17,593 names from the government. The government was originally expected to discharge 62,00 soldiers but now claims it only had some 50,00 soldiers to demobilise. Ajello dismissed government claims that ONUMOZ "misunderstood" the number of soldiers it presented, saying: "There was no confusion nor any misunderstanding on our side. "Anyone can make a mistake including the government, the only thing to do is admit and correct it." He added that he would accept the new government figures, despite RENAMO's suspicion that the government was hiding troops instead of demobilising them. Ajello also made a public apology for the mistakes of the least succesful aspect the ONUMOZ operation -- clearing landmines from the country. "We've made an incredible bureaucratic mess," he said, admitting this had delayed for more than 18 months the removal of hundreds of thousands of mines planted during the war. A key UN contract to clear some 2,000 kilometers of suspected mined road has yet to be signed. At least 200 people have suffered landmine injuries this year alone, according to non-governmental organisations here. Ajello suggested ONUMOZ made a mistake when it subjected mine- clearance plans to approval from Mozambique's peace process committees - which failed to function properly until a year after Mozambique's October 1992 peace accord - and to a heavy-handed bureacracy in New York. "This is a perfect story of how things should not be done," he said. Ajello said the logistical mess and political goodwill surrounding South Africa's elections offered vital lessons for Mozambique. "Given South Africa's far better communications and technical capacity, its grave logistical problems with organising elections are a very bad sign for Mozambique." However, he said, "the political will which helped overcome these problems and the happy ending of the process in South Africa should be a lesson to all of us here." Share prices gained ground on the Tokyo Stock Exchange this week, supported by active buying by overseas investors following a continued fall in the Japanese yen. The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues in the first section increased 408.28 points or 2.1 percent this week to 20,270.75 points after rising 137.22 points the previous week. It was the first time since April 15 that the key indicator ended a week above the psychologically important 20,000 mark. The broader-based Tokyo Stock Price Index (TOPIX) of all issues in the section rose 27.51 points to 1,643.20 following last week's 12.36 point rise. First section turnover averaged 287.96 million shares up from 153.6 million shares traded last week. The average daily value of transactions expanded from last week's 162.95 billion yen (1.6 billion dollars) to 279.15 billion yen. After opening the week at 19,771.75 points, the Nikkei fell Monday as investors failed to find fresh factors to stimultate the sluggish market following last week's three-day national holiday. But the key index rose for the rest of the week, as foreign investors, who have been major players in the market during the year so far, actively joined buying interest, brokers said. They said most investors here weclomed the recent fall in the yen, which would help export-oriented Japanese companies avoid unnecessary exchange losses. The dollar rose this week amid speculation that the United States was acting together with Japan and European nations to save the US currency from falling further. The dollar, which almost fell below the 100 yen line two weeks ago, ended here at 104.58 yen, up 1.48 yen from last week. Brokers said investors were still waiting for earnings reports for the year to March 31 to be issued in the coming weeks. "The market is still in a good mood," a Tokyo-based broker said. "If companies show better-than-expected profits in their annual reports, many players, particularly corporate investors, will come back to the market easily." Car makers ended mixed this week. Toyota Motor remained unchanged at 1,980 yen, but Nissan Motor gained 16 yen to 875 yen. Honda Motor increased 60 yen to 1,770 yen. Many electronics makers gained ground on the depreciation of the yen. Sony ended up 180 yen at 5,880 yen and Matsushita Electric Industrial rose 50 yen to 1,710 yen. Sharp gained 40 yen to 1,700 yen. Computer makers also enjoyed profits, with NEC rising 40 yen to 1,180 yen, Fujitsu increasing 30 yen to 1,050 yen. US consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in April, the Labor Department said Friday. Most experts forecasted a 0.3 percent advance in the department's Consumer Price Index. The government announced Thursday that wholesale prices in April fell 0.1 percent, surprising experts who predicted a 0.2 percent increase. The moderate rise in consumer prices last month indicated inflation remains well-controlled. Excluding the food and energy categories, the index rose 0.2 pecent. Consumer prices had climbed 0.3 percent in both February and March. With the moderate rise in April, consumer prices for the year have climbed at an annual rate of 2.4 percent. In 1993 the index rose 2.7 percent. In April, energy prices fell 0.4 percent -- including 2.3 percent for fuel oil -- while food prices rose 0.1 percent. Fruit and vegetable prices dropped 2.3 percent. Furniture prices remained unchanged, while clothing costs fell 0.3 percent. Medical costs jumped 0.6 percent. Medical services were up 0.7 percent. France launched its bid for the Cannes Film Festival's top award Friday with the long-awaited "La Reine Margot," a lavish historical drama billed as the most gripping film on the Croisette. "What we are trying to do is grab the cinema audience and not to let them go for a second," writer Daniele Thompson told AFP ahead of the premiere Friday evening. "It is a brutal film, like a thriller or a western. It is not a sentimental film," he said, accurately describing the two and three- quarter hour epic, full-blooded in more than one sense. Starring Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil, the movie relates the gory story of Marguerite of Valois, forced to marry for political expediency in August 1572, in the heat of the French wars of religion. From the opening frame the film pulls no punches in depicting the brutality of the time, culminating in the Saint Bartholomew Day's Massacre of August 23 and 24, when up to 100,000 protestants died. Margot's sexual adventures -- her marriage puts no bars on these -- are also included liberally in the mixture, a somewhat free interpretation of the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Thompson stresses that the role was written specifically for Adjani. "If she had refused, I think we would not have had a film ... she is magnificent," he said. The film, touted as France's best hope to try to regain the Golden Palm for the first time in seven years, is premiered here Friday evening, at the end of the first full day of the 47th Cannes International Film Festival. Egypt's Foreign Minister Amr Mussa will meet US Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Saturday in Geneva to discuss the Middle East peace process, sources at the foreign ministry said. Their talks would focus on the Israeli-Syrian track of the peace talks. Christopher, in the Swiss city to attend a conference on Bosnia which opened Friday, is to travel Sunday to Syria and the next day on to Israel, on a peace shuttle. Mussa, currently in London, was also to meet Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic in Geneva. Former Italian premier Bettino Craxi, who has been asked to surrender his passport to authorities, will appear before judges investigating him for alleged corruption before the end of next week, his attorney Enzo Lo Giudice said Friday. "He will come back, you can rest assured he will come back before the end of next week," Lo Giudice said about his client whose whereabouts are unknown. He added that Craxi could be overseas but said he did not know where. He said he spoke with him by telephone Thursday evening but Craxi did not disclose his location. The former socialist premier, who is under investigation in 20 separate cases of alleged corruption, faces an international arrest warrant if he does not appear soon before judges in Milan wishing to question him. He was recently sighted on the Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris where he owns an apartment. He also is a regular visitor to Hammamet in Tunisia where his wife is officially resident. US forces carried out a mock air, land and sea invasion involving 44,000 soldiers this week, but US officials denied a report it was a rehearsal for military intervention in Haiti. The Boston Globe reported that the timing and tactics of the exercise, code-named Agile Provider, were developed with Haiti in mind. "Routine training, routine training," said White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers. "As you know, these things take a while to schedule, and they happen regularly. I wouldn't read too much into that." A spokeswoman for the US Atlantic Command, Major Jamie Roach, confirmed that a 16-day exercise involving 44,000 troops had ended Wednesday, but denied it was staged with Haiti in mind and disputed other details of the report. "Anything that happens in this hemisphere, whether it be a troop movement or an exercise, people are trying to tie to reports of a Haiti invasion. It's just not valid," said Roach. Most of the troops were American, she said, but there were small detachments of Dutch and Surinamese troops. The Globe said the exercise used North Carolina and Puerto Rico as landing sites for the mock invasion involving amphibious landing vessels, a submarine and more than 200 sorties by Marine jet fighers. Army Rangers landed 10 miles inland, seizing road junctions and knocking out military communications, while special forces attacked command posts and radio stations, according to the Globe. The Globe, which cited unidentified military sources, said the exercise was aimed at working out problems that arose during the 1983 invasion of Grenada in coordinating different services. A spokesman for the Atlantic command said the exercises had as a target a fictitious country run by an "unfriendly leader" who had suddenly seized power. But Roach said the attack scenario did not mention a Caribbean country. "It was a Southwest Asia scenario," she said. She said she was unaware that the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico took part in the exercise. Most of it took place off the coast of North Carolina, but troops trained near Savannah, Georgia and improved an airport on the Bahamian Island of Great Inagua, she said. President Bill Clinton warned last week that he did not rule out a military intervention to restore democracy in Haiti, and the UN Security Council gave the Haitian military leaders until May 21 to step down or face a full commercial embargo. The swearing-in of an interim president by the Haitian Senate Wednesday, however, appears to confirm the military's determination to resist all diplomatic pressure for their removal. The US military option for Haiti has received mixed reviews abroad. Visiting French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Thursday that his government would not participate in such a venture. The French diplomat, however, reiterated his condemnation of the military regime in Port-au-Prince and the naming of interim president Emile Jonassaint, whom Juppe described as a "puppet with no legitimacy." A tear-gas cannister was let off outside the offices of the Japanese Embassy here on Friday, a day after Tokyo officials decided to ban Argentine football hero Diego Maradona. No members of the embassy staff were hurt in the attack, but two Argentinians needed attention after inhaling the gas. The embassy offices are located on the ninth floor of the Rio de la Plata office building. Leaflets criticising the Japanese decision, written by the self- proclaimed People's Revolutionary Organisation, were found in the surrounding streets. The Japanese justice ministry refused Maradona a visa because it said he had been implicated in drug cases more than once. Maradona was arrested in Buenos Aires in 1991 for cocaine possession, and five months later was given a 14-month suspended sentence by an Italian court for using cocaine. He was also suspended from international competition for 15 months in 1991 and 1992 after testing postive for cocaine use. The justice ministry's immigration bureau, however, granted a visa to Claudio Caniggia, who recently ended a 13-month soccer ban for his alleged use of cocaine. Caniggia would have been allowed to go to Japan because he had not faced criminal charges. Argentina had planned to play Japan and France later this month in the Kirin Cup as part of their World Cup buildup. Blue-chip stocks continued to climb early Friday as long-term interest rates fell after the report of a weaker-than-expected rise in US consumer prices in April. The Dow Jones index of 30 leading industrials was up 11.30 at 3,664.14 points 20 minutes after the session opened on the New York Stock Exchange. Thursday the Dow rose 23.80 points to finish at 3,652.84. On the bond market, the average interest rate on the bellwether 30-year Treasury bond fell to 7.51 percent from 7.56 percent late Thursday. The stock and bond markets rallied Thursday after the government announced a surprising drop in wholesale prices in April. Analysts said the dollar's firming was also encouraging gains on Wall Street. Larry Wachtel, an analyst at Prudential Securities, said traders were fixated on next Tuesday's meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy- setting Open Market Committee. But a Fed increase in the federal funds rate was so widely anticipated, he said, the move would have little impact on the markets. An eight-year-old Palestinian killed himself accidentally here Friday, playing with a Kalashnikov gun of the new PLO police force, an AFP correspondent reported. A woman was also injured in the accident at the former Israeli military administration building which had been handed over to the policemen earlier in the day. The police closed off the area after the incident. Israeli soldiers shot three people on Friday as black-hooded Islamic fundamentalists led a protest against Palestinian self-rule by several thousand Gazans, a correspondent reported. Clashes erupted with soldiers as about 5,000 anti-autonomy protesters marched through Gaza City after a mass rally in a football stadium. Three Palestinians were taken to hospital with bullet wounds. Mohsen Abu Eitah, a member of the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS), told the rally: "Opposing the autonomy agreement does not mean we will act in a destructive way against our people." "We oppose the agreement because Gaza-Jericho was never our dream," said Ahmad Bahr, a senior HAMAS figure. "We are afraid that Gaza- Jericho is not first but last." Under the autonomy agreement between the PLO and Israel, Gaza and Jericho are granted autonomy for five years. After two years, negotiations are set to begin on the rest of the occupied territories, including Jerusalem. "We ended up with only 45 percent of Gaza," he said referring to the presence of 4,000 Jewish settlers and troops to protect them. "I hope our police will not be an Israeli puppet." Hundreds of HAMAS activists donned black hoods with cut-out eyes for the rally which was also called by Islamic Jihad and the Popular and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP and DFLP). The groups demanded the release of all Palestinian prisoners. French aviation authorities seemed determined on Friday to reject any flight plans filed by British Airways, Air UK or TAT airline for Monday flights using Paris' Orly airport, reliable sources said Friday. Those companies have indicated their intention of launching service between London and Orly on that day, even though France is opposed. The sources noted that without an accepted flight plan, no pilot can take off without violating international regulations and endangering his passengers' lives. But when asked about the matter, the French Transport Ministry - in charge of the General Agency for Civil Aviation (DGAC), which deals with flight plans - refused to comment on Friday except for saying that "all possible cases have been contemplated and studied". The British airlines, backed by their government, have insisted they are entitled to start flights to Orly next week in the wake of a European Union decision that France must open three routes to competition: Orly-London, Orly-Toulouse and Orly-Marseille. British Airways (BA) has said that "We have the rights and the slots, and we will be starting our first London-to-Orly flights on Monday". In London, a Civil Aviation Authority spokesman noted that the easiest way in practice for the French to prevent BA and other airlines from serving Orly was to reject the flight plan, which every pilot has to submit an hour before takeoff. But at the same time, a BA spokesman continued to maintain that "there will be no problem" and no reason for flight plans to be filed Monday to be turned down. Sources close to French transport minister Bernard Bosson said Friday that the French government did not in any way question "the principle of opening the Orly-London route to British companies as soon as possible". But they said it was normal for the government to reject a "fait accompli" that BA and some other British companies were trying to put over. A reliable source said the French government seems eager above all to negotiate a reciprocity agreement with Britain before opening Orly to British aircraft, as the European Commission has ordered. Air France and Air Outremer have filed applications to use Heathrow airport in London which were rejected on the ground that the airport is already too congested. Until now, all flights to London from Paris have left from Roissy- Charles de Gaulle airport, flying to four London airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City Airport. Business inventories fell 0.2 percent in March while sales rose 1.2 percent, the Commerce Department said Friday. Many analysts had expected inventories to rise 0.1 percent. In February, the backlog rose a revised 0.5 percent and sales were up a revised 1.4 percent. Russian deputies on Friday overwhelmingly approved a bill for Russia to unilaterally lift sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia despite an international embargo. The action by the Duma, the lower house of parliament, came after the US Senate voted Thursday that Washington should unilaterlaly allow US arms shipments to the mainly Moslem Bosnian government in defiance of a 1991 UN arms embargo. With Russia a traditional ally of Serbia, lower house deputies have spoken out before in favor of the rump Yugoslavia, but Friday's vote marked the first time they have gone so far as to approve a bill -- in a crushing vote of 226 to 31 -- along these lines. Friday's Duma resolution stipulated that in the event of a "unilateral lifting by a state of the embargo on arms deliveries to Bosnia," Russia would have to respond with "adequate measures that could go as far as raising the question of a unilateral exit from the sanctions regime." The draft, approved on first reading, must be put to a second vote in two weeks before it can go onto the upper hour, or Federation Council. Though it was too early to tell whether it would make it through to law, analysts said Friday's vote signaled a new defiance by the conservative-dominated Duma towards Russian President Boris Yeltsin. In earlier votes, the Duma voted overwhelmingly to condemn NATO air strikes against Serb positions on April 9 and 10, or only urged the Russian government to work for an end to lifting UN-imposed trade and arms sanctions against rump Yugoslavia. Friday's bill was laid before parliament on April 15 by a deputy from the pro-communist Agrarian Party, and backed by Vladimir Zhirinovski's ultranationalists and the Party of Democratic Russia of Nikolai Travkin, who recently became a minister without portfolio. The US Senate vote embarrassed the US administration, which says Bosnian government forces should be allowed to defend themselves but wants any change in sanctions to be multilateral. The Senate move was seen as unlikely to be confirmed by Congress, but was taken as a warning about Senate discontent over President Bill Clinton's foreign policy. Since the UN adopted sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia in 1992, the Russian president has tried to navigate between pressure from the international community and pressure from strong pro-Serb forces in parliament. Deputy Vladimir Isakov, who is a legal expert and fierce opponent of the Yeltsin government, said recently he had found a "hole" in the constitution that would allow the Duma to override the president's foreign policy. The article, number 80 in the constitution adopted last December, says the Russian president conducts foreign policy "in line with federal legislation." The Irish central bank on Friday lowered its key directive short-term interest rate from 6.5, to 6.25 percent, effective next Monday. The previous cut, from 6.75 to 6.5 percent, came on April 15. The move came two days after the German Bundesbank reduced its discount and Lombard rates and was followed by a number of other European countries. The short-term rate is the one most used by the Bank of Ireland in lending to the banking system. Marino Alonso gave the host country their first stage victory in the 1994 Tour of Spain here on Friday in the 204km 19th stage from Avila to Palazuelos. However Switzerland's Tony Rominger retained the leaders' yellow jersey he has held since the prologue time-trial. Alonso finished six minutes ahead of Italians Roberto Pagnin and Ricardo Forconi in a successful long breakaway. PLO leader Yasser Arafat said here Friday, as Palestinian police took control of Jericho, that he aimed to travel to the West Bank town in mid-June. The Palestinians will hold elections "very soon," following the launch of self-rule in Jericho and the Gaza Strip, he told reporters at PLO headquarters in the Tunisian capital. But Arafat said he was "not in a hurry" to complete the line-up of the 24-member Palestinian Authority to run Gaza and Jericho. So far, 15 members have been named to the team, which the PLO leader is to chair. Arafat and the European Commission vice president, Manuel Marin, earlier signed accords for 12 million dollars in EU aid for the new Palestinian police force and two million dollars to hold the elections. "It's a first step," he said. "But if we are not listened to, then something's got to happen." Berger, now the most experienced and most successful driver in the championship, has been a prominent figure on the issue of safety. The Austrian said: "We have to look to the future. "We must establish a short-term plan on security, particularly with the inspection of the next three circuits, and afterwards, we must rapidly draw-up a long-term plan." The issue of whether to call off Sunday's race was not brought up by the association. Motor racing's blue riband event is set to go ahead, according to organisers, although drivers and the Principality's Prince Rainier may have a change of heart should Wendlinger's condition deteriorate. The Austrian was still in a deep coma on Friday, with one doctor saying that the next 48 hours are likely to be decisive. PLO leader Yasser Arafat said here Friday, as Palestinian police took control of Jericho, that he aimed to travel to the West Bank town in mid-June. The Palestinians will hold elections "very soon," following the launch of self-rule in Jericho and the Gaza Strip, he told reporters at PLO headquarters in the Tunisian capital. But Arafat said he was "not in a hurry" to complete the line-up of the 24-member Palestinian Authority to run Gaza and Jericho. So far, 15 members have been named to the team, which the PLO leader is to chair. Arafat and the European Commission vice president, Manuel Marin, earlier signed accords for 12 million dollars in EU aid for the new Palestinian police force and two million dollars to hold the elections. Denmark intends backing the creation of a sanctuary for whales in the Antarctic at this month's meeting in Mexico of the International Whaling Commission, sources at the environment and foreign ministries said here Friday. Parliament's environment committee gave its agreement in principle this week and is due to give full endorsement next Wednesday, provided Greenland gets a supplementary quota for catching rorquals off the island. Denmark abstained in last year's vote. The policy change should ensure a two-thirds majority for the sanctuary this time, the environment ministry sources said. The Danish branch of the ecological movement Greenpeace said it was delighted with the decision. Greenpeace spokeswoman Kirsten Sander alleged that Japan had tried to buy off the votes of five small IWC member states, which she did not name. On Thursday Greenpeace welcomed Chile's decision to support the sancutary proposal, saying indicated President Eduardo Frei's new government "is willing to act boldly on global environmental issues." The Danish and Chilean announcements supporting a Southern Ocean whale sanctuary proposal will virtually assure the sancutary's passage by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) this month, Greenpeace said Thursday. China has indicated its readiness to consider possible voluntary export restraints to curb the explosive growth in Chinese textile exports to Japan, government sources were quoted as saying Friday. The evening edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun quoted international trade and industry sources as saying that Chinese trade officials had informed the ministry they were "studying" introduction of export controls. The newspaper said the Chinese move was aimed at discouraging Japan from restricting imports of textiles from China under the 1974 multilateral fibre arrangement of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). But it also noted that a bilateral deal to "voluntarily" restrict the flow of textile trade between the two countries could attract international criticism of Japan while damaging China's bid to join the GATT. The ministry refused to confirm the report but did say that Yukio Doi, director general of its consumer goods industries bureau, was scheduled to visit Beijing from May 23 for "regular" talks with Chinese trade officials. Japan's imports of Chinese textile soared 31 percent to almost eight billion dollars in the year to March, accounting for almost half of the overall 24 percent jump in imports from the country to 21.7 billion dollars. Japanese and Chinse officials, meanwhile, ended two days of economic consultations here Friday, government sources said. Chinse officials from the State Planning Commission were quoted as telling officials from Japan's International Trade and Industry Ministry that retail prices in China in the first three months of this year jumped about 20 percent from a year earlier. News reports said that the officials agreed to discuss Japan's industrial cooperation with China in the field of motor vehicle parts. Japanese Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa agreed Friday with US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor to resume stalled framework trade talks between their two countries, officials said. The agreement was reached when the two ministers talked by telephone for about 20 minutes, the Japanese officials said. "The two countries should have contacts as soon as possible," Kakizawa was quoted as saying. Kantor agreed with the Japanese foreign minister. News reports said here that Japan and the United States were expected to hold subcabinet-level talks next week in Washington to discuss bilateral trade. Sozaburo Okamatsu, vice minister for international affairs at the International Trade and Industry Ministry, and Sadayuki Hayashi, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, are expected to represent Japan at the meeting, the reports said. Framework talks, mainly designed to cut Japan's chronic huge trade surplus with the United States, have been suspended since February. In February in Washington, then Japanese prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa told US President Bill Clinton that Japan could not accept US demands to set numerical targets in cutting its trade surplus. Hosokawa said that such targets would undermine the free trade system and lead to managed trade. The Paris Bourse enjoyed a winning session on Friday as the CAC 40 index finished the day and week at 2,187.00 points, up 0.47 percent by comparison with the Wednesday close. Thursday was a French holiday (Ascension). Russian President Boris Yeltsin left Stuttgart for Moscow on Friday, ending a three-day visit to Germany where he held talks on Russia's economic and security ties with European and other world powers. Yeltsin left after meeting with German business leaders. One elephant died and another was in a critical condition from injuries sustained when they were recaptured following their escape from an enclosure at a private reserve north of Natal province, Business Day reported Friday. The daily said the two female victims and eight other members of their family had escaped Tuesday from a special enclosure at the Phinda reserve where they were being held temporarily following their transfer only 24 hours earlier from Kruger's National Park. They were recaptured Wednesday by rescue teams that used tranquilizers but one of the elephants died the following day and another one was in a critical condition, the daily said. The herd was part of a group of 158 elephants that faced a certain death at Kruger's National Park where officials annually kill about 350 elephants in order to maintain a balance in the park's "eco- system" and its elephant population, which varies between 7,000 and 8,000. An international animal protection group had spared them that fate earlier this month by organizing the transfer of the 158 elephants to eight reserves throughout South Africa. But prior to releasing the animals in their new habitat, they were to be placed in special enclosures for 24 hours in order to get used to the change in environment. Another group of elephants transferred to a reserve in Transvaal province also reportedly escaped from its enclosure. The Greek drachma was again under sharp pressure on Friday six weeks before the European Union's full liberalization of the capital market, and Greece threw part of its reserves into propping up the currency. The drachma had come under speculative attack on Wednesday, which resumed in full force on Friday after a holiday, forcing the Bank of Greece to step in to support the currency against the German mark and the dollar, Athens forex traders said. Iorgos Kondoyorgis, vice-president of Citibank Greece, said banking authorities had thrown 500 to 600 million dollars onto the forex market on Friday, though the country's foreign exchange reserves were only around nine billion dollars. At the close, the drachma was maintained at 147.70 to the mark and 247.10 to the dollar, slightly up from Wednesday levels. "There is no question, it is out of the question and it will never be a question for the government to devalue - that's clear and the market knows it", said government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos. Greek European affairs minister Theodore Pangalos ruled out the idea that full liberalization of the EU capital market be deferred, as some opposition members have demanded. "That decision (liberalization) will have no effect on the drachma. It will lead only to losses for the speculators", he said. But such statements do not seem to have convinced experts, who think the current turbulence is very serious. "If speculation continues at this rate, half of the reserves will melt away in a few days and a monetary adjustment will become likely", one European expert told AFP. He said the drachma is now overvalued by 10 to 20 percent. Blue-chip stocks on Wall Street lost ground Friday following a slight rise in long-term interest rates. The Dow Jones index of 30 leading industrials fell 2.68 points to 3,650.16 at 11:00 a.m. (1500 GMT) from Thursday's close at 3,652.84. Trading was active with 85 million shares changing hands. The market was up in opening trading, getting a boost from a drop in average rates for 30-year Treasury bonds to 7.51 percent from 7.56 percent Thursday. But when the Treasury rate clicked back up to 7.54 percent, stock prices fell. US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor said he had agreed Friday with Japanese Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa on the need for preliminary contacts to resume bilateral trade talks. The so-called framework agreement negotiations collapsed last February over a dispute of how to measure progress in opening Japan's market and reducing its 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Washington. The Palestinians took control of Jericho and half the Gaza Strip on Friday as hundreds of PLO soldiers poured in to police the first autonomous enclaves, sparking mass celebrations. "As of now, you are the commander of the region. I wish you good luck," Israel's central region military commander General Ilan Biran told Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) General Hajj Ismail. They shook hands and the transfer of power in the first autonomous enclave was complete. Twenty-seven years of occupation came to an end. "Thank you," Ismail replied through an interpreter. "I hope we will be successful together on the road to peace." He called for Israel to withdrawal from all the occupied territories. In Tunis, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat announced he intended to travel to the West Bank town in mid-June. The Israelis completed their pullback to border checkpoints round the 62-square-kilometre (37-sq.-mile) zone. As the generals' handshake lingered, buses carrying about 400 policemen edged their way through the crowds lining the road from the Allenby Bridge over the River Jordan. They were cheered all the way by youths shouting "Allah u Akbar" (God is great). In the central square, hundreds more awaited. Women ululated, holding their children up to touch the soldiers. Bands struck up and youngsters sang and danced. The Palestinians had already raised their red, green, white and black flag over Jericho before dawn when official buildings and a military base were handed over to 60 police officers who had slipped in overnight and Thursday. Only half-a-dozen taxi-drivers were awake to witness the event. But word spread fast and whole families flooded on to the streets to hail their heroes. "The Israeli flag had been brought down by the time we came in," said Ahmad Abu Saadeh, a newly-arrived policeman. "There were no more Israeli soldiers left, we didn't shake hands with any of them." The Palestinians took over the police station, military administration buildings, the post office, a court house, and a nearby synagogue. The London stock market fell on Friday as the Footsie index shed 18.6 points or 0.6 percent to end at 3,119.2 points. Meanwhile, Israel completed a redeployment from all the southern Gaza Strip, apart from Jewish settlements which remain under army protection. "Everything south of the river is in the hands of the Palestinian police," a senior Israeli military official said. The river, Wadi Gaza, cuts across the Strip south of the Jewish settlement of Netzarim. During the night security installations were evacuated at Khan Yunes, the last town in the south to be evacuated following Deir el-Balah, Bureij, Nusseirat and Rafah. Facilities in Gaza City were to be handed over Sunday and transfer of authority wrapped up on Wednesday. Unlike the over-crowded Strip, population nearly 800,000, the Jericho police will run a quiet oasis of 15,000 people, known as the world's oldest and lowest town at 250 metres (825 feet) below sea level. Palestinian officials said more than 1,600 soldiers had so far poured in to Jericho and the Gaza Strip. A total of 9,000 are to be deployed across Gaza and Jericho, most drawn from the PLA, and named the Palestinian National Security Forces. About 1,500 will be deployed in Jericho. "Yes, we're already starting to direct traffic," said Mahmoud Yussef, an officer who stood in the middle of a Jericho road, shaking hands and embracing well-wishers amid long lines of cars. "We will work day and night, all the time. We don't need to sleep, we feel rested now that we are in our land." Soldiers unloaded their belongings at the new headquarter, the former Hanan camp, a compound that housed the military administration and now renamed Al-Aqsa, after the name of a unit from Iraq. But, there was more jubilation than work on the compound. Children were especially excited by the Kalashnikov rifles the soldiers carried. And the triumphant takeover was marred by the death of an eight-year- old Palestinian, Ammar el-Shawa, who killed himself playing with a rifle. A woman and an elderly man were also hurt in the accident at the former Israeli military administration building. "It's the first time I've seen a gun up close, and not in Israeli hands," said Khamis Ahmad, 12, before the tragedy. Like the others, he undid the parts of the rifle, cocked it and took aim. "Don't worry, the guns have no bullets," said Abu Emad, a soldier. The police closed off the area after the death of Shawa, their first intervention. In Gaza City, Israeli soldiers shot and wounded three people as black- hooded Islamic fundamentalists led a protest against Palestinian self- rule by several thousand Gazans. Kantor (RECASTS - details of statement) WASHINGTON, May 13 (AFP) - US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor said he had agreed Friday with Japanese Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa on the need for preliminary contacts to resume bilateral trade talks. The so-called framework agreement negotiations collapsed last February because of a dispute over how to measure progress in opening Japan's market and reducing its 60-billion-dollar trade surplus with the United States. In Tokyo, officials said Kakizawa had agreed to resume the stalled framework talks, but Kantor's statement spoke only of preliminary contacts. "Ambassador Kantor agreed with the suggestion of Foreign Minister Kakizawa on the need for preliminary contact between both sides to explore the basis for resumption of the framework talks," the statement said. "They both shared the hope that a basis will emerge for the resumption of the framework talks before the July G7 meeting in Naples," it said. Kakizawa called Kantor and they discussed the issue for 30 minutes, the statement said. An eight-year-old Palestinian killed himself accidentally here on Friday playing with a Kalashnikov gun of the new PLO police force, an AFP correspondent reported. A woman and a man were also injured in the accident at the former Israeli military administration building which had been handed over to the policemen earlier in the day. The boy Ammar el-Shawa was killed on the spot. A Jericho hospital official said the woman, Om Nasser el-Shawa, 55, had five bullet wounds in the abdomen, and the 65-year-old man was was injured in the thigh. Both were transported to Maqassad hospital in Jerusalem. It was not immediately clear if the trio were related. Palestinian police officers refused to comment on the death, but the area around the building was sealed off. Children celebrating the transfer of Jericho to the Palestinian police during the day were playing with guns at the administration building, the policemen's new headquarters. Most guns were not loaded. However those belonging to senior officers had bullets in them. Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced plans Friday with top German investors for new transport links by road and by rail between Moscow and Berlin. Yeltsin, who met with 14 German business leaders on the final day of his visit to Germany, said businessmen had agreed to help finance the construction of a new high-speed highway between the two cities as well as a railway system. "We agreed on building a Moscow-Berlin Autobahn", Yeltsin told reporters, using the German term to describe the highway. Earlier in Bonn, Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel told Yeltsin that a treaty of association between Russia and the European Union would be at the top of Germany's agenda during its forthcoming presidency of the EU. German Transport Minister Matthias Wissman confirmed here that the road and rail projects were in the works but stressed that large private investments would be needed to finance such a venture. Wissman said, quoting Yeltsin, that Chancellor Helmut Kohl had agreed to help find financial backing from European partners. Industry leader Eberhard von Koerber confirmed the German government was committed to building the vital links that would boost trade between Russia and western Europe. He also said that Yeltsin had pressed German representatives to invest in defence conversion projects, stating that they should not let their Japanese and American counterparts get the upper hand in that choice area of Russia's economy. Russia's defence plants and factories are considered to be the most efficient in that country. There were also complaints from German business over continued high inflation in Russia and one major industry chief pointed the guilty finger at the Russian central bank. "The central bank is a money printing machine" said Otto Wolff von Amerongen, leader of an influential German commission overseeing investment in eastern Europe. Amerongen told Yeltsin that German businessmen wanted to invest in Russia but that certain conditions had to be met. He asserted that ever-changing taxation laws needed to be fine-tuned and that inflation, currently at a monthly rate of nine percent, needed to be brought down. Yeltsin spent the last day of his visit to Germany in Stuttgart, the electronics and high technology hub of Germany. The Russian leader visited the Alcatel-SEL communications plant and spoke to his wife Naina who was visiting a nearby historic fortress from a computer terminal equipped with a video screen. "We don't have anything like this in Russia", he commented. Alcatel-SEL has developed business ties in Saint Petersburg since 1992 and has recently signed a contract with an electronics firm in the Ural region of Ufa. Yeltsin left for Moscow later in the afternoon. Earlier in Bonn the Kinkel said in a statement that he had pledged Bonn would make the treaty "one of the top priorities of the German presidency of the Union." Bonn takes over the six-month rotating presidency from Greece on July 1. Kinkel expressed hopes Russia would soon play an active role in European security policy by joining the NATO-proposed Partnership for Peace programme. "President Yelstin stressed Russia had no difficulty (with the accord) and would sign soon," the statement said. "But Russia wishes to set out in a protocol the specific content of the cooperation between NATO and Russia." German government spokesman Dieter Vogel said talks with Yeltsin had "provided an opportunity to move forward on this question." Kinkel, echoing an earlier pledge by Chancellor Helmut Kohl, also reassured Yeltsin that Germany would back Russian efforts to obtain full membership of the GATT world trade accord and of the G7 group of most industrialised countries. The proposed partnership offers former Warsaw Pact countries closer military cooperation with the alliance but stops short of giving them full membership. Rebels and government soldiers battled with small arms and mortars in Kigali on Friday after the bodies of 88 fresh massacre victims were discovered in southern Rwanda. Many of those victims were young girls. It was unclear who had carried out the slaughter, which adds to a death toll that has topped 200,000 in little more than a month of ethnic carnage, said UN spokesman Abdul Kabia said. "We thought that massacres in the Butare region had stopped, but it seems they are continuing," Kabia said. Hutu-led government forces control most of the Butare area, though fighting with the rebels, mainly from the minority Tutsi tribe, has been reported nearby. The boom of artillery shells and the crack of Kalashnikov rifles sent civilians scurrying for cover in the capital Friday. Most of the heavy fire apparently came from positions held by the rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front around the Meridien Hotel, while gunbattles raged between small groups in various neighbourhoods. Fighting also continued in the northwestern town of Ruhengeri and in Bugesera, in the south, Kabia said. Hutu killing squads embarked on a bloody rampage through Kigali after president Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, was killed in a suspicious plane crash on April 6. The rebels retaliated by sweeping through northern and eastern Rwanda, seizing control of two-thirds of the small central African highland nation, and pounding army positions in the capital. Children and women were clubbed or hacked to death with machetes as militiamen giggled at their agony, according to witnesses. Many survivors are children with their feet or hands cut off, and horrifically mutilated women. Bernard Kouchner, the flamboyant former French humanitarian action minister and founder of the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), met rebel leader Paul Kagame on Friday in the first of what he said was a series of meetings with Rwandan leaders to assess aid needs. Kouchner arrived from Uganda by road Thursday in what he said was the launch of an effort to boost aid operations on his own initiative. "I'm here wearing my own hat. That's to say none at all," Koucher said. Hundreds of thousands of Rwandans have fled across the borders to find themselves in squalid makeshift camps in Tanzania, Burundi or elsewhere. Up to two million Rwandans have abandoned their homes in terror of being slaughtered, with 20,000 alone prisoners sheltering in a church, a sports stadium, a hotel and other locations in their own capital, defenceless against mortar shells that sometimes slam into their refuges. UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is lobbying the Security Council to reinforce its troops, down to 400 after the UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda last month evacuated most of its 2,500 soldiers who were supervising a ceasefire implemented under peace accords signed in August. Boutros-Ghali has asked for 5,500 troops in Rwanda to establish a neutral zone around the airport, escort relief convoys and assist displaced people. The United Nations, still shaken by its failure to enforce peace in Somalia, is reluctant to embark on an aggressive mission that could embroil its peacekeepers in clashes with either side, diplomats said. Three people were killed and set alight after being accused of practising witchcraft in a remote village in South Africa's Northern Transvaal province, police said Friday. The three were killed late Wednesday by villagers in GaMogano, according to police, quoted by the domestic SAPA news agency. The deaths bring to 67 the number of people murdered this year after being accused of being witches in this superstitious tribal area, the news agency said. African National Congress premier for the province, Ngoako Ramathlodi, said "harsher penalties" would be imposed on people guilty of killing people they believed were are witches. European, Russian and US foreign ministers meeting in Geneva to try to agree upon rekindled peace efforts for Bosnia-Hercegovina extended their talks Friday beyond the originally expected duration. A press conference after the talks which had been set for 5:00 p.m. was now expected round 7:00 p.m. (1700 GMT), a US source said. The meeting is taking place at the American embassy. Diplomats earlier said a joint statement could be issued calling for a ceasefire and stating the desired principles of a political settlement. US Secretary of State Warren Christopher is attending the meeting, as is Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev and their Belgian, British, French, German and Greek counterparts, as well as a representative of the European Union. FIA president Max Mosley announced revolutionary measures in Formula One here on Friday hours after drivers joined together to form a pressure group to improve safety. Cars will need to be radically adapted by the grand prixs in Spain (May 29), Canada (June 12) and Germany (July 31). The sport is still reeling from the accident of Austrian Karl Wendlinger on Thursday, which has left him in a deep coma, and the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna two weeks ago at the San Marino grand prix. At a press conference, Mosley ordered a reduction in the size of the diffusers and a change of the frontwing -- both measures will reduce downforce and cut speed -- by May 29. By June 12, more side protection must be installed in driver cockpits to protect the driver's head. And the weight of the car will be increased by 25kg. Air boxes, behind and above the driver's head, will be banned. The front suspension must also be strengthened to ensure wheels do not fall off. The cockpit will also be lengthened, and special fuel will be banned with only pump fuel from a list of 100 petrol stations allowed. By the German grand prix on July 31, all the measures due to be introduced in 1995, particularly in the area of aerodynamics, will be in force six months early. Cars will no longer be flat on the bottom, but will have a "step" in them, according to Mosley. This would mean a speed reduction of cars, particularly at corners. Adaptations to front and rear wings will also be introduced with the same aim. Engine power, still according to Mosley, will be reduced from 800 horse power to about 600 by use of a fuel-flow valve. The valve will control the flow of fuel to the engine, therefore reducing a car's power without reducing engine size. Finally, to allow for all these changes, the weight of the cars will be increased from 575kg to 625kg. On Sunday's Monaco grand prix itself, organisers said it was set to go ahead, although drivers and the Principality's Prince Rainier may have a change of heart should Wendlinger's condition deteriorate. The Austrian was still in a deep coma on Friday, with one doctor saying that the next 48 hours are likely to be decisive. All the current world championship drivers were at the pressure group meeting, along with three currently without a team -- Britain's Derek Warwick, Frenchman Patrick Tambay and Italian Riccardo Patrese. Such a drivers' group had been set up during the 1970s, but petered out in the early 1980s. Drivers have been without any formal representation within the FIA for several years. France is determined to prevent British airlines from carrying out plans to break the French stranglehold on flights into Paris' Orly airport next week, transport ministry sources said Friday. British Airways, Air UK and TAT airlines say they will ignore France's refusal to allow them to use the busy international airport south of Paris and will launch services between London and Orly on Monday, as permitted by a European Commission ruling. But the French sources underlined that without an accepted flight plan, no pilot can take off without violating international regulations and endangering his passengers' lives. When asked about the matter, a spokesman for the transport ministry, which is in charge of the General Agency for Civil Aviation (DGAC) that handles flight plans, refused to comment, simply saying: "all possible cases have been contemplated and studied." The British airlines, backed by their government, are insisting they are entitled to start flights to Orly next week in line with a European Union ruling ordering France to open three domestic routes to competition: Orly-London, Orly-Toulouse and Orly-Marseille. British Airways (BA) has said: "We have the rights and the slots, and we will be starting our first London-to-Orly flights on Monday." The British government has expressed its "full support" for the airline. In London, a Civil Aviation Authority spokesman noted that the easiest way in practice for the French to prevent BA and other airlines from serving Orly was to reject the flight plan, which every pilot has to submit an hour before takeoff. But at the same time, a BA spokesman continued to maintain that "there will be no problem" and no reason for flight plans to be filed Monday to be turned down. The first scheduled flight to Orly is due to leave Heathrow airport at 6:50 a.m. (0550 GMT) Monday and arrive in Paris an hour later. Sources at the French transport ministry said Friday that the French government did not in any way question "the principle of opening the Orly-London route to British companies as soon as possible." But they said it was normal for the government to reject a "fait accompli" that BA and some other British companies were trying to put over. Transport Minister Bernard Bosson has said France accepts the idea in principle but needs extra time to deal with such difficulties as overcrowding at Orly, environmental problems and reciprocal access to London airports. Foreign competition through Orly is also seen as a threat to the loss- making national carrier Air France and its domestic subsidiary Air Inter. Unions at Air Inter have called a strike for Tuesday in protest over the opning of the routes. The routes through Orly are coveted by foreign companies because all domestic French flights leave from the airport. Orly has 204,000 incoming and outgoing flights per year compared to 304,000 at the bigger Charles de Gaulle international airport north of the capital. Last year, 9.7 million passengers used the Orly-Sud international part of the terminal while 15.7 million passed through Orly-Ouest, reserved for the domestic carrier Air-Inter. French analysts believe British airlines are keen to capture the estimated half a million French passengers who use Air Inter each year to fly to Paris to catch a foreign connection. Orly also is more easily accessible by car from Paris, though rail connections are inferior and the terminal closes part of the night, unlike the Charles de Gaulles airport. The ministry source said the French government was eager above all to negotiate a reciprocity agreement with Britain before opening Orly to British aircraft, as the European Commission has ordered. Air France and Air Outremer have filed applications to use Heathrow airport in London which were rejected on grounds that the airport is already too congested. Until now, all flights to London from Paris have left from Roissy- Charles de Gaulle airport, flying to four London airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City Airport. The volume of trading and prices were lower in most sectors of the tanker market compared with the previous week, London brokers E.A. Gibson said Friday in their weekly review. Out of the Middle East there was disappointing demand for the Very and Ultra Large Crude Carriers (VLCC and ULCC, over 200,000 tonnes) business while prices showed little change. Events in the Yemen have resulted in higher prices for the 80,000-tonne carriers out of this region. In West Africa, rates continued their freefall while the Mediterranean business suffered again from a lack of interest. In the Caribbean market, rates were also lower while in the North Sea owners were just able to maintain last week levels. In the clean business, there was continued interest for the Middle East sector but in the Mediterranean demand has been just sufficient to keep rates stable. Fixtures (in Worldscale) May 13 May 6 DIRTY: Gulf States/Eur. (VLCC) 34 34 Gulf States/USA (VLCC) 34 34 Gulf States/Far East (VLCC) 35 unq ditto (73,000 t.) 118 95 (80,000 t.) West Africa/USA (130,000 t.) 60-62.5 67.5-70 Cross Med. (80,000 t.) 112.5 115-120 ditto (130,000 t.) 60 70 North Sea/Eur. (80,000 t.) 92.5 92.5 ditto/USA (130,000 t) 67.5 72.5 ditto (VLCC) 40 unq Caribbean/USA (75,000 t.) 82.5 95 (77,000 t.) ditto (130,000 t.) 47.5 50 CLEAN: Caribbean/USA (30,000 t.) 200 200 ditto (50,000 t.) 140 145 Gulf States/Japan (68,000 t.) 140 160 (55,000 t.) North Sea/Eur. (22,000 t.) 200 190-200 ditto/USA (28,000 t.) 220 unq Cross Med. (25,000 t.) 220 220 ditto (30,000 t.) 175 185 ditto/USA (28,500 t.) 210 unq France launched its bid to bring the Golden Palm back home Friday with the long-awaited "La Reine Margot," a lavish historical drama billed as the most gripping film on the Croisette. But, at the end of the first full day of the 47th Cannes International Film Festival, there was some scepticism as to whether the film could do the job for France. "It is too long," said one critic emerging from a preview of the film, which has its public premiere in Grand Theatre Lumiere here Friday evening. "Too aesthetic," said another. The film, starring Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil, tells the story of Marguerite of Valois, forced to marry for political expediency in August 1572, in the heat of the French wars of religion. The makers of the film, directed by Patrice Chereau, were promoting the film Friday as a gripping action film which will keep cinema-goers on the edge of their seats for nearly three hours. "What we are trying to do is grab the cinema audience and not to let them go for a second," screen writer Daniele Thompson told Agence France-Presse in a pre-premiere interview. "It is a brutal film, like a thriller or a western. It is not a sentimental film," he said, accurately describing the two and three- quarter hour epic, full-blooded in more than one sense. From the opening frame the film pulls no punches in depicting the brutality of the time, culminating in the Saint Bartholomew Day's Massacre of August 23 and 24, when up to 100,000 protestants died. Margot's sexual adventures -- her marriage puts no bars on these -- are also included liberally in the mixture, a somewhat free interpretation of the novel by Alexandre Dumas. The film will be attempting to bring the Golden Palm back to France seven years after Maurice Pialat took the top prize with "Under Satan's Sun" in 1987. "Margot" has been widely promoted as France's strongest prospect here. At a press conference for the film ahead of the premiere Friday night the film's makers were clearly irritated by a question about it possibly being cut for US distribution. Adjani showed obvious pleasure with her own performance in the film: "I am very proud and very grateful to Patrice Chereau. He made it possible for me to be beautiful, passionate, in love, unhappy," she said. Two other French offerings, "Grosse Fatigue" (Very Tired) by Michel Blanc and "Les Patriotes" by Eric Rochant, have fewer hopes pinned to them than Chereau's epic, estimated to have cost 23 million dollars to produce. France's bid to retake the Palm follows its row with the United States over the inclusion of a cultural exemption clause for audio-visual industry in a global world trade agreement. France protests that without government protection indigenous film industries will be overwhelmed by the juggernaut of the major US film studios. The other film premiered Friday was "Du Li Shi Dai" (Confucian Confusion) by Taiwanese director Edward Yang, who told AFP that his story, of cultural confusion in Asia, should be appreciated worldwide. "I don't think it's referring just to Taiwan, it's referring to Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Singapore, all the confucian-influenced societies," he said in an interview with AFP. "If I've done a good job to tell a human story then people from other parts of the world will appreciate it," he said, adding: "I wouldn't be surprised at it because we're all human." On Saturday the festival continues with "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" by Alan Rudolph, and Russian Andrei Konchalovsky's "Assia and the Chicken with Golden Eggs." PLO leader Yasser Arafat said here Friday, as Palestinian police took control of Jericho, that he aimed to travel to the West Bank town in mid-June. The Palestinians will hold elections "very soon," following the launch of self-rule in Jericho and the Gaza Strip, he told reporters at PLO headquarters in the Tunisian capital. The elections were originally to have taken place in July but have been delayed until October. Arafat, however, said he was "not in a hurry" to complete the line-up of the 24-member Palestinian Authority to run Gaza and Jericho. So far, only 15 members have been named to the team, which the PLO leader is to chair. The elections would also need thorough preparation, warned Arafat. "We cannot rely on the data provided by the Israelis" to draw up electoral lists and for other administrative tasks. Arafat and the European Commission vice president, Manuel Marin, earlier signed accords for 12 million dollars in EU aid for the new Palestinian police force and two million dollars to hold the elections. "Things have started to move in a more flexible way than before," said the PLO leader, welcoming the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Jericho. Marin said the start of Palestinian self-rule was an "event of the century," ranking alongside the end of apartheid in South Africa. He said the European Commission had accepted an offer from Arafat to set up an office in Jericho to help the Palestinian Authority. The EU was also to finance the building of a new 200-bed hospital in Gaza City, he said, apart from helping the launch of Palestinian television and radio stations. Pete Sampras moved into the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Friday with the spectre of the French Open dogging his every move just 10 days before the start of the grand slam event. The 22-year-old world number one defeated home star Andrea Gaudenzi 6-3, 7-5, in just under two hours on centre court at the Foro Italico. The opening game of the second set went to seven break points before Gaudenzi, the world number 45, finally held. "I had many opportunities," said Sampras, who admits his toughest test so far this charmed year will come on the clay at Roland Garros. In his first week of 1994 on clay, Sampras has dispatched four European specialists in a fine effort from a man who would always rather be playing on a hardcourt. "My tennis has gotten better and better as the week has gone on, I was pretty happy with the way that I played," he said. The centre court crowd were staunchly on the side of Gaudenzi, whistling down some of Sampras' better efforts against their man. "I've learned to take my time when playing a guy in this country. I knew Gaudenzi would be playing with a lot of emotion. It was good to win the first set -- that took the crowd out of the match," Sampras said. While Sampras had to fight for victory, eighth seed Boris Becker eased into the semi-finals through the back door as second-seeded German opponent Michael Stich withdrew prior to their quarter-final match with back pain. Becker will face Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic in the semi-finals. The fourth seed defeated Holland's Jacco Eltingh 7-6 (7/5), 6-3. Refugees fleeing clashes around the key Yemeni town of Al Daleh gathered at Aden's busy qat market on Friday eagerly awaiting the arrival of mountain traders with news from the front. Despite limited resources, authorities in this southern stronghold were doing their best to cope with a tide of refugees which could grow with northern and southern troops locked in a grim struggle for control of Al Daleh. Schools across the port city were being used as makeshift shelters and basic foodstuffs were being made available, as the war raged on for a second week. But the unofficial qat market has become the place for information as mountain traders bring down from Al Daleh their crops of the green leaf, which when chewed can produce a mild intoxication. Heated discussions broke out among the refugees trading stories about the war between northern units loyal to President Ali Abdallah Salah and the southern forces of Vice President Ali Salem al-Baid. "Al Daleh hasn't fallen. I've just come from there, but the bombings continue without let up," said one farmer. Others around him disagreed, but an hour later the qat from Al Daleh -- known as the best in the mountains -- had still not arrived. Al Daleh commands a strategic position in the mountains on the road to a key southern air base, making it the target of a push southwards by Saleh's troops. Tanks and multiple rocket-launchers rumbled Friday along the 35-kilometre (23-mile) road out of Aden, while airplanes screamed overhead. In the distance firing could be heard. Most of the refugees depend on qat for their livelihoods, but fled their homes carrying with them only a few possessions such as a mattress and some food as the fighting edged closer. One worker with an international aid organisation said the road to Al Daleh was still open, as northern troops had apparently not succeeded in breaking through southern defences. Northern forces said Thursday they had captured the town 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Aden. But the south said it had retaken the positions in a counter offensive. Despite the claims and counter-claims, nobody here doubted that Al Daleh and its 7,000 residents had been dealt a severe blow, amid reports that the town's hospital had been evacuated. Some 70 villagers from Al Uwaraah also arrived Thursday in Aden from Al Uwaraah, fleeing shelling. They have been temporarily housed in a school in an Aden suburb, where the first emergency was the birth of a baby boy. The mother Hamida sat on the floor of an unfurnished classroom surrounded by other women, her eyes saddened and troubled by fears for the future. Only her husband remained with the women, the other men having left to attend Friday prayers in the mosques or to search for an empty apartment to squat in, rather than the camp offer by the local governor. Supplies of vegetable oil, sugar, a sack of Indian rice and soap powder provided by the southern authorities were stacked in a corner of the schoolyard. Meanwhile, Sanaa announced that northern reinforcements had been sent to Al Daleh, close to the old border between the former North and South Yemen which were unified in May 1990. Leading European stock markets were mixed on Friday, as the London bourse lost 0.6 percent but prices rose moderately in Paris and Frankfurt. London traders said prices there had been affected by the futures market's decline and the prospect of a rise in US interest rates next week. On the last day of the trading account, the Footsie 100-share index lose 18.6 points or 0.6 percent to finish at 3,119.2, though it had opened with a slight gain of 3.7 points. Gilts gained up to 3/4 of a point. Share volume was 699 million, little changed from 701.4 million on Thursday. Among the most active issues, Unilever plummeted 57 pence to end at 1,023 pence after announcing a smaller-than-expected rise in net profit for the first quarter. Cable and Wireless was down five to 455, affected by worries about competition for its Mercury portable phone subsidiary. British Airways was off five to 391 after announcing it was maintaining flights between London and Paris-Orly despite the French government's opposition. RTZ rose 10 pence to 858 on brokers' buy recommendations, while the Telegraph Group was up nine to 620 on good quarterly results. The Paris Bourse was helped by a slight dip in long-term interest rates and the CAC 40 index gained 0.47 percent on the day to end at 2,187.00 points, after an opening rise of 0.26 percent. The indicator had been up as much as 1.36 percent during the session before easing back in late afternoon. The Bourse was closed on Thursday. One operator commented that while the Bourse had not forgotten fears of higher US interst rates, it was encouraged on Friday by good employment figures in France and satisfactory results reported by some French companies. LVMH luxury goods group gained 1.01 percent on the day, Generale des Eaux 0.38, and Michelin 1.29 percent. L'Oreal advanced 2.44 percent. The Frankfurt stock market notched up a respectable gain on Friday, though trading was narrow because of a long Ascension weekend being taken by many investors, traders said. The DAX index finished the day at 2,258.75 points, up 0.67 percent by comparison with the Wednesday close (Thursday having been a holiday). Traders said the Friday gain was partly due to the Bundesbank's surprise decision on Wednesday to lower both the discount and the Lombard rate by half a point, said one broker from Barclays de Zoete Wedd. He said the market expects further rate cuts, but that has already been taken into account in share prices. "Investors are now more intent on company results" than on German monetary policy, he said. The Friday session's star was Metallgesellschaft, which rocketed up 42 marks to end at 285 following a buy recommendation by Union Bank of Switzerland. Banks performed well, Commerzbank rising 1.50 marks to 364.50 and Dresdner Bank 3.50 to 405.50, while Deutsche Bank was unchanged at 791.50 marks. Allianz rose 52 marks to 2,697 and Daimler six to 893, but Siemens was off 0.70 to 731.80. The bond market rose, boosted by the Bundesbank move, and the average yield on government issues fell by 0.03 percent to 6.32 percent. hl German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's center-right coalition drafted a bill Friday making it a crime punishable by up to three years in prison for anyone to deny that the Holocaust took place. Members of the coalition said they would present the bill to the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, next week so that it could be voted into law later this year. Denying that the Nazis murdered millions of Jews in death camps during World War II is currently not a crime in Germany, although numerous courts have punished culprits by convicting them for inciting racial hatred or defaming the dead. But the federal court of justice, Germany's highest court, ruled in March that denying that the Holocaust existed did not amount to inciting racial hatred. The ruling sparked widespread outrage with Ignatz Bubis, a leader of the Jewish community in Germany, saying that it amounted "to a handbook on how to deny Auschwitz existed without being punished." Bubis at the time also called for the adoption of a law specifically making it a crime to deny the Holocaust. The government of former chancellor Helmut Schmidt, a Social-Democrat, attempted in the 1980s to adopt such a law but dropped the issue as neo-Nazis sympathies were not on the rise at the time. The tide has changed, however, in recent years with Germany increasingly becoming the focus of international attention because of a rise in xenophobia and racially motivated attacks on foreigners. A tobacco company patented a process to make a safer cigarette in 1966 but dropped the idea amid fears it would make its other products look bad, The New York Times said Friday. The abandoned step would have heated the tobacco instead of burning it, eliminating the process that creates most of the hazardous substances in tobacco smoke, the Times reported. The Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp., a subsidiary of the London- based British-American Tobacco PLC, tested the process in a cigarette code-named Ariel and was granted a patent in 1966 but decided to shelve the idea, the daily said, citing internal company documents. The company decided against bringing the safer cigarettes to market for fear it would reflect poorly on its other products and out of concern that smokers would find them less satisfying and therefore would not buy them, the paper said, citing the documents and interviews with the scientists working on the project. Ariel was developed in the 1960s and the company applied for a patent in 1964. The Times said the documents indicate the Ariel cigarette would have greatly reduced the cancer-causing substances in cigarette smoke and the amount of secondhand smoke produced, as well as potential fire hazards. But in 1964, company executives in various internal documents expressed fear of disclosing too much harmful information about smoking and of subsequent lawsuits, according to the daily. The company shelved its research on both the hazards of cigarettes and solutions to make them safer. The BAT laboratory in Harrogate, Britain, where most of the research was conducted, was closed. Thomas Fitzgerald, a spokesman for Brown and Williamson, told the Times: "From the description given to us, it appears you are basing your article on attorney-client privileged documents that were stolen by a former employee of a law firm that worked for Brown and Williamson. Anybody who knowingly uses stolen information is in fact contributing to an illegal act. We have no further comment." Brown and Williamson eventually marketed low tar and nicotine brands of cigarettes, among them Merit, but none were as safe as Ariel, the paper pointed out. Another cigarette company, Liggett and Myers, also developed a safer cigarette in research that began in 1955, but decided to shelve it, the daily said. Thomas Mold, retired assistant director of research at Liggett and Myers, told the Times that his group created the safer product which was ready for market by 1979, but he was told that executives, on the advice of lawyers, voted not to produce it. "We wrote up the work we had done in a paper for publication, but we were not allowed to publish it," Mold said. Islamic nations stand ready to provide peacekeeping troops to defend the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina if western UN forces are withdrawn, Pakistani ambassador Hamad Kamal said Friday. Kamal was speaking after representatives of the 51-state Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) met in urgent session in Geneva and expressed "deep concerns" at the state of peace negotiations for Bosnia. The Islamic gathering came as West European, US and Russian foreign ministers also met in the city in a fresh effort to agree a workable peace, amid threats to withdraw UN forces if no formula is found rapidly. Kamal read an OIC statement noting "the threat of certain countries to withdraw their peacekeeping contingents." France which has the biggest contingent has threatened withdrawal failing a rapid solution. The OIC statement warned against such action without analysis of its impact on the situation on the ground and the drafting in of replacement troops, "for which adequate offers already exist from several OIC member states." The Pakistani ambassador added that said while the OIC considered the lives of UN troops in Bosnia important, "we believe that the lives of the people in Bosnia-Hercegovina are even more important." Kamal also said a Malaysian major killed in Bosnia Thursday had died "in defence of the principles the OIC upholds in Bosnia." Paying tribute to the same officer, Bosnian ambassador Mohamed Sacirbey distinguished between countries which provided UN troops "mandated to defend civilians under attack" and those which "mandated soldiers to remain neutral." Sacirbey interpreted Thursday's US Senate vote calling for lifting of the arms embargo on Bosnia as a sign of concern at the "failure to provide balance to the military situation" and as a result influence the negotiations. "The Bosnians do not just have friends in the Islamic world. They have friends in the highest institutions that represent democracy in the US and the world in general," he told the OIC press conference. In its statement the OIC, which has called for the lifting of the embargo on arms supplies to Bosnia, "regretted the exclusion of OIC representatives" from the so-called "contact group" meeting on Bosnia in Geneva. The statement reaffirmed that OIC representatives should participate on an equal footing with those of other countries in the peace efforts. While maintaining their offer of active participation, it said that "continued rejection of this offer could adversely impact upon the credibility and sustainability of any solutions worked out in their absence." The OIC statement warned that a durable and just peace could not be achieved without ensuring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Hercegovina and the return of territories seized through aggression, ethnic cleansing or genocide. The priority of the United Nations in war-ravaged Rwanda is to reach a ceasefire between rebels and government soldiers before undertaking any political negotiations, Jacques-Roger Booh Booh, the UN special representative to Rwanda said here Friday. "For now, it is difficult to resume political negotiations so long as there is no ceasefire," Booh Booh said following a meeting with UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. "A ceasefire is theoretically possible but certain conditions must be fulfilled" first, he said referring to the Tutsi rebels' refusal to recognize the transitional government set up following the death of president Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, who was killed in a suspicious plane crash on April 6. Hutu killing squads embarked on a bloody rampage through Kigali after the president's death and the rebels retaliated by sweeping through northern and eastern Rwanda, seizing control of two-thirds of the small central African highland nation, and pounding army positions in the capital. Booh Booh arrived in Paris Thursday from the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Albania's last communist president Ramiz Alia is to face trial on May 21 for criminal abuse of office, the state prosecutor's office said Friday. The 67-year-old Alia, along with nine other ousted communists, will be charged with "abuse of office with criminal consequences," including the murder of Albanians fleeing the country, deportations, summary executions and embezzlement of public funds. Among others set to stand trial are former premier Adil Carcani and former interior ministers Simon Stefani and Hekuran Isai as well as ex party leaders amd former justice and police officials. If convicted they face up to 25 years behind bars. Last year Nexhmije Hoxha, the 72-year-old widow of Enver Hoxha, founder and longtime Stalinist dictator of post-war Albania, was sentnced to 11 years in prison for embazzling state funds. Philippine President Fidel Ramos is to make his first visit to Europe since taking office in 1992 with a trip to France in September to open an exhibition, a source said Friday. He is also expected to visit other European countries to promote his country in the business field, after opening the "San Diego" exhibition in Paris September 13 together with his French counterpart Francois Mitterrand. The exhibition will display the remains of the Spanish merchant ship built in the Philippines in the 16th century, together with artifacts found with the ship by a team of French archeologists. The open of the ship exhibit will be the high point of a Philippine festival which begins this month in Paris. The dollar was boosted briefly on Friday on the London foreign exchange market by US inflation figures that were lower than expected, while sterling stabilized after a recent rise and gold traded in late afternoon at 380.75 dollars an ounce against 378.5 Thursday evening. Traders said the dollar eased later in the session after the initial stimulus to stand in late afternoon at 1.6680 marks against 1.6730 a little earlier in New York, and at 104.85 yen against 105.35 in London mid-session - the latter representing its highest level against the Japanese currency since early April. The greenback was helped in the morning by the announcement in Tokyo of a resumption of US-Japanese trade negotiations in Washington next week. Midland Global Markets analyst Alison Cottrell said the dollar "firmed after publication of the American data, then fell back, then rose again following the bond market before once more weakening late in the day". Despite the slight 0.1 percent monthly rise in US retail prices in April, operators still expect a rise in US interest rates next week, the analyst said. The Greek drachma remained under pressure before full liberation in six weeks of the EU capital market, and the Bank of Greek had to intervene massively to prop up the currency, Athens forex dealers said. It closed in London at 148.32 to the mark after finishing a little earlier in Athens at 147.70. Due to the Ascension holiday and its extension, other European currencies traded within narrow ranges. The Irish punt was stable at 0.4095 to a mark after a quarter-point cut in the Irish short-term interest rate, to 6.25 percent. The mark firmed to 3.4315 French francs against 3.4292 Thursday evening. The dollar was trading in late afternoon at 1.6680 marks (against 1.6675 Thursday evening), 104.85 yen (104.20), 1.4260 Swiss francs (1.4262), and 5.7162 French francs (5.7188). Sterling stood at 1.4990 dollars (1.4995), 2.5003 marks (2.5004), 157.17 yen (156.25), 2.1376 Swiss francs (2.1386), and 8.5687 French francs (8.5753). The three-month Eurodollar was unchanged at 4.75 percent, and the British three-month interbank rate at 5.1875 percent. Copper soared during the week to reach its highest point for 13 months, lifting above the 2,100-dollar-per-tonne level on expected increased demand in Europe and the US, and significantly lower stocks. But other metals on the London Metals Exchange (LME) moved little, except nickel, which rose strongly after Inco unions voted to allow a strike, if necessary, at the firm's Sudbury plant in Ontario, Canada. The precious metals were generally higher, along with Brent crude North Sea oil which remained above 16 dollars per barrel. The price of coffee continued to climb, breaking through the key 1,900 -dollars-per-barrel level despite some profit taking later. Cocoa was also in better health, lifting to its highest level since the end of March. White sugar lifted as news of mass imports by India hit the market. Wool reached its highest level since December 1992, after a cut in Australian production and on stronger demand. higher but irregular. Gold lifted above last week's prices, but fluctuated around 380 dollars per ounce during the week. Trading was generally calm as several markets were closed for the Ascension holiday. A strike by 9,500 miners in the Kloof mine in South Africa had little impact, although the company was said to have lost 5.7 million dollars in the space of a week. The annual report by Golf Fields Mineral Services predicted that the world gold market would remain active this year on a predicted rise in industrial demand and a pick-up in interest by investors. SILVER: higher. Prices lifted after last week's weakness, reaching 5.46 dollars per ounce, as investment funds showed renewed interest. The metal gained after the Silver Institute, made up of producers and consumers, reported the annual production deficit would reach 248.4 million ounces this year -- a deficit for the fourth consecutive year. Stocks were consequently predicted to drop to 620 million ounces compared with 1.1 billion ounces in 1990. PLATINUM: higher. Prices lifted after their low level last week, fluctuating between 393 and 397 dollars per ounce. The market was firmer after the nomination of Nelson Mandela as the first black prime minister went off peacefully in South Africa -- the world's premier producer. Speculators, who had deserted the market on uncertainties surrounding the first multi-racial general election in South Africa, appeared to regain confidence and invest in the metal. A Colombian drug boss was ordered released by a judge Friday after serving two years of a 17 year sentence for drug trafficking and illegal enrichment. After his arrest April 27, 1992, Ivan Urdinola negotiated a reduction in sentence to four and half years by confessing voluntarily to the charges and turning over part of his assets. But a judge, whose identity is secret, decided to further reduce his sentence to 24 months, which would make Urdinola eligble for immediate release. The Attorney General's office, seeking to prevent his leaving the country, recently asked US authorities for evidence against Urdinola on heroine trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, illegal enrichment and other charges. America claims Urdinola is one of the leaders of the Valle cocaine cartel. The Attorney General's office was holding Urdinola under a special order, but the Procurator General's office ordered it revoked May 2 for lack of evidence against him in several murder cases in the province of El Valle, in western Colombia. The newspaper El Tiempo on Friday said the judge who reduced Urdinola's sentenced used a controversial proceedure in effect giving him the maximum benefits allowed for under two separate laws. One law modified and supplanted a law already on the books, but the judge applied only those aspects of both laws that favored Urdinola, a procedure that some jurists say is illegal. soaring. Copper jumped a massive 192 dollars during the week, lifting to its highest point for 13 months at 2,119 dollars per tonne at the close on Thursday. It continued to rise Friday on encouraging stocks figures. Dealers said the prospects of increased demand in Europe and the US, combined with significantly lower stocks, were pushing the metal up significantly. "There is a lot of short covering in the market," said analyst William Adams from Rudolf Wolff, adding that there were supply problems in central Africa. Other dealers said the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), formerly the Soviet Union, was exporting less then predicted. "Copper's rise is not particularly speculative," said Adams, adding that many merchants had sold forward and with problems in supply were obliged to buy on the market to fulfill their contracts. Adams predicted the metal would continue to rise and could breakthrough the 2,130 dollars per tonne level in the short term, with the possibility of rising to 2,175 and 2,200 dollars per tonne soon. The magazine Metal Bulletin said the substantial arbitrage between Comex in New York and the London markets was still wooing red metal across the Atlantic, and was subsequently forcing up premiums in Europe, where -- particularly in Germany and France -- demand is starting to take off again. On Friday, the red metal broke through its highest point since early July 1993, when records on the LME changed to measuring in dollars per tonne instead of pounds per tonne. Elsewhere, the market's perception of underlying tightness in the physical copper market appeared to be borne out by confirmation by Italian semi-fabricator Metalrame that its output of copper rod was down by 3,000 tonnes so far this year due to problems sourcing refined copper feed. Weekly stocks on the LME fell a staggering 31,725 tonnes to 424,700 tonnes. LEAD: slightly lower. Lead moved little throughout the week, sinking around five dollars from the previous Friday close at 484.5 dollars per tonne. The Economist Intelligence Unit said the lead market was generally better oriented in 1994, compared to previous years with a rise in consumption and a deficit of production of around 160,000 tonnes. Weekly stocks on the LME rose 2,725 tonnes to a record 345,725 tonnes. slightly lower. Zinc fell around the same levels as lead, dipping five dollars during the week from the previous Friday close of 977 dollars per tonne. Traders at GNI said current prices were at the top of their expectations and predicted zinc could fall further in the short term. Weekly zinc stocks on the LME rose 8,590 tonnes to a record 1,157,350 tonnes. stable. Aluminium dropped around three dollars during the week from the previous Friday close of 1,332 dollars per tonne. Aluminium moved little during the week, largely on lack of news and as the record rise of copper scooped dealers attention. The US Aluminium Industry repored a 14 percent fall in US primary aluminium output in April to 269,450 tonnes from 313.250 tonnes a year ago. On an annualised basis this is an output cut of 525,600 tonnes. It was also reported that Alcan had taken delivery of the first Aluminium Intensive Vehicle AIV, jointly developed by the firm and Ford for consumer testing. The vehicle is said to be identical to the normal steelbodied Sable, but weighs 400 lbs less as a result of the extensive use of aluminium in the structure and exterior panels. Stocks on the LME rose a further 17,625 tonnes to a record 2,646,675 tonnes. NICKEL: sharply higher. Nickel soared higher to a three month high since February 24, lifting 165 dollars over the week to the Thursday close of 5,940 dollars per tonne. During the day on Thursday, the metal soared a massive 115 dollars on expectations that workers at Canadian producer Inco's Sudbury, Ontario division, would vote later to give their union a strike mandate in current labour labour talks. This mandate was granted late Thursday, local time in Canada, with a total of 93.5 percent of voting members in favour of authorising the union to take strike action if it is deemed necessary. The current labor contract at Sudbury is set to expire at the end of this month. The market believes Inco has only enough stocks to continue nickel deliveries for three weeks in the event of industrial action. The Sudbury divison produces an average of approximately 20 million pounds of refined nickel per month. It is producing less this month because one of the division's two flash furnaces broke down last Friday, also lifting prices. The company then said it would replace the furnace within a week, and that the incident would not have any significant impact on its 1994 production targets. Weekly stocks on the LME fell 432 tonnes to 132,516 tonnes. TIN: lower. Tin fell around 60 dollars during the week, from the previous Friday close of 5,505 dollars per tonne. The member nations of the Association of Tin Producing Countries (ATPC) exported a total of 14,258 tonnes of tin from January to March -- a volume 26.9 percent below the permitted export tonnage, the association said. A Bolivian delegate to the ATPC told a meeting of the association that global tin stocks were "slightly high" but should "fall slightly" later this year. The ATPC, which groups the world's major tin producers, is limiting supply in a bid to trim global stocks. In 1993, the ATPC said member nations exported 72,469 tonnes of tin, below the agreed limit of 89,000 tonnes. In ATPC produced 73,268 tonnes of tin in 1993, below the agreed limit of 92,387 tonnes. China's (new) membership in the association should cause stocks to drop as that nation "will now effectively comply with the quota put by the ATPC," said Gonzalo Alvarez. Elsewhere, the Malyan Mining Employers Association, which groups Malaysia's main tin mining and smelting companies, said it was considering disbanding because of the dramatic decline in the country's tin industry. Weekly stocks on the LME rose 945 tonnes to a record 27,905 tonnes. higher. After a mixed beginning, prices lifted sharply on Thursday to around 995 pounds per tonne at the close -- their highest level since the end of March. Dealers said the return of investment funds into the market boosted prices, which had fallen over the past few weeks on temporary lack of interest. Lawrence Eagle, analyst at GNI trade house, said the cocoa market appeared fundamentally strong. The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) said it predicted a production deficit of 95,000 tonnes for 1993-1994 (October-September). Eagle said that after coffee and copper, cocoa would be the next market to see sharp rises. Elsewhere, Indonesia, which is one of the key world producers, rejected invitations from ICCO to rejoin the organisation. The question will be examined again in June at the next meeting of the ICCO. COFFEE: sharp rises then technical fall. The price of robusta lifted above 1,900 dollars per tonne on Tuesday, its highest level for five years. The extremely high prices for delivery in May and June were due to a severe restriction in the supply of robusta and the short-term availability of Colombian coffee. Large-scale buying by investment funds on the London and New York markets magnified the swift rise in prices, dealers said. From Wednesday onwards, prices began to fall as speculators took profits, but then rose again on Friday. Investors' confidence was not dented by the fact that the Association of Coffee Producing Countries (APPC) could henceforth sell some 50 percent of their stocks accumulated in the agreed export retention plan. The calculated index which fixes the level of retention has lifted above a certain level and exporters can sell around 2 million sacks (each of 60 kilogrammes). Brazilian exporters immediately announced the sale, from Wednesday, of 118,700 of the 650,000 sacks of coffee stocked since October 1, 1993 in the retention plan. sharply higher. The price of white sugar jumped above 320 dollars per tonne after India announced it would import at least 500,000 tonnes of sugar to cover its production deficit. India is the world's premier producer and consumer. The Indian government said that 112,000 tonnes of sugar should be delivered to Indian refinaries between now and mid-May to stop prices internal prices rises as the shortage hits the market. Elsewhere, the world production was an estimated four percent higher at 116.3 million tonnes in 1994/95 (September-August) from 112.2 million tonnes in the previous season. South African production, which has suffered from drought, is expected to fall to 1.6 million tonnes in 1994/95 (April-March), leaving only 200,000 tonnes for export. VEGETABLE OILS: higher. The falls during the previous week were only temporary and the majority of vegetable oils lifted higher on the Rotterdam market in subdued trading due to the Ascension holiday. Soya prices lifted, while the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicted a 16.11 percent rise in US production in 1994-1995 (October- September) after a fall in 1993-1994 harvests on account of bad weather. The price of palm oil continued to lift on strong demand, as did sunflower and rapeseed oil. The journal Oil World predicted a 7.6 percent rise to 238.62 million tonnes next year in the harvest of the seeds and fruits needed to make the 10 main vegetable oils. Demand was also estimated to reach 235.87 million tonnes while stocks should end the season at 27.60 million tonnes from 24.85 at the end of the current season. steady, then higher. After breaking through the 16-dollars-per-barrel level last week for the first time since November 1993, the price of Brent crude North Sea flucutated in technical trading before rising towards the end of the week. Figures from the American Petroleum Instutite (API) pushed prices slightly lower during the week, as they showed US stocks had lifted 4.72 million barrels last week compared with the previous week, while domestic fuel and gas-oil had lifted 1.39 million barrels. A rise in US reserves on the NYMEX on Thursday, however, lifted prices again above the 16-dollars-per-tonne mark. Civil war in Yemen, which was responsible for price rises two weeks ago, continued to fuel fears of a cut in production from the country which produces 350,000 barrels per day. RUBBER: higher. Prices continued to rise, reaching 720 pounds per tonne on a cut in world production and a rise in demand. The International Rubber Study Group said the surplus in production would only be around 10,000 tonnes in 1993, compared with 120,000 tonnes the previous year. World produciton is estimated to be around 5.43 million tonnes in 1993, compared to 5.6 million tonnes in 1992, while consumption is expected to be 5.42 million tonnes from 5.48 million tonnes. The production of the world's three premier producers, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, has dropped respectively 1.5 million tonnes, 1.353 million tonnes and 1.074 million tonnes. lower. The price of wheat fell steadily lower, dropping over four dollars to finish the week at around 113 pounds per tonne after the US refused to sell Russia 400,000 tonnes of subsidised wheat. Prices were also lower on expectations of a strong US winter wheat harvest. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicted a 9.34 percent cut in wheat production from the former Soviet Union to 76.3 million tonnes in 1994-1995. Imports were estimated to fall to 13.5 million tonnes from 14.02 million tonnes in 1993-1994. The price of barley remained stable at around 109 pounds per tonne, although European markets were calm on account of the Ascension holiday. TEA: stable. The average auction price of tea remained stable at around 127 pence per kilo, although demand was described as reasonably good. The price of high quality tea from Africa rose on the continued civil conflict in Rwanda, leading dealers to fear the worst for production from the country. The auction price for African medium quality tea dipped four pence to eight pence. Teas from Celon followed the same trend. COTTON: slightly lower. Prices suffered from a lack of activity and slipped through the barrier at 0.86 dollars per pound, as the Ascension holiday weighed on the market. Austria and Switzerland were the main buyers during the week, while cotton from central Asia was the most in demand. WOOL: higher. The reference price of Australian wool on the Bradford market was higher, reaching above 4.22 pounds per kilo, on firm demand and a cut in Australian production. Recent statistics show that exports from New Zealand, which is the world's second producer after Australia, lifted above production during the first nine months in the 1993-1994 season (July-June), resulting in a cut in stocks. Production rose 13 percent, while exports lifted 21 percent, totalling 760 million dollars for the period. New Zealand wool stocks, created after a slump in prices in 1991, should be used up by the end of the next season, analysts said. West European, Russian and US foreign ministers held extensive talks in Geneva on Friday in a fresh effort to agree a workable peace plan for Bosnia-Hercegovina and end the war in the former Yugoslav republic. US Secretary of State Warren Christopher met with British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd, French Foreign Minister Alan Juppe, German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel and the Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev, as well as their Belgian and Greek counterparts and a European Union representative. The talks, originally expected to last some four hours, continued into Friday evening. After two years of destruction and division leaving tens of thousands of people dead, wounded or displaced, frustration at the failure of previous peace proposals marked the run-up to this high-level encounter. France and its west European partners were set on wresting agreement on a ceasefire and political settlement formula. Juppe, whose country has furnished the largest contingent for United Nations forces in Bosnia, has warned that the UN forces will not weather another winter there without such a plan. But the administration of US President Bill Clinton has been reluctant to see an existing European settlement plan imposed on the Moslem-led government in Sarajevo. The US Senate also narrowly voted Thursday to unilaterally lift the arms embargo on Bosnia, in a move to bolster the Moslem forces against the Belgrade-backed Serb forces who have carved out their own "ethnically-cleansed" territory in the republic. The lower Russian house of parliament for its part voted Friday to no longer adhere to the UN sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia of Serbia and its tiny Montenegrin ally. Friday's Duma resolution stipulated that in the event of a "unilateral lifting by a state of the embargo on arms deliveries to Bosnia," Russia would have to respond with "adequate measures that could go as far as raising the question of a unilateral exit from the sanctions regime." Neither vote can take immediate or binding effect. Observers regarded them rather as straws in the wind expressing exasperation over the Bosnian conflict and underlining the growing pressure to come up with a solution. The Geneva meeting was expected to issue a declaration calling for a new ceasefire and reaffirming the desired principles of a political settlement. But there have been continuing problems over the division of territory to be apportioned to the warring parties. An existing European plan gives 51 percent of Bosnia-Hercegovina to the Croats and Moslems, and 49 percent for the Serbs, who through their war-gains currently control about 70 percent. The Bosnian Croats and Moslems, who under US auspices have separately reached agreement to set up a federation within the former Yugoslav republic, have demanded 58 percent for this federation. Bosnia's vice-president Ejup Ganic and Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic were scheduled to finalise the federation plan in Geneva Saturday with Christopher and Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic. The whole Bosnian question is also expected to come up again at a meeting in Brussels Monday of EU foreign ministers. Earlier, Pakistani ambassador Hamad Kamal said here that Islamic nations stood ready to provide peacekeeping troops to defend the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina if western UN forces were withdrawn. He spoke after representatives of the 51-state Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) met in urgent session in Geneva and expressed "deep concerns" at the state of peace negotiations for Bosnia. The OIC noted threats by some countries to withdraw their forces but warned against such action without analysis of its impact on the situation on the ground and the drafting in of replacement troops, "for which adequate offers already exist from several OIC member states." Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin has refused ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky's request that his Liberal Democratic Party be part of the cabinet, Interfax reported Friday. The agency, citing a well-informed government source, said Chernomyrdin held a 20-minute meeting Thursday with Zhirinovsky, who suggested his party be given the defense and interior portfolios, or the justice portfolio which includes the post of prosecutor general, or the ministries of economy and privatisation. Chernomyrdin reportedly rejected Zhirinovsky's "demands" telling him the cabinet was not set up on the basis of political representation but rather on the basis of "professional ability," Interfax said. The Italian cabinet Friday chose 37 undersecretaries of state, 12 of them neo-fascists. The previous governmment had 39 undersecretaries of state. The list means that the neo-fascist National Alliance has either a minister or an undersecretary in each ministry. Thirteen of the new posts went to members of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, 10 to the federalist Northern League and two to the Democratic-Christian Centre. Members of the UN Security Council intensified discussions Friday on plans to send 5,500 soldiers to Rwanda as part of a UN humanitarian mission, diplomats said. The rotating president of the council, Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria, said a resolution could be approved later in the day. The proposed reinforcement of the UN Mission to aid Rwanda, which was reduced to only 270 members last month, followed recommendations by UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. He sought a review of the UN mandate to respond to the humantiarian emergency in Rwanda, which has been plunged into chaos by bloody ethnic fighting that erupted following the death of Rwanda's president Juvenal Habyarimana April 6 in a suspicious plane crash. A working group composed of several Security Council members met Friday morning to draft a resolution which was to be considered in consultations with the full council several hours later. Several points of the draft must still be discussed, notably a reference to the notion of "genocide" in Rwanda and possible international trials of people accused of atrocities, diplomats said. Another point was the possibility that the UN peacekeepers could resort to force to protect civilians in so-called humanitarian securty zones, they said. The Security Council also was expected to impose an arms embargo on Rwanda, where an estimated 200,000 people have been killed in the fighting. Earlier on Friday in Paris, Jacques-Roger Booh Booh, the UN special representative to Rwanda said the UN priority was to reach a ceasefire between rebels and government soldiers before undertaking any political negotiations. "For now, it is difficult to resume political negotiations so long as there is no ceasefire," Booh Booh said following a meeting with UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. "A ceasefire is theoretically possible but certain conditions must be fulfilled" first, he said referring to the Tutsi rebels' refusal to recognize the transitional government set up following the death of Habyarimana. North Korea is willing to hold talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to try and narrow differences between the two on the replacement of fuel rods at a controversial nuclear plant, the IAEA announced Friday. The agency said that the date and location of the "working-level discussions" had not been decided. The North Korean decision was in response to an invitation by the IAEA. Meanwhile a team of IAEA inspectors are to head to North Korea this weekend to inspect various nuclear facilities there, IAEA spokesman David Kyd said earlier. The inspectors will visit the nuclear plant at Yongbyon, but will not be allowed access to the plant's five megawatt reactor, which the United States suspects is being used to produce nuclear weapons. In March an IAEA team was denied access to the same reactor, from which it hoped to collect spent fuel rod samples to determine whether any were being diverted for military purposes. Kyd said that the upcoming trip would last eight days although it could be extended if necessary. He said that although the inspectors would not be allowed to accomplish their full mission "they will be able to do most of their work, which is satisfactory for us." Kantor (INSERTS background) WASHINGTON, May 13 (AFP) - US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor said he had agreed Friday with Japanese Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa on the need for preliminary contacts to resume bilateral trade talks. The so-called framework agreement negotiations collapsed last February because of a dispute over how to measure progress in opening Japan's market and reducing its 60-billion-dollar trade surplus with the United States. In Tokyo, officials said Kakizawa had agreed to resume the stalled framework talks, but Kantor's statement spoke only of preliminary contacts. "Ambassador Kantor agreed with the suggestion of Foreign Minister Kakizawa on the need for preliminary contact between both sides to explore the basis for resumption of the framework talks," the statement said. "They both shared the hope that a basis will emerge for the resumption of the framework talks before the July G7 meeting in Naples," it said. Kakizawa called Kantor and they discussed the issue for 30 minutes, the statement said. The trade talks were suspended in February after Japan refused to accept the principle of numerical targets to measure progress in opening its market to foreign goods and services. On Wednesday, Kantor said the United States was receptive to resuming the talks, but that the first move was up to Japan. A spokesman for Kantor also denied knowledge of a possible visit to Washington next week of two high-level Japanese officials -- Sozaburo Okamatsu, vice minister of international affairs at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), and Sadayuki Hayashi, deputy minister of economic affairs -- to try to end the impasse. Their visit was announced early Friday in Tokyo by Japanese Trade Minister Eijiro Hata. One problem in the bilateral trade dispute is that President Bill Clinton has had to deal with three different Japanese prime ministers in less than a year. Clinton reached a so-called framework agreement with then-Japanese prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa in July under which Washington was to take steps to control its economy, notably by reducing its budget deficit. In return Japan would take steps to open its markets in four key areas: automobiles and auto parts, medical equipment, insurance and telecommunications. The July 1993 accord gave the two sides six months to work out key details, notably how they were to measure progress in opening Japan's markets. By the time the six months was up in February, Miyazawa had fallen, to be replaced by the pro-reform Morihiro Hosokawa. But the new Japanese administration refused to accept the US call for numerical targets to measure progress, saying this smacked of managed trade and quotas. Hosokawa resigned on April 8 and was replaced by Tsutomu Hata in late April. Washington meanwhile has held firm to its insistence that the "objective criteria" enshrined in the original framework accord meant concrete measures of progress, and that had to include numbers in some form. Kantor said Tuesday that while problems remained over the framework agreement, there had been "great strides" in other areas of the trade relationship with Japan in recent months. He cited Japan's agreement to accept imported rice, an accord giving US company Motorola better access to the Japanese cellular telephone market and an agreement on copper. Since the breakdown of the trade talks the United States has re- instituted Super 301, a trade law allowing it to impose unilateral sanctions on countries it considers guilty of unfair trade practices. Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa on Friday hailed the "historic step toward a new Middle East peace" born of recent Israeli- Palestinian accords. "It's a solid track, a one-way track, and I don't think there can be a going back on what was achieved," he told the Royal Institute of International Affairs before leaving for a meeting with US counterpart Warren Christopher in Geneva. Moussa said he was optimistic that "Arab-Israeli peace seems to be attainable," that there was "a possibility to reach a settlement that would give both Arabs and Israelis a sense of security." The future of the Middle East would be determined, he said, by four factors: Israel's withdrawal from territory it occupied after the 1967 war, guarantees of security for all sides, normalized relations between Israel and Arab nations, and political rights for the Palestinians. "If we can really achieve that, then the prospects for the Middle East are there," he said. "The Israelis have started to feel cohabitation is possible. On the Arab side, Israel is no longer the enemy." The Israeli-Palestinian accords on Gaza and Jericho were only "a first step," said Moussa. "The second would be autonomy in the totality of the West Bank." He cautioned against over-optimism, and "exaggeration in the demands of this or that side. "Security must be for both sides," he said. "They have to prove they are able to live together side by side as neighbors." Britain must play its full part in Europe and adopt free market policies or fall behind the United States, Japan and China in the 21st century, Prime Minister John Major said Friday. He told a Conservative Party meeting here the issue of Europe ran deep in British politics and "raised concerns and fears that are too often played on too readily." "For too long Europe has been the poison in the well of British politics," said Major, adding that too many people had presented the debate in fundamentalist terms, "a little Eurosceptic or a little Europhile. "This approach misses the real debate," he said. "The real debate must be about how we can make Europe a success, how to make sure it raises enthusiasm, not resentment, how to make sure it raises the quality of our life and is not seen as threatening the nature of our life. "Europe is absolutely fundamental to this country's national interest," said Major. "We cannot turn our backs on that. It would be the ultimate abdication, a supreme folly." He offered a vision of a wider, more open, "people's Europe," that would tackle the concerns of ordinary people and did not seek to interfere where it was not needed. Major, who had recast his speech to remove political aspects in the wake of the sudden death Thursday of opposition Labour Party leader John Smith, renewed his tribute to Smith. "We can weep for a good man - even an opponent - because we recognise his qualities," he said. Despite "artificial confrontations" twice a week in the Commons question time with the Labour leader, Major said, he liked Smith. Their often bitter political confrontations, he said, concealed "friendship, decency, respect and understanding that existed behind the scenes in politics." Steffi Graf stumbled into the semi-finals of the German Open on Friday, dropping a set to Julie Halard, but returning after a rain break to win 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. It was a miserable performance from the top seed, who mixed flashes of brilliance with masses of unforced errors. Typical of her erratic play, she dropped the 2nd set with a double fault. Although unable to find any consistency, Graf took the first set after breaking to lead 5-4, hitting a fine backhand down the line on set point. But France's Halard refused to be disheartened, and claimed the second set 6-4, before Graf clinched a close match in the final set on a Halard netted service return. Graf said afterwards: "She played incredibly well. She just went for shots that were unbelievable, so I tried to hang in there. She took so many risks and everything she hit, she hit very well, especially her forehand." Anke Huber abruptly ended the run of Russia's Elena Makarova in the quarter-finals, winning 6-0, 6-1 in just under an hour. It was one of the German's finest performances for some time, and she pressured her opponent form beginning to end. Makarova said afterwards: "I was really tired and couldn't keep my concentration, and she was playing so fast. If I put the ball short, she hit it so hard." Chinese dissident Chen Ziming, one of the leading figures during the 1989 pro-democracy movement, was released from prison Friday to receive medical treatment, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Chen, a 40-year-old economist and publisher of the reformist Economic Weekly, was sentenced to 13 years in jail in February 1991 for "conspiring to subvert the government and "counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement." Chen's release follows that of five Christians from re-education camps, as well as the release of two other dissidents on Thursday, in what appears to be moves to persuade US President Bill Clinton to extend China's most-favored-nation trade status. Chen "has been released on bail for medical treatment today with the permission of the Chinese judicial authorities," Xinhua said, monitored here. The sentence handed down on Chen was one of the heaviest for any leader of the 1989 movement which culminated in the Tiananmen Square massacre of June 4. Chen, who came from the eastern province of Zhejiang, was director of the private Beijing Social-Economic Research Institute as well as a contributor to the Economic Weekly. During his period of detention in Qincheng prison, Chen had secretly written a book on the history of China since the launching of reforms by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978. The manuscript was smuggled out of the prison and published in Hong Kong. Chen was eighth on the "most-wanted criminals" list issued by the public security ministry in 1989. The six poeple who headed the list either managed to flee China or were allowed to leave by the authorities, such as astrophysicist Fang Lizhi and his wife Li Shuxian. Emerson Fittipaldi wants Formula One to adopt some Indy car safety measures so his friend Ayrton Senna will not have died in vain. In the wake of three tragic Formula One crashes, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion from Brazil considers himself safer here at top speeds of 245 mph (392 km/h) than on much slower Formula One courses. "The Formula One (safety) rules are not as good as Indy car," Fittipaldi said. "Our chassis is higher and gives much better protection to the driver's head. In F1, the driver's shoulders are just sticking out. The helmet is the only protection. There's not enough material on the side if you're hit there." Fittipaldi, the 1972 and 1974 F1 world driving champion, also wants stronger car bodies. He hopes future drivers might survive crashes similar to those which killed Senna and Austria's Roland Ratzenberger and Thursday's mishap that left Austria's Karl Wendlinger in a deep coma. "In F1, they need to increase the minimum weight of the cars, which (at 1,350 pounds) is 250 pounds less than Indy cars. They really look fragile," Fittipaldi said. "That's the main problem in my opinion." Wendlinger's crash brought concern from drivers practicing for Saturday's pole qualifying for the May 29 Indy race. Contenders on the 2.5-mile (4km) oval average more than 227 mph (363 km/h), but have greater aerodynamics for better handling at top speed. "I really don't want to believe it has happened," said Nigel Mansell, the 1992 F1 champion. "The situation is dire, not just for Formula One but motorsports." Mario Andretti, the 1978 F1 champion, wants track safety studied as well as greater cockpit protection. "We should learn something from these tragic accidents," Andretti said. "When it comes to safety, measures should be redundant. What would it cost for an extra wall of tires? The other thing is F1 cockpits are much more naked. The driver's whole neck is exposed. Padding would help with side impact." "Either of these things might have saved Senna and Ratzenberger," he said. Fittipaldi stressed that drivers and race organizers must work together to correct the problems. "They should sit down around the same table and everyone should give input on the future of racing. That would be constructive," said Fittipaldi, who called the week of Senna's funeral one of the toughest in his career. Scotland's Derrick Walker, an Indy-car team owner and manager, pointed out that Indy's safety measures came after past tragedies. "This place has had some crashes and learned from them," Walker said. "All groups must pick their safety level and look ahead so we don't lose our top racers, so we don't have the tragedies you see over there now." The foreign ministers of Russia, the United States and five western European countries ended a meeting on Bosnia-Hercegovina Friday with a call for a ceasefire, and negotiations between the warring parties in two weeks, a French diplomatic source reported. He said the ministers had called for the ceasefire to be "unconditional." A communique due to be published later in the evening would reiterate the ministers' support for a European Union proposal to divide the former Yugoslav republic on the basis of 51 percent for Moslems and Croats and 49 percent for Serbs, the source said. Stocks were firm on the Frankfurt exchange this week, strengthened by positive first quarter results from a number of companies and a lowering of key interest rates on Wednesday. The DAX index of 30 leading stocks closed Friday at 2,258.75 points, up 0.97 percent for the week after a O.38 percent dip on Monday which echoed losses on Wall Street. Commerzbank said turbulence on the bond market was not affecting stock prices, and this proved investors were taking more account of economic conditions and company forecasts. The bank is predicting an average increase of 25 percent in net profits next year despite a new solidarity tax to help cover the cost of reunification which is due to come into effect in 1995. Among major companies, Degussa posted a rise of 25.50 German marks to 540.50 marks, and Deutsche Bank rose 5.70 marks to 364.50 marks. Volkswagen gained 5.50 marks to 528.50, and BMW rose 10.50 to 939 marks. Metallgesellschaft bounded up 61 marks after a buy recommendation Friday by Swiss banks. The yield on the 10-year six percent bond was at 6.44 percent Friday compared with 6.61 percent a week previously. England's Philip Don is replacing Holland's threatened referee John Blankenstein for the European Champions Cup final between AC Milan and Barcelona on May 18, UEFA said Friday. Blankenstein has received death threats from Italy, as Barcelona coach Johan Cruyff and defender Ronald Koeman are also from Holland. European football's governing body UEFA said in a statement it: "Had received recently a number of serious death threats from Italy." The statement further said they were acting for reasons of security and the decision in no way questioned Blankenstein's refereeing ability. Vice-President of Barcelona, Jose Mussons, said: "This is not the first time it has happened and, if it removes suspicion, so much the better." The foreign ministers of Russia, the United States and five western European countries ended a meeting on Bosnia-Hercegovina Friday with a call for a ceasefire, and negotiations between the warring parties in two weeks, a French diplomatic source reported. He said the ministers had called for the ceasefire to be "unconditional." A communique due to be published later in the evening would express the ministers' support for a European Union proposal to divide the former Yugoslav republic on the basis of 51 percent for a federation of Moslems and Croats, and 49 percent for Serbs, the source said. The ministers from the United States, Russia, Germany, Britain, France, Belgium and Greece also proposed a phased suspension of UN sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) if a peace agreement was reached and accompanied by a withdrawal of forces to agreed lines, the source added. A group of Norwegian tourists were held up and robbed at gunpoint here Friday only minutes after their plane touched down, said police. The five Norwegians were onboard a hotel shuttle bus when one of two young men who had joined them, pulled out a gun and demanded cash and jewelery. Police say one tourist was hit and injured during the raid. The two men fled after ordering the driver to pull-off the expressway and stop. Rwandan rebels said Friday that they have taken control half of the country after five weeks of heavy fighting with government forces during which tens of thousands of people have died. Fighters of the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) said in a radio broadcast monitored here by the BBC that the districts of Byumba, half of Ruhengeri in the north, Kibungu in the east and a large part of the capital, Kigali had fallen to rebel forces. "In short, the RPF largely controls more than half of Rwandan territory," the rebel Radio Muhabura said. RPF guerrillas on Friday captured Gako, a camp previously occupied by government troops in the Bugesera region, about 30 kilometres (26 miles) south of Kigali, the radio added. In a separate report, the radio said RPF officials had been meeting President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire to discuss a ceasefire document signed by the interim Rwandan government. It gave no details. Rebel officials refused to endorse the proposed ceasefire because it was signed by army officers on behalf of the government, which the RPF does not recognize, the radio said. "The RPF has always rejected any talks with the illegitimate government in Rwanda but the front has always invited the Rwandese government forces for talks aimed at stopping the military hostilities between the two sides," the radio added. Rwanda plunged back into civil war pitting the RPF, drawn mainly from the Tutsi minority, against the Hutu-dominated army and pro-government militias after Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana was killed in suspicious plane crash on April 6. Hundreds of thousands of Rwandans, Tutsis and Hutus, have fled into neighbouring countries to escape the bloodbath, in what aid agencies say is one of the biggest refugees exodus they have faced. The dollar remained firmed against other major currencies in quiet trading here early Friday after the government reported an unexpectedly small rise in April consumer prices and because of a long holiday weekend in Europe. Gold, meanwhile, rose to 381.10 dollars an ounce, up 1.20 dollars from late Thursday. At about 12:55 a.m. (1655 GMT), the greenback traded at 1.6695 German marks, up from 1.6675 late Thursday. The US currency also firmed against other major European currencies, rising to 5.7256 French francs from 5.7200 late Thursday, 1.4255 Swiss francs (1.4245). Against the pound sterling it remained unmoved at 0.6669. A trader with a major European bank in New York predicted the dollar would move between 1.6710 and 1.6720 marks for the rest of the day. Traders were cautiously awaiting the Federal Reserve's next meeting of its policy-setting Open Market Committee, on Tuesday. Analysts expect the Fed will raise the federal funds rate, the interest charged on overnight interbank loans. The foreign ministers of Russia, the United States and five western European countries called Friday for a four-month ceasefire in Bosnia- Hercegovina and negotiations between the warring parties in two weeks. A communique issued at the end of their five-hour meeting called for a peace agreement based on a European Union proposal to divide the former Yugoslav republic on the basis of 51 percent for a federation of Moslems and Croats, and 49 percent for Serbs. The ministers from the United States, Russia, Germany, Britain, France, Belgium and Greece also condemned recent Serb attacks against Gorazde, a Moslem enclave in the east which the United Nations had declared a "safe area." The foreign ministers of Russia, the United States and five western European countries called Friday for a four-month ceasefire in Bosnia- Hercegovina and negotiations between the warring parties in two weeks. A communique issued at the end of their five-hour meeting called for a peace agreement based on a European Union proposal to divide the former Yugoslav republic on the basis of 51 percent for a federation of Moslems and Croats, and 49 percent for Serbs. The ministers from the United States, Russia, Germany, Britain, France, Belgium and Greece also condemned recent Serb attacks against Gorazde, a Moslem enclave in the east which the United Nations had declared a "safe area." After two years of destruction and division leaving tens of thousands of people dead, wounded or displaced, frustration at the failure of previous peace proposals marked the run-up to this high-level encounter. France and its west European partners were set on wresting agreement on a ceasefire and political settlement formula. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, whose country has furnished the largest contingent for UN forces in Bosnia, warned earlier that the UN forces would not weather another winter there without such a plan. The lower Russian house of parliament for its part voted Friday to no longer adhere to the UN sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia of Serbia and its tiny Montenegrin ally. Friday's Duma resolution stipulated that in the event of a "unilateral lifting by a state of the embargo on arms deliveries to Bosnia," Russia would have to respond with "adequate measures that could go as far as raising the question of a unilateral exit from the sanctions regime." Washington's credibility will be badly damaged if it backs down in the next three weeks in its insistence that China improve its human rights record to preserve the trade relationship, according to a report published here Friday. "US interests are dependent on Washington's credibility, and nobody can doubt that a major about face on this issue before June 1994 would damage our credibility, with negative consequences in the future," said the report from a panel of experts sent to President Bill Clinton. But in the longer term the panel, set up by the private Council on Foreign Relations and chaired by former US Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Cyrus Vance, urged Clinton to abandon the link between trade and human rights. "The goals remain important, but this particular policy tool will not after this year provide the most effective means for pursuing the objective of bringing China more into acord with generally-accepted international standards on human rights," the report said. Clinton has said he will not renew China's most favored nation (MFN) trading status beyond June 3 unless Beijing shows significant overall progress on human rights. The panel urged Clinton to "shift the initiative to the more forward- looking leaders in Beijing" in the run-up to June 3 in a bid to reach a solution. "This requires, we believe, extensive focus on quiet diplomacy and a potential promise (to Beijing) that successful compliance with human rights conditions this time will remove conditionality on MFN renewal henceforth." In the longer term, Washington must develop a balanced relationship with China in which human rights remained an important concern but where ties had been normalised so that failures in one realm would not undermine the whole relationship, added the report. It noted that China's leaders "bridle and become more obstinate when they feel they are being treated with contempt," but were more flexible if treated with respect "but also firmly and convincingly told where the line is drawn." In promoting human rights, it urged Washington to set up a bilateral human rights commission which would meet regullarly, and to work with the international community in drafting a multilateral response "when there are egregious human rights violations." "The above efforts seek to strengthen positive changes already under way in China while avoiding activities that place America on the wrong side of Chinese nationalism and of Chinese reform," the panel said. Despite broad opposition here to a military solution in Haiti, rumors of a US military intervention are growing, fueled by the defiance of the Haitian military and domestic politics. After denying a Los Angeles Times story Wednesday that Washington had decided to use force and that only the timing remained in question, the White House Friday played down the importance of military exercises in the Caribbean. According to the Boston Globe, the exercise was devised as a trial run for an invasion of Haiti. President Bill Clinton is the source of the sabre rattling, having raised the threat of military intervention several times this month in his bid to win the reinstatement of deposed president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Skeptical of the muscle-flexing by Washington, which runs contrary to Clinton's record, the Haitian military has decided to defy the United States by swearing-in a provisional president, Emile Jonassaint. In fact, all the opinion polls show that a large majority of Americans oppose military intervention in Haiti. The Congress also is in no mood for another foreign adventure. Clinton also has been apprised of the international community's opposition to the military option. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told him Thursday not to count on France taking part in such an action to oust General Raoul Cedras. UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali made the same point May 4 in a report to the general assembly calling for a political compromise that could result in a Haitian solution to the crisis. Clinton's predecessor, George Bush, made clear his opposition to the military solution. "I don't think we ought to put one single soldier on the ground in Haiti," he said in a speech Thursday in Massachusetts. The possibility that the administration will resort to force is being taken seriously by some, as evidenced by a New York Times editorial urging Clinton to "stay calm on Haiti." Thomas Carother, a specialist on Latin America and the Caribbean at the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace, considers military intervention "possible, and even likely" within six months for two reasons. The first, he told AFP, has to do with the situation in Florida, where a new wave of boat people is feared because of Clinton's recent decision to ease his policy of immediately repatriating refugees intercepted on the high seas. It is no coincidence that many of those calling for military action are members of Congress from Florida. Carothers stresses that for the White House Haiti is really a domestic problem. "Florida has become an obsession of the Clinton team. They want to win Florida in '96. It was very close in '92," he said. With 27 electoral votes, or one-tenth the number required to win the White House, Florida is the most important electoral prize after California. Clinton lost it by two percent of the vote in the past presidential elections. "The second factor is simply the sense of powerlessness and humiliation of being defeating by these people," Carothers said. "There is a general sense of frustration," he said, likening Clinton's predicament to that faced by Bush in his standoff with Panama's general Manuel Noriega. Bush ordered US troops into Panama in December 1989. "It's hard to know when a president reaches the breaking point," he said. According to Carothers, the Pentagon and the State Department oppose intervention, but the White House takes a different view. "This is the division: between the professionals and those who think in political terms," he said. In his view considerations of domestic politics will carry greater weight in the president's decision to use force than will the objections of Latin American coutries leery of a big stick approach by Washington. Ayrton Senna was killed by a piece of suspension from his Williams- Renault at the San Marino grand prix, FIA president Max Mosley said here on Friday. "We have received the results of Senna's autopsy which allows us now to say it was a piece of suspension, which pierced his helmet and gave the fatal blow," said Mosley. Brazil's three-times Formula One world champion was killed with massive head injuries after an accident on the seventh lap of the May 1 race. French Transport Minister Bernard Bosson on Friday threw down the gauntlet to British airlines planning to break the French stranglehold on flights into Paris' Orly airport next week. British Airways, Air UK and TAT airlines say they will ignore France's refusal to allow them to use the busy international airport south of Paris and will launch services between London and Orly on Monday, as permitted by a European Commission ruling. But French transport ministry sources underlined that without an accepted flight plan, no pilot can take off without violating international regulations and endangering his passengers' lives. And Bosson raised the temperature Friday saying "the resulting consequences for the passengers will be the sole responsibility of the airlines, so let's make a date for Monday. "We cannot accept that aircraft turn up like that, any old how, without a minimum number of rules," he said in this western town. "I am sure that we will find a solution and that this will take a few weeks." However, he also attempted to play down the dispute, which he dismissed as a "storm in a teacup," adding that the row had grown to "ridiculous proportions." The government had decided to open Orly-London up to British carriers but had to settle certain technical, safety and environmental concerns, including apron congestion. In a "very gentle" reminder to Britain, Bosson said, "yes, we are going to open up Orly. But we, who find ourselves in the dock, would like to see Britain make the same effort to open up Heathrow," Britain's busiest airport. The British airlines, backed by their government, are insisting they are entitled to start flights to Orly next week in line with a European Union ruling ordering France to open three domestic routes to competition: Orly-London, Orly-Toulouse and Orly-Marseilles. British Airways (BA) has said: "We have the rights and the slots, and we will be starting our first London-to-Orly flights on Monday." The British government has expressed its "full support" for the airline. In London, a Civil Aviation Authority spokesman noted that the easiest way in practice for the French to prevent BA and other airlines from serving Orly was to reject the flight plan, which every pilot has to submit an hour before takeoff. The first scheduled flight to Orly is due to leave Heathrow airport at 6:50 a.m. (0550 GMT) Monday and arrive in Paris an hour later. Foreign competition through Orly is also seen as a threat to the loss- making national carrier Air France and its domestic subsidiary Air Inter. Unions at Air Inter have called a strike for Tuesday in protest over the opening of the routes. The routes through Orly are coveted by foreign companies because all domestic French flights leave from the airport. Last year, 9.7 million passengers used the Orly-Sud international part of the terminal while 15.7 million passed through Orly-Ouest, reserved for the domestic carrier Air-Inter. French analysts believe British airlines are keen to capture the estimated half a million French passengers who use Air Inter each year to fly to Paris to catch a foreign connection. A transport ministry source said the French government was eager above all to negotiate a reciprocity agreement with Britain before opening Orly to British aircraft, as the European Commission has ordered. Air France and Air Outremer have filed applications to use Heathrow airport in London which were rejected on grounds that the airport was already too congested. Until now, all flights to London from Paris have left from Roissy- Charles de Gaulle airport, flying to four London airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City Airport. Southern leaders put forward a seven-point plan Friday to end nine days of civil war in Yemen between rival north and south forces, an official source said here. The plan proposed by the southern Yemen Socialist Party, which is headed by ousted vice president Ali Salem al-Baid, calls for an "immediate end to the war" and the creation of a government of national unity. Southern leaders put forward a seven-point plan Friday to end nine days of civil war in Yemen between rival north and south forces, an official source said here. The plan proposed by the southern Yemen Socialist Party, which is headed by ousted vice-president Ali Salem al-Baid, calls for an "immediate end to the war" and the creation of a government of national unity. The government would be charged with "wiping out the consequences of the war" and conducting an inquiry into "those responsible for the war," the source said. Baid, who was sacked last week as vice-president by the northern- dominated parliament in the capital Sanaa, has said a ceasefire would depend on the withdrawal of northern forces from the south. His northern rival, President Ali Abdallah Saleh, has said he would only accept a ceasefire if the southerners agreed to accept his government, respect the country's unity and put all armed forces under the government's control. The rival armies of former North and South Yemen have been locked in civil war since May 5, shattering four years of uneasy union between the conservative north and the Marxist south. The Footsie rose slightly during the week, despite constantly looking over its shoulder at US shares and futures prices and generally taking little heed of reassuring performances from British companies. The FT-SE 100 index of leading shares closed at 3,119.2 points on Friday, a weekly rise of 13.2 points or 0.4 percent. The index owes this slight weekly rise to a signifcant lift on Tuesday, when shares rose 1.2 percent on hopes that the Bundesbank would cut key interest rates at its bi-monthly meeting on Wednesday. Hopes of a cut in British rates were firmly squashed on Thursday after Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke and Bank of England governor Eddie George warned of the dangers of overheating the economy. In its quarterly report, the Bank of England also expressed concern about a resurfacing of inflation, particularly after British consumer credits rose by a record 516 million pounds (774 million dollars) in March, compared to analysts' expectations of 325 million pounds. Insurance companies in general gained little from better first-quarter results. Commercial Union, which almost quadrupled its pre-tax profits to 64 million pounds, dipped seven pence to 568, while General Accident fell two pence to 559 despite a 46 percent hike in pre-tax profits, and Royal Insurance inched up one pence to 261. The media group Pearson was one of the main winners during the week, soaring 41 pence to 673 after announcing a joint satellite television venture with the BBC. British Gas rose eight pence to 301.5, as the market belatedly welcomed a report by the industry watchdog Ofgas on increased competition in the gas distribution sector. SmithKline Beecham rose 12 pence to 406 after announcing it was to market a generic form of cimetidine, the main ingredient in its anti- ulcer drug Tagamet, in the US. The Royal Bank of Scotland jumped 25 pence to 432 after doubling its half-yearly pre-tax profits to 201 million pounds. But investors were not impressed by results from Unilever and Grand Metropolitan. Unilever slumped 51 pence to 1,023 while Grand Met fell 14 pence to 453 after reporting prudent provisions for its drinks brands. Finally, British Airways fell 25 pence to 391 as dealers were worried about the company's intention to complete its first flight from London to Paris' Orly airport despite opposition from the French government. Indices May 13 May 6 FT-SE......... 3,119.2 3,106 FT-Ordinary... 2,471.3 2,480.3 Gilts......... 94.48 93.69 Gold mines.... 209.6 202.6 Swedish Defense Minister Anders Bjoerck will travel to Poland on Monday to visit his Polish counterpart Piotr Kolodziejczyk and sign a cooperation agreement, the foreign ministry said Friday. The agreement involves an exchange of information of defense issues whereby the two countries will expand their cooperation within the industrial defense sector. The two ministers will also exchange views on peacekeeping and military education during the one-day visit. Bjoerck will also meet Polish President Lech Walesa and Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak. Cuban wrestler Lazaro Reinoso, an Olympic bronze medallist in 1992, defected in Miami as he traveled with the Cuban team to a meet in the United States, a Cuban exile group said Friday. The 24-year-old Reinoso apparently asked for political asylum while clearing customs at Miami International airport on Thursday night. "He said his biggest ambition was to come to the United States to be a free man and to compete as a member of the US wrestling team," said Mario Miranda, a spokesman for the Cuban American National Foundation. Miranda said two other Cuban wrestlers, Jesus Wilson and Josvani Negret, disappeared after leaving the plane. "Nobody knows where the other two went," Miranda said. "They just walked out of the airport." Two Cuban rowers, Usbiel Himely Medina and Tatiana Valdez Sarria, have arrived in Miami after coming into America through Texas earlier this week, Miranda said. He said both plan to ask for asylum. The US embassy said Friday its consular section that handles non- immigrant visas was closed until further notice. Other consular sections of the embassy will remain open, an embassy source said. No reason was given for the action, which came two days after the investiture of Emile Jonassaint as provisional president over protests by Washington and the international community. The United States has announced a ban on visas for military, members of their families and all supporters of the regime. A ban on non-commercial flights to the United States already is hitting the country's mango exporters, who are in the midst of a harvest. The US actions followed a UN Security Council resolution last Friday that imposed an immediate ban on visas for the military, ordered their overseas assets frozen and cut off non-commercial air links to Haiti. Beaten Kentucky Derby favorite Holy Bull will miss the Preakness with minor physical problems, the colt's owner-trainer Jimmy Croll said Friday. "There were a couple of things wrong," Croll said. "Nothing drastic, but the vet said it would be better to give him seven or eight extra days." Croll said there was nothing wrong with Holy Bull when he finished 12th in the Kentucky Derby last Saturday, a defeat he called "strictly a bad case of circumstances." Holy Bull was bumped at the start of the Derby and slammed again in the first turn on the muddy Churchill Downs track. Croll still plans to run Holy Bull in the one and one-half mile Belmont Stakes, the final race of the Triple Crown. bb94 Senior officials of the United Nations, the US administration and members of Congress used a Senate hearing Friday to denounce the havoc abandoned land mines are causing civilians. "Every month, at least 1,200 people, mostly innocent civilians who have nothing to do with any war or conflict, are killed or maimed for life by these tiny, silent explosives," said Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who led the hearings. Ken Rutherford, a relief worker, recalled how he was maimed when his vehicle hit an anti-tank mine in Somalia in December. "The Land Rover lurched forward a little, and the inside filled with dust," he said. "I slowly looked at Duale (the driver), whose face was covered with dust, then down to my feet. I saw a white bone sticking out where my right foot used to be. At first, I wondered if it was Duale's bone or mine. It was mine." More than a million people, most of them civilians, have been killed or wounded by mines since 1975. An estimated 100 million of them are still planted in about 60 countries and about 1.2 million are in arsenals around the world. About 50 countries produce some 300 types of mines, and about 30 countries export them. Sadaka Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, explained that the presence of mines were hurting UN efforts to moved people displaced by war back to their homes. "Bringing people back to their countries, we have to make sure that the roads to go back are safe," she said, noting that the United Nations have stepped up their education and prevention efforts. Ogata singled out Afghanistan, where each year 4,000 people are killed and 4,000 wounded by mines. Guatemala, Somalia, Iraq, Mozambique, Cambodia are other countries that are most affected by the problem, she said. "Nobody puts money in mine clearance research," said retired general Patrick Glagden, director of the United Nation's mine clearing program. At the same time, modern mines are made of plastic and escape metal detectors. "I'm losing this war," he said. Thomas McNamara, a senior State Department official in charge of politico-military affairs, said it would be extremely difficult to ban mines, especially since they are not considered illegitimate weapons as is the case with chemical or biological weapons. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso made an impassioned plea Friday for the world to end the "unimaginable human tragedy" in Rwanda. "The world must do something to halt this violence," said Ayala Lasso, who arrived in Europe Thursday from five days in Kigali, where he met with the chiefs of the Hutu-led government army and the mostly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front. He obtained assurances from the government army that several thousand civilians held captive in the capital would be freed soon. He said he had asked the warring parties to guarantee the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, but added: "the international community must really commit itself to putting pressure on this country." Ayala Lasso said the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis had both welcomed his proposal to set up a commission to determine the causes of the massacres which have left some 200,000 dead in the tiny highland central African state, and responsibility for them. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees meanwhile said that with US planes now operating an airbridge taking aid to some 250,000 Rwandan refugees in Tanzania had intensified, and was flying in plastic sheeting for shelters. Some 2,000 refugees are continuing to cross the border each day, said spokesman Ron Redmond. In Paris, foreign ministry spokesman Richard Duque said France had asked the United Nations to ensure that UN troops in Rwanda protect refugees sheltering in the Milles Collines Hotel in Kigali, saying they had been threatened. France supported a proposal by UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros- Ghali for beefing up the UN troop strength in Rwanda, he said, and it appeared the warring parties had agreed to this. Theogene Rudasingwa, the secretary general of the Patriotic Front, meanwhile told a press conference in Johannesburg that he was "shocked" that France should refuse to support "the real democratic forces of the Rwandan opposition" rather than the government, which was behind the "massacre of the Tutsis." Play at the Byron Nelson Golf Classic was rained out again on Friday, jeopardizing chances that at least three rounds could be played by Sunday. The saturated Tournament Players Club course at Las Colinas had another inch of rain dumped on it early Friday. Officials had hoped to start play Friday afternoon, but conditions would not allow it. Tournament chairman Plack Carr said two courses, the TPC and the Cottonwood Valley course nearby, would be used on Saturday. The field of 156 will be split, and once players complete 18 holes they will change courses and play until nightfall. "Few of our players will have played 36 holes, but we believe all of them will have played 27 holes," said PGA Tour official Duke Butler. The second round was scheduled to be completed Sunday morning, with the final round later in the day. Weather could still thwart the plans. Thunderstorms were forecast for Friday night and Saturday morning. "In the event of further inclement weather, we will meet again and decide what to do," Butler said. bb94 Northern leaders rejected late Friday a southern ceasefire plan to end fighting which has opposed rival forces for the past nine days, an official spokesman told AFP. The spokesman said by telephone from the Yemeni capital Sanaa that there was "nothing new" in the seven-point plan put forward in Aden by the southern Yemen Socialist Party. Graham Gooch and David Ward were double ton kings on Friday as early- season championship pacesetters Surrey and Essex turned on the heat. The 40-year-old Essex captain, a cast-iron certainty to earn a Test recall this summer, hammered the Kent attack for 236 at Chelmsford as his side piled up 446 for three, a lead of 255. Gooch hit 28 four and three sixes in the ninth double century of his career and shared a county record opening stand of 316 with Paul Prichard, who compiled a fine 109. It kept Essex hard on the heels of leaders Surrey, for whom Ward and Graham Thrope plundered the weakened Derbyshire attack for 301 in a rampaging third wicket stand. Ward achieved the double ton for the third time in his career and was unbeaten on 216, having hit five sixes and 23 fours, out of his side's 373 for five, a lead of 165 after Surrey had bowled out the visitors for 208. Thorpe, dropped on 18, made a patient 114 with 17 fours after Derbyshire, without flu victim Devon Malcolm and with Ole Mortensen (hamstring), Dominic Cork (knee) and Phil DeFreitas (sore toe) all sidelined. England chairman of selectors Ray Ilingworth saw Leicestershire paceman David Millns take four for 62 as the home side bowled out Somesrset for 288 at Grace Road. Peter Hepworth and Ben Smith hit half centuries to help Leicestershire to 236 for four in reply. Paul Johnson, another England hopeful, staked his claim with 101 for Nottinghamshire against Durham at Trent Bridge. He shared in a fourth wicket stand of 125 with West Indies all rounder Jimmy Adams (60) but Notts wasted their good work by losing their last five wickets for just 18 runs and were all out for 278, a lead of 43. David Graveney bagged six for 80, his best figures for Durham, who knocked off the arrears in closing at 58 for one. Martin Speight rescued Sussex against Hampshire at Hove with a timely 126 - his first championship century of the season. Speight, who took 35 minutes to score his first run, struck five sixes and 16 fours from 147 balls. His second 50 came off only 28 deliveries. He and England leg-spinner Ian Salisbury (49) put on 151 for the seventh wicket after Sussex slumped to 73 for six, chasing Hampshire's 267. The home side were finally dismissed for 279 and Hampshire replied with 44 for one. Richard Stemp's left-arm spin put Yorkshire in command at Cardiff, where Glamorgan slumped 158 for eight, 32 runs short of saving the follow-on. Stemp was on the brink of a career-best, having taken five for 41 from 23 overs and needing one further wicket at a low cost tomorrow. Yorkshire had finished with a creditable 339 after Richard Blakey (87) and Darren Gough (54) led a recovery. Gloucestershire captain Courtney Walsh kept Worcestershire in the field for nearly 10 hours and then added to their misery by taking two for 25 before the close at New Road. The double dismissal of openers Tim Curtis and Philip Weston - both leg before - justified Walsh's tactics in letting his side's first innings dawdle to 390 in 152.1 overs. Worcestershire, set of 241 to avoid the follow on, struggled to 51 for two off 18 overs. Northern Yemeni leaders rejected late Friday a southern ceasefire plan to end fighting which has opposed rival forces for the past nine days, and demanded the surrender of southern chiefs. An official spokesman said by telephone from the Yemeni capital Sanaa that there was "nothing new" in the seven-point plan put forward in Aden by the southern Yemen Socialist Party (YSP). He said that "the legitimate leadership in Sanaa demands the surrender of the war criminal" ousted vice-president Ali Salem al-Baid, who heads the YSP. They also wanted the surrender of "all the others responsible for the war, so that they can be judged for war crimes." The plan put forward Friday by the YSP called for an "immediate end to the war" and the creation of a government of national unity. The government would be charged with "wiping out the consequences of the war" and conducting an inquiry into "those responsible for the war," a source said in the southern stronghold of Aden. Chinese dissident Chen Ziming, one of the leading figures during the 1989 pro-democracy movement, was released from prison Friday to receive medical treatment, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Chen's temporary release follows the Chinese government's release of five Christians from re-education camps, as well as the liberation of two other dissidents, in an apparent attempt to persuade US President Bill Clinton to extend China's most-favored-nation (MFN) trade status. Chen, a 40-year-old economist and publisher of the reformist Economic Weekly, was sentenced to 13 years in jail in February 1991 for "conspiring to subvert the government and "counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement." Chen "has been released on bail for medical treatment today with the permission of the Chinese judicial authorities," Xinhua said, in a short dispatch monitored here that provided no other details. The five Christians released Friday were identified as Chen Zhuman, Yan Peizhi, Xu Zhihe, Cui Tai and Zhang Li. They had been sentenced to re-education in Fujian province, southeastern China, Shandong in the east and Hebei in the north for having "disturbed public order and endangering public security by their religious activities," the agency said. The move came a day after Chinese authorities said they had released one dissident and allowed a second to leave for the United States. But they arrested a third, sending mixed signals to Washington some three weeks ahead of Clinton's decision on renewing China's MFN. Zhang Ruiyu, a Chinese dissident sentenced to four years' jail in 1991, was released on parole and a dissident intellectual, Yu Haocheng, was given permission to go to the United States. But in Shanghai, police arrested Yang Zhou, spokesman of the Chinese Association for Human Rights. Yang's arrest was the fifth in a month in Shanghai and confirmed observers' beliefs that the release of some dissidents would not affect the repression of others ahead of the fifth anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen massacre. The sentence handed down on Chen was one of the heaviest for any leader of the 1989 movement which culminated in the Chinese army's bloody supression of protestors in Tiananmen Square. Chen, who came from the eastern province of Zhejiang, was director of the private Beijing Social-Economic Research Institute as well as a contributor to the Economic Weekly. During his period of detention in Qincheng prison, Chen had secretly written a book on the history of China since the launching of reforms by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978. The manuscript was smuggled out of the prison and published in Hong Kong. Chen was eighth on the "most-wanted criminals" list issued by the public security ministry in 1989. The six people who headed the list either managed to flee China or were allowed to leave by the authorities, such as astrophysicist Fang Lizhi and his wife Li Shuxian. Dockworkers in Lagos have called off a strike which paralysed port activities for three days this week, the official News Agency of Nigeria reported Friday. Lagos has the two biggest ports in Nigeria. The strikers were demanding higher wages and social insurance, and to come directly under the labour ministry and not the port administration. The strike was called off Thursday after a meeting between representatives of the dockers and the Minister of Transport and Aviation, Ebenezer Babatope, who promised that government would look into their their demands, the agency said. US and North Korean officials have held a new round of informal talks on the problem of Pyongyang's nuclear program, a State Department spokesman said Friday. "Working-level officials from the State Department met with the North Korean mission to the United Nations in New York on Thursday afternoon in connection with efforts to resolve the nuclear issue," David Johnson told reporters. It was the third such meeting since February. He refused to comment on the content of the meeting. Asked if the United States was now prepared to set a date for a third round of formal US-North Korean talks, Johnson said Washington would consider this after International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors complete a visit to North Korea scheduled to begin this week. US and North Korean officials have held two rounds of formal talks since Pyongyang threatened a year ago to pull out of the nuclear non- proliferation treaty (NPT), amid fears that it was developing a nuclear weapon. The talks were aimed at persuading Pyongyang to remain in the NPT and allow resumption of international inspections of its nuclear installations. In return, the United States was to discuss improved economic relations and North Korea's security concerns. But when little progress was apparent after the second round in July, Washington said it would not hold a third round until international inspections had resumed to verify that Pyongyang was not developing a nuclear weapon, and until North Korea resumed dialogue with the South. North Korea agreed in February to the inspections, and to the dialogue, but plans for a third round of talks were called off when the inspectors reported that they had not been given full access to the sites they wanted to visit. The IAEA announced Friday that a team of IAEA inspectors is to leave for North Korea this weekend to complete the inspections it was unable to carry out earllier. It also said that North Korea was willing to hold talks with the agency to try and narrow differences between the two on the replacement of fuel rods at a controversial nuclear plant. The foreign ministers of Russia, the United States and five European countries united Friday to put the peace process in Bosnia-Hercegovina back on track, calling for a four-month ceasefire and resumption of peace negotiations within two weeks. They urged the warring parties to reach agreement on the basis of a European plan for the ethnic division of the former Yugoslav republic, providing 51 percent of the territory for a Bosnian Croat-Moslem federation and 49 percent for the Bosnian Serbs. The Belgrade-backed Serb forces currently hold some 70 percent as a result their gains in more than two years of war and ethnic cleansing following the republic's independence. In a joint declaration, the seven states plus the European Union held out the prospect of a "phased suspension" of UN-imposed sanctions against Serbia in return for "good faith" implementation of a peace settlement "that includes provisions for withdrawal to agreed territorial limits." But they firmly ruled out as unacceptable any attempt to make sanctions relief a precondition for the resumption of peace talks. Inviting the warring parties to begin negotiations within two weeks under the auspices of the so-called contact group on Bosnia, the ministers simultaneously instructed the group -- Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- to start immediately making preparations to facilitate this. (Also represented here Friday were Belgium and Greeece.) They also "took note" of moves being taken to set up a Bosnian-Croat federation within the republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina. Skirting round a recent Bosnian-Croat demand of 58 percent of the total territory for this entity, the ministers said they believed that "final arrangements for the federation must provide it with viable, realistic and reasonable territory consistent with" the Europeans' 51/49 percent formula. They further demanded that all parties permit unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid in accordance with existing agreements, and insisted on the release of detained members of humanitarian organizations. Addressing journalists after the six hours of talks, US Secretary of State Warren Christopher stressed that a Serb attempt to make resumption of peace talks conditional on a prior lifting of sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) was "entirely and absolutely unacceptable." He and European ministers stressed that they realised there remained great difficulties and obstacles to a solution, but that they were united in their purpose of reaching a negotiated political settlement. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who this week threatened that France would pull out its UN contingent -- the biggest in Bosnia -- if there was no solution in sight, issued an appeal to the warring parties, saying: "There is a chance of peace. Don't let it slip away." Southern leaders put forward a seven-point plan Friday to end nine days of civil war in Yemen between rival northern and southern forces, but the offer was swiftly rejected. An official spokesman in the northern capital Sanaa described it as "nothing new" and repeated demands for the surrender of southern leaders. The plan proposed by the southern Yemen Socialist Party (YSP), which is headed by ousted vice-president Ali Salem al-Baid, called for an "immediate end to the war" and the creation of a government of national unity. The government would be charged with "wiping out the consequences of the war" and conducting an inquiry into "those responsible for the war," an official source said. But from Sanaa a spokesman told AFP by telephone that the north demanded the surrender of the "war criminal" Baid and "all those responsible for the war, so that they can be judged for war crimes." The YSP proposed that the two armies should separate and be "withdrawn to the positions they held before the war." All prisoners, whether military or political, should be freed, arrests should be banned and there should be no torture or legal proceedings, the plan added. It called for "the protection of the lives, goods and rights of citizens, for equal compensation for all the victims of the war including military and civilians and for all Yemenis killed in the fighting to be considered martyrs." Thefts from citizens should be stopped and all stolen goods should be returned or compensated for. It also called for the rights of political parties to be recognised and for the multi-party system to be preserved, while the country's leaders should not give up on implementing a reconciliation accord signed in Amman in February. Baid, who was sacked last week as vice president by the northern- dominated parliament in Sanaa, has said a ceasefire would depend on the withdrawal of northern forces from the south. His northern rival, President Ali Abdallah Saleh, has said he would only accept a ceasefire if the southerners agreed to accept his government, respect the country's unity and put all armed forces under the government's control. The rival armies of former North and South Yemen have been locked in civil war since May 5, shattering four years of uneasy union between the conservative north and the Marxist south. A humiliating defeat that snapped a 12-game win streak has sent the Indiana Pacers a wake-up call. The Pacers set a National Basketball Association (NBA) playoff record for scoring futility in a 92-69 loss to Atlanta in game two of their quarter-final series. "This was good for us," Indiana guard Reggie Miller said. "Any time you're riding high, sometimes you need a loss like this to bring you down, give you a reality check." The best-of-seven series continues here Saturday and Sunday, with Indiana trying to keep the home-court edge they gained by splitting the first two games. "This team will bounce back," Indiana coach Larry Brown said. "It was a thumping. But we've been thumped before and bounced back." The Pacers missed 58 of 85 shots in game two. Indiana scoring leader Miller managed just 12 points, missing 11 of 13 shots. He had scored 18 in game one. "After game one, in the back of a lot of our minds, we took game two for granted," Miller said. Dutch center Rik Smits miised 11 of 15 shots and pulled down just four rebounds in game two. His poor play was especially troublesome for Brown. "I can deal with a bad night on offense, but he has to be a presence defensively and on the boards," Brown said. Smits had shut down Orlando center Shaquille O'Neal as the Pacers swept the Magic in a first-round series. "We just have to pull ourselves together and come back this weekend," Smits said. "We can't take things for granted. We have to fight harder." The Hawks were top seeded in the East playoffs but struggled before eliminating Miami in the first round. Atlanta has concentrated on shutting down Smits inside and Miller, among the most accurate NBA shooters from 3-point range and the free throw line. "Miller is a key," Atlanta's Jon Koncak said. "You have to contain him but you can't foul him and can't let him shoot 3-pointers. Smits is the X-factor." Indiana's Byron Scott, a veteran who played on NBA title teams for the Los Angeles Lakers, said the Pacers were beaten before they started game two. "We didn't act like a team that had won 12 in a row," he said. "Half the battle was coming out and playing physical. We lost before we ever got started. They reminded us we can be beaten and they aren't Orlando." Indiana guard Haywoode Workman expects a more aggressive Indiana team this weekend. "We need to come out and attack the basket, attack them on defense," he said. "We've got to play like wild people out there. The challenge is there. Everybody will step up and do what they have to. The streak is over, but the series isn't." js94bb The Church of England said Friday it had lifted its decades-old ban on investing its cash in South Africa, following the country's first non- racial elections. But the decision is unlikely to mean an immediate movement of substantial sums into South African companies, said a statement for the Church Commissioners, who deal with the Church of England's investments. "The Commissioners aren't substantial overseas investors and it is unlikely that we will start to invest in South Africa itself," the statement said, adding: "...proper research and monitoring will continue to ensure any potential investment conforms to ethical guidelines." The ban was part of an "ethical investment" policy agreed in the 1960s. Final result here on Friday in the triangular international football event won by Cameroon Greece 0 Bolivia 0 Southern leaders put forward a seven-point ceasefire plan here Friday as fighting between rival north and south Yemeni forces continued to rage outside the southern stronghold of Aden. The plan, proposed by the southern Yemen Socialist Party (YSP), called for an immediate end to the nine-day war and the creation of a national unity government. But it was swiftly rejected by northern leaders as "nothing new." They repeated demands made at the beginning of the conflict for southern leaders to surrender. A spokesman in Sanaa told AFP by telephone that the north demanded the surrender of the "war criminal" ousted vice-president Ali Salem al- Baid and "all those responsible for the war, so that they can be judged for war crimes." The YSP proposed the two armies should separate and be "withdrawn to the positions they held before the war." A source in Aden said a national unity government should be charged with "wiping out the consequences of the war" and conducting an inquiry into "those responsible for the war." But the northern spokesman said there was "no need to form a national unity government, since the legitimate government is already in place." The rival armies of former North and South Yemen have been locked in civil war since May 5, shattering four years of uneasy union between the conservative north and the Marxist south. The YSP plan, drawn up by the party's political office, also called for prisoner releases, for the rights of political parties to be recognised and that the lives, goods and rights of citizens be protected. And it demanded "equal compensation for all the victims of the war (...) and for all Yemenis killed in the fighting to be considered martyrs." Meanwhile a southern military spokesman said southern forces had brought down three northern planes in fighting close to Bab al-Mandeb, at the mouth of the Red Sea, and sunk a northern warship off Aden. The reports were hotly denied by an official spokesman in Sanaa who said that the north "does not have any warships or patrol boats in the area." But southerners said one of the pilots had been taken hostage and would testify that his plane had been brought down when his health had recovered sufficiently. Earlier a southern enovy on a visit to Damascus told Syrian President Hafez al-Assad that a new front had opened at Bab al-Mandab, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west along the coast from Aden. He told Syrian radio, in an interview monitored by the BBC, that "this is detrimental both to Yemen and international navigation." North and south spokesman said earlier that both sides were also battling for control of Al Daleh, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Aden, with both sides claiming they had the upper hand. Al Daleh lies in the mountains commanding a key position on a strategic route towards the main southern air base at Al Anad. The YSP proposal came as Arab League mediators were in Yemen in a bid to try to broker a ceasfire agreement. They were waiting to meet with President Ali Abdallah Saleh, a northerner, to try to convince him to make peace with his southern rival Baid. Aden meanwhile was making preparations to shelter refugees fleeing south from the fighting around Al Daleh. Despite limited resources, schools were being used as makeshift accommodation and supplies of basic foodstuffs were being handed out. Baid, who was sacked last week as vice-president by the northern- dominated parliament in the capital Sanaa, has said a ceasefire would depend on the withdrawal of northern forces from the south. Saleh, has said he would only accept a ceasefire if the southerners agreed to accept his government, respect the country's unity and put all armed forces under the government's control. He noted the "unusual" breadth of the Geneva meeting -- participants also included British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd, German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel and their Russian counterpart Andrei Kozyrev, as well as the Belgian and Greek ministers and European Commissioner Hans van den Broek. Christopher said they would meet again if and when necessary, but stressed: "We don't want to impose a settlement but to facilitate a settlement, to provide the best environment. It's up to the parties themselves to reach an agreement." The secretary of state said the dangers of the situation and the continued suffering of the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina had made Friday's meeting necessary. Juppe said it was the first time that Russia, the United States and the European states had agreed upon a concrete course rather than vague terms. Hurd also expressed satisfaction at the unity they had shown, after reports of differences between the US, Europe and Russia over Bosnia which had hindered peace efforts. Asked about the situation if the Serbs refused to negotiate within two weeks, Christopher said: "We think they must recognise that the world needs a negotiated settlement." But this was a hypthothetical question and they would "just have to watch things unfold." Juppe said the plan would "either work or not work. Allow me to opt this evening for the hypothesis that it will work". Regarding the threat to withdraw France's 6,000 men from Bosnia rather than their weather another winter there without prospects of peace, he said that if the plan did not work "we will have to meet again and perhaps change our thinking." The French minister said his government was "not in the process of preparing (a withdrawal), but this is a risk that we are considering." A senior US official said after the press conference there was "nothing concrete at this point" to indicate there would be a positive Serb response, but said the stand taken in Geneva with the prospect of lifting of sanctions "should be seen as an incentive." "Some preliminary reports do at least have some indications that they (the Serbs) may have changed their view on lifting the sanctions as a precondition (for negotiation). We hope this is an opportunity the Serbs will seize," the official said. "We hope the Serbs will take note that the sanctions will continue to be enforced and that the way to have them lifted is to negotiate." Arch enemies Israel and Syria could make peace within the coming months, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin predicted Friday. Beilin, speaking during an interview with CNN monitored in Cyprus, said the "Syrians are the key to the continuation of the peace problem. Without them there is no comprehensive peace." He was talking ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, due in Damascus on Sunday on his second peace shuttle within a month. Syrian President Hafez al-Assad "prefers to negotiate with us either in Washington or via the Americans in a kind of shuttle diplomacy," Beilin said, adding that Israel should accept that. "I think the American mediation is vital. We will be able to see peace between us and Syria within months." Syria has rejected recent calls by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to hold secret talks, along the lines of the Oslo negotiations which eventually led to the Israel-PLO autonomy accord for the Gaza Strip and West Bank town of Jericho. Talks between Syria and Israel have broken down over the issue of the Israeli-occupied Golan heights, seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War. Syria warned earlier Friday it still insisted on a total Israeli withdrawal from the strategic heights and was sceptical about Christopher's visit. A Syrian official in Damascus, asking not to be named, charged that Israel had "minimized the US role by reducing it to a mere postman delivering the Israeli point of view without any amendment." The Israelis, during Christopher's last shuttle between Israel and Syria earlier in May, had proposed "security arrangements before a peace treaty, then a phased withdrawal over a long period," he said. But any peace deal with Israel depended on a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which the Jewish state annexed in 1981. "Any settlement not based on the central issue of land is useless," an official in Damascus said. Meanwhile Beilin added that Israel could withdraw totally from the occupied West Bank within five years. He said discussions still had to be held with the Palestine Liberation Organisation over the coming years to solve the issue under the terms of the Declaration of Principles signed in Washington in September. "But the permanent solution will be implemented on May 4, 1999. That is the agreement between us," Beilin added. The Dominican Republic's President Joaquin Balaguer, at 87 seeking his 7th term as president, wrapped up his campaign Friday with a huge rally that attracted tens of thousands of people. DRepublic-vote 500 words around 2200 GMT by Arturo Gudino ADEN: Southern leaders put forward a seven-point ceasefire plan here Friday as fighting between rival north and south Yemeni forces continued to rage outside the southern stronghold of Aden. Yemen (new series) 650 words moved GENEVA: Western Europe, Russia and the US unite in a new peace bid for war-wracked Bosnia as discontent back home underlines the limits of their combined sanctions, arms embargo and peace troops policy to date. Yugo-talks-analysis 500 words by 2215 GMT by Michael Anders Washington is hoping Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao's US tour beginning Saturday will bring better understanding between the two sides on the thorny nuclear issue, but is not expecting any breakthrough announcements. "It is an opportunity to review issues of concern and a chance for Rao and Clinton to get to know each other better," a senior US official said. Rao's trip, the first by an Indian Prime Minister to the United States since Rajiv Gandhi visited in 1987, comes at a time of disagreement between the two sides on a number of issues, notably India's ambitious nuclear and missile programmes, Kashmir, human rights and trade. Washington is urging both India and Pakistan to put a cap on their nuclear programs in the interests of non-proliferation in the region. But Rao is under tremendous domestic pressure to resist US calls to cap the nuclear program and freeze its missile defence programme, and the Washington trip is his most controversial foreign visit in three years in office. For the US side, "non-proliferation remains the goal" in both India and Pakistan, and "we are moving along on a broad front, in a lot of different areas," to try and achieve that, the US official said. The carrot for Pakistan is the possibility of obtaining delivery of F-16 fighter planes it has already paid for but which were frozen by Congress. With India there is not such obvious quid pro quo, but there are areas in which the United States could offer more help, such as science and technology transfers, US officials say. In any case, "the bottom line in all this is that you can't buy agreement either from Pakistan or India on nuclear proliferation issues if they are not persuaded that this is in their own best security interests," one said. There has also been friction over Kashmir, with India feeling that the administration of US President Bill Clinton favors Pakistan in the dispute and has tacitly encouraged the Moslem insurgency in Kashmir. Washington denies that Clinton has shifted policy on Kashmir, and says it is a matter of Indian perception. The US policy has always been the same - that the Kashmir dispute is something that India and Pakistan should work out between them, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmir people, the US official said. Rao made it clear this week that he was not about to cause further ructions at home by making any major concessions on the nuclear non- proliferation issue during his Washington trip. Another key element of the visit is the effort to boost the economic relationship, which has taken off with the opening up of the Indian economy in the Rao administration. Rao arrives in New York Sunday for meetings with the large Indian community there, then goes on to Houston for talks with business leaders. He will be in Boston on Tuesday where he will give a lecture at Harvard. The Indian prime minister's two-day stay in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday includes a speech to a joint session of congress, and a two- and-a-half-hour session with President Bill Clinton. The two men are scheduled to hold a joint press conference after their meeting Thursday. Rao is also scheduled to have talks with Defense Secretary William Perry, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Calling land mines a threat to many developing countries, a US official said Friday that Washington will lead a worldwide effort to remove the devices blamed for thousands of deaths and injuries each year. Thomas McNamara, a senior State Department official in charge of politico-military affairs, said it would be extremely difficult to ban mines, since they are not considered illegitimate weapons as is the case with chemical or biological weapons. But McNamara told a Senate panel that Washington will sponsor a conference this year or next to raise funds for deactivation of land mines around the world. "Land mines have become the weapon of choice in many developing countries," McNamara said. "Land mines pose a significant impediment to achieving our foreign policy objectives in many regions of the world," he added. President Bill Clinton has urged the Senate to ratify an international treaty restricting the use of land mines, whose victims are often civilians. The Senate panel received written statements supporting the restrictions from UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and former US president Jimmy Carter. "Every month, at least 1,200 people, mostly innocent civilians who have nothing to do with any war or conflict, are killed or maimed for life by these tiny, silent explosives," said Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who led the hearings. More than a million people, most of them civilians, have been killed or wounded by mines since 1975. An estimated 100 million of them are still planted in about 60 countries and about 1.2 million are in arsenals around the world. About 50 countries produce some 300 types of mines, and about 30 countries export them. Sadaka Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, explained that the presence of mines were hurting UN efforts to moved people displaced by war back to their homes. "Bringing people back to their countries, we have to make sure that the roads to go back are safe," she said, noting that the United Nations have stepped up their education and prevention efforts. Ogata singled out Afghanistan, where each year 4,000 people are killed and 4,000 wounded by mines. Guatemala, Somalia, Iraq, Mozambique, Cambodia are other countries that are most affected by the problem, she said. "Nobody puts money in mine clearance research," said retired general Patrick Glagden, director of the United Nation's mine clearing program. At the same time, modern mines are made of plastic and escape metal detectors. International representatives concluded the treaty on in Geneva in the fall of 1980. The United States signed on in 1982, but has failed to ratify it. More than 100 million landmines lie unexploded in at least 62 countries, human rights groups reported. They also said worldwide production may be reaching 10 million anti-personnel landmines annually. The American Red Cross reported landmines kill more than 200 civilians every week. Clinton termed the treaty "a modest but significant humanitarian effort to protect the victims of armed conflict from the effects of particular weapons." He also said ratification would strengthen US efforts urging an international moratorium on the export of anti-personnel landmines. A former guerrilla leader running for president burst into a studio in the middle of a televised debate between the two leading candidates to protest his being excluded from the program. Antonio Navarro, who headed the M-19 movement known for its spectacular stunts, suddenly appeared in the television studio Thursday where the first debate of its kind in Colombia's political history was taking place between Liberal Party candidate Ernesto Sampler and Conservative Andres Pastrana. "Hello Antonio," was all the terrified Samper could manage to say, while a calmer Pastrana said, "Would you like to sit down with us, Antonio?" The moderator, television personality Yamid Amat, ended the awkwardness by ordering a cut to a commercial. After the break, Navarro was gone. The ex-guerrlla leader, who according to polls is likely to get less than 10 percent of the vote in the May 29 elections, said in a radio interview shortly after the incident that he wanted to show there were more than just two candidates on the scene. Navarro's M-19 movement grabbed the headlines for stealing Simon Bolivar's sword in 1976, taking over the Dominican Republic embassy in 1980 and attacking the capital's justice center in 1985, an incident in which some 20 people died. He left the guerrilla movement in 1990. Canada's Paul Tracy, a pole favorite for the Indianapolis 500, suffered a crash here Friday during a practice lap and was hospitalized. Tracy was taken to Methodist Hospital here complaining of pain in his left foot, but was awake and alert. Doctor Henry Bock, medical director at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said Tracy lost consciousness briefly during the crash. Tracy will undergo neurological tests and an X-ray examination at the hospital. Tracy drives a Mercedes-powered Penske car, one of three that have the best times during practice for the May 29 Indy race. The Penske motor takes advantae of a rule loophole allowing extra boost over convention Indy engine designs. The crash caused extensive damage to the car, leaving little chance it will be ready for Saturday's start of time trials. Tracy's backup car has not taken a lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile (4km) oval. Tracy's car went out of control and skidded through the third turn into the infield grass. The car then spun across the track and into the fourth-turn outer wall, hitting on the left front side and coming to a stop on the edge of the track. Tracy was on a fast lap after building speed on a warm-up effort. He had reached a top speed of 228.693 mph (365.908 km/h) and was clocked at 240 mph (384 km/h) a few minutes earlier on the same area of track where the crash began. js94bb President Bill Clinton is to make an announcement at 2200 GMT in the Rose Garden Friday, fueling rumours that he has decided on an appointee for the Supreme Court The three front-runners for the post left vacant by the retirement of Harry Blackmun are Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Boston jurist Stephen Breyer and Arkansas judge Richard Arnold. Blue-chip stocks posted modest gains Friday in a mixed trading session marked by easing of interest rates eclipsed in part by weakness in technology stocks. The Dow Jones index of 30 leading industrials rose 6.84 points to close at 3,659.68. On the broader market, declining shares slightly outnumbered advancers 1,075 to 1,027 with 677 shares unchanged. Some 252 million shares were traded. The market got a boost from a drop in yields on 30-year Treasury bonds to 7.49 percent from 7.56 percent Thursday, a sign of declining fears among investors over inflation and higher interest rates. The decline in rates came after the government reported consumer prices rose a modest 0.1 percent in April, which confirmed low inflation following Thursday's report of a 0.1 percent decline in wholesale prices in April. Bob Walberg of MMS Internation said the markets had already anticipated a half-point boost in short-term interest rates by the Federal Reserve. "The markets fear the two inflation reports will lead the Fed to raise interest rates by only 25 basis points (one-quarter point) instead of 50," Walberg said. "The market wants to see a more aggressive move by the Fed despite the relatively passive inflation numbers." Fears of a decline in the growth rate of the computer industry caused a drop in technology stocks. Compaq Computer fell 1-1/8 to 104-3/8, Sears 1-3/8 to 47-3/8 and AMR Corp. 2-1/2 to 53-1/8. Philip Morris rose 1-5/8 to 52-1/8, Dow Chemical1 to 66-3/8 and J.P. Morgan 1-1/2 to 63-1/8. Here are extracts of the final statement on the peace process in Bosnia-Hercegovina, agreed in Geneva on Friday by the foreign ministers of Russia, the United States, and five European Union countries. "The ministers underscore their resolve and unity of purpose in working for an early and durable settlement of the Bosnian conflict. They reaffirm that the conflict in Bosnia and Hercegovina cannot be resolved by military means and must be settled through negotiations." "Only a peaceful settlement will command the support of the international community and offer the peoples of Bosnia and Hercegovina the prospect of a secure future." "They confirm their support for a settlement that preserves Bosnia and Hercegovina as a single Union within its internationally recognised borders, while providing for constitutional arrangements that establish the relationship between the Bosnian-Croat and Bosnian Serb entities." "The ministers express their strong concern that in the wake of the recent Bosnian Serb attack on the UN-declared safe area of Gorazde, the negotiating process has been set back. They warn all the parties concerning the unacceptability and risks of pursuing military solutions." "In this regard, they support the determination of the international community to take necessary action to protect the safe areas within Bosnia and Hercegovina, established in accordance with (UN) Security Council resolutions 824 and 836 (and) express their full support for strict enforcement of these resolutions, decisions and agreements." "The ministers demand that all parties permit the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance in accordance with existing agreements (and) insist on the release of those members of humanitarian organisations in detention." They "endorse efforts currently being made by (the UN Protection Force) UNPROFOR and under way in the Security Council to prevent offensive action in safe areas, particularly in and around Brcko." The ministers "call on the parties to conclude a comprehensive cessation of hostilities and to resume in parallel, without preconditions, serious efforts to reach a political settlement." "The agreement on cessation of hostilities must include the separation of forces, the withdrawal of heavy weapons and the interposition of UNPROFOR troops. On the basis of previous discussions with the parties, the ministers believe the agreement should be for a period of four months, with provision for extension." "To complete its task (...) UNPROFOR will need further reinforcement." "Previous negotiations have established the concept of a territorial compromise based on 51 percent for the Bosnian-Croat entity and 49 percent for the Bosnian Serb entity. Ministers urge the parties to reach an agreement on this basis." "Final arrangements for the Bosnian-Croat federation "must provide it with viable, realistic and reasonable territory consistent with the concept described above." "Any attempt to make sanctions relief a precondition for resuming talks is unacceptable. Good-faith implementation of a peace settlement that includes provisions for withdrawal to agreed territorial limits will lead to phased suspension of the sanctions imposed by the United Nations." "With a view to achieving an early settlement within this framework, the ministers invite the parties to begin substantive negotiations under the aegis of the Contact Group within the next two weeks." "The Contact Group was instructed to immediately commence all the necessary substantive preparations." The Dominican Republic's President Joaquin Balaguer, at 87 seeking his 7th term as president, wrapped up his campaign Friday with a huge rally that attracted tens of thousands of people. Waving banners and beating drums, Balaguer's supporters cheered as the 87-year-old, who is nearly blind, pledged in a short but clear speech that if re-elected, he would struggle "with all my might to maintain economic, social and political stability." Balaguer, who has dominated this island of seven million people for decades, has been most closely challenged by black leader Jose Francisco Pena Gomez for Monday's vote. Like Pena Gomez and other contenders, Balaguer has promised to focus his attention on the poorest in his Caribbean nation, especially access to clean water, health care and public transport. Balaguer was first named president by dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1960. But Trujillo was assassinated a year later after 31 years in power and Balaguer was removed in a civilian-military uprising in January 1960. Juan Bosch, another presidential candidate this year, was elected in 1962 but removed in a September 1963 coup. After a failed 1965 coup to return Bosch to power, Balaguer was re-elected for three consecutive terms (1966-1970; 1970-1974 and 1974-1978). He returned to the presidency in 1986 and was re-elected again in 1990. Around 30 people have died in political violence during street protests and rallies for the May 16 poll. But there have been no deaths this week, and Balaguer and Pena Gomez have both urged their supporters to refrain from violence. Also Friday, about 100 representatives of the Roman Catholic church, business and union leaders urged all political parties running candidates to respect the outcome. They also urged the the electoral officials to quickly give out an accurate count of the vote. In addition to a presidential race, there are 30 senate races, 100 deputies and 103 mayors. In his speech, Balaguer attacked Pena Gomez without naming him, saying that "from outside or inside the government I will also serve the country because I am proud of having been born in the Dominican Republic." Anonymous campaign fliers have surfaced accusing Pena Gomez of being the "son of Haitians." Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island of Hispanola with Haitians frequently the object of scorn here. Balaguer's Christian Social Reformist Party has said that Pena Gomez plans to open refugee camps in the Dominican Republic for Haitians to ingratiate himself with the United States. Around 500,000 Haitians live illegally in the Dominican Republic, which has caused friction with some sectors of the country where unemployment is about 30 percent. Haiti is overwhelmingly black, while the Dominican Republic is 75 percent mulato, 15 percent white and 10 percent black. Pena Gomez has accused Balaguer of planning to take the vote by fraud, if necessary. A spokesman for his Democratic Revolutionary Party, Nery Cabrera, alleged that some 300,000 voter cards that should have been cancelled would be used by Balaguer's party to ensure his re-election. Per capital income is about 790 dollars annually while about 20 percent of the population is illiterate. President Bill Clinton was to name Stephen Breyer, a Massachusetts federal judge, as his nominee to the US Supreme Court, an administration official said Friday. Breyer, 55, seen as a moderate consensus-builder, had been favored by Clinton last year before he named Ruth Ginsburg. President Bill Clinton was to name Stephen Breyer, a Massachusetts federal judge, as his nominee to the US Supreme Court, an administration official said Friday. Breyer, 55, seen as a moderate consensus-builder, had been favored by Clinton last year before he named Ruth Ginsburg. Clinton's decision ends speculation over the nominee to replace Justice Harry Blackmun, who is retiring, on the highest US court -- one of the three centers of power under the US constitution. Named for life, the nine Supreme Court justices have a huge role in determining the course of American society. In recent decades, the court has ended segregation, given blacks political power, legalized abortion and restored the death penalty. An old friend of President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court designate Stephen Breyer is a moderate consensus-builder who most likely lost a nomination last year because he had a "nanny problem." The 55-year-old Breyer, nominated Friday to court, should be easily confirmed to replace retiring Justice Harry Blackmun and become the 108th justice named to the nation's highest court. Breyer had been a favorite to replace justice Byron White in 1993 but was believed to have lost the nomination on revelations that he had failed to pay social security taxes for a household employee for more than a decade. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was named in his stead. Breyer, a New Englander, studied law at Harvard University and became a clerk for then-Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg. In the 1970s, he taught antitrust and administrative law at Harvard Law School. In 1973, he helped prosecute some Watergate cases. Six years later, he went to work as an aide to Senator Edward Kennedy, a Democratic from Massachusetts and a stalwart on the Judiciary Committee. Building a reputation as a hardworking intellectual with an ability to build consensus, Breyer was next named to a federal commission to set sentencing guidelines. The panel's decision to toughen some sentences has angered factions in the judicial community who feel that the guidelines do not give judges enough leeway. Breyer was named to the 1st Circuit Court in December 1980 and became chief judge 10 years later. As a sign of his political savvy, he was nominated by then-President Jimmy Carter in 1980 and confirmed after Carter's defeat. Breyer has been reversed by the Supreme Court twice. In 1982, he ruled that Hustler magazine could not be sued for libel in New Hampshire because it had few connections to the state. The high court disagreed, saying that the raunchy magazine was widely available there. In 1983, he ruled that the Treasury Department could not write a regulation restricting US citizens' travel to Cuba because the law used in drafting the regulation did not apply. The Supreme Court overturned Breyer's decision. The dollar remained firmed against other major currencies in quiet trading here Friday after the government reported an unexpectedly small rise in April consumer prices and because of a long holiday weekend in Europe. Gold, meanwhile, rose to 380.70 dollars an ounce, up .80 cents from late Thursday. At about 16:55 a.m. (2055 GMT), the greenback traded at 1.6695 German marks, unchanged from mid-day and up from 1.6675 late Thursday. The US currency also firmed against other major European currencies, rising to 5.7260 French francs from 5.7200 late Thursday, 1.4260 Swiss francs (1.4245). Against the pound sterling it stood at 0.6671 (0.6669). Traders were cautiously awaiting the Federal Reserve's next meeting of its policy-setting Open Market Committee, on Tuesday. Analysts expect the Fed will raise the federal funds rate, the interest charged on overnight interbank loans. Conservative party presidential candidate Diego Fernandez was the big winner among the three candidates in a landmark debate that put the three candidates face-to-face, press reports said Friday. "Diego wins debate" ran headlines in the independent morning paper Reforma following the debate Thursday night. Its poll of voters in two states put the conservative candidate well ahead. The debate made Mexican history -- the first time presidential candidates were in the same forum arguing the issues. Radio and television broadcasts of the debate reached a potential 40 million people in a nation of 81 million. Thursday's debate was the also the latest mark of change in a campaign turned on its head with the assassination of ruling party candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio on March 23. While telephone polls are problematic in Mexico because many poor people do not have them, the daily El Economista said that in its telephone poll 45 percent of those contacted said Fernandez won the debate. Still, 47 percent said they would vote for Zedillo if the elections were held tomorrow. Forty-eight percent said Zedillo put forth the best political program. But an Indemerc-Louis Harris poll found that Zedillo was the winner by a squeaker. Potential voters said that the ruling party's candidate had the most experience (40 percent) and the best program for creating jobs and raising wages (41 percent). Fernandez was found to be the best speaker (43 percent) and most sure of himself (41 percent). An unexpected loser was was Cardenas, 60, the son of a wildly popular former president, former Michoacan governor who broke from the PRI. In the Harris poll, he scored best on experience (19 percent) and personality (11 percent). Zedillo, of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), came under fire from Fernandez of the National Action Party (PAN) and Cardenas of the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) during the 90-minute program. Cardenas, 60, promised to set up a constitutional assembly in 1997 if he is elected and called on Fernandez to "fight together for democracy." The possibility of the PRD and PAN joining forces, political analysts said, could cost Zedillo the election and end the PRI's 65-year stranglehold on the government. Fernandez, a 53-year-old lawmaker, did not respond to Cardenas' proposal but joined him in calling for a "pluralist government" and for an "end to the party of state (the PRI)." After years of hearing only the drone of official statements on television, Mexicans could hardly believe their ears as the opposition candidates tore into past and present government policy. Cardenas and Fernandez called for an end to corruption in the police force and the justice system, to current economic policy, to poverty gnawing at 40 million Mexicans, to the constitution, to the urbanization of the country, to unemployment and job insecurity, and to rising prices and violence. Fernandez showed no mercy for Zedillo. "You are here because of two tragedies: the March 23 assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio (Zedillo's predecessor as PRI candidate) and the 'finger,'" the PAN candidate said referring to the age-old tradition of PRI presidents personally choosing their successors. "The first (tragedy) you had nothing to do with. The second, disqualifies you from speaking of democracy," Fernandez told the former education and programming minister. President Bill Clinton on Friday selected Stephen Breyer, a Massachusetts federal judge, as his nominee to the US Supreme Court. Breyer, 55, seen as a moderate consensus-builder, had been favored by Clinton last year before he named Ruth Ginsburg. He heads the federal appeals court in Boston. Clinton said Breyer represents "excellence in knowldge, excellence in judgement" and added, "Without dispute he is one of the outstanding jurists of our age." Clinton's decision ended days of speculation over the nominee to replace 85-year-old Justice Harry Blackmun, who is retiring from the highest US court -- one of the three centers of power under the US constitution. Named for life, the nine Supreme Court justices have a huge role in determining the course of American society. In recent decades, the court has ended segregation, given blacks political power, legalized abortion and restored the death pena, rulings which will have a lasting impact on the country. Russia, the United States and western Europe united Friday in a new bid for peace in Bosnia-Hercegovina amid political rumblings back home over the failure of their sanctions, arms embargo and peace troops policies to date. A threat by France, provider of the biggest UN troop contingent, to withdraw its men should prospects for a solution remain out of sight coincided with a US Senate move to lift the embargo on arms for the Moslem Bosnians and a Russian parliament call to abandon sanctions against Serbia. The combination spurred the seven states plus a European Commission representative, meeting at foreign minister level in Geneva, to put the peace process back on track after weeks of drift amid the danger of international escalation. A major aspect of the joint declaration arrived at after six hours of talks is that it holds out the prospect of a "phased suspension" of the United Nations sanctions against Serbia in return for implementation in good faith of a negotiated settlement. The United States had hitherto tended toward a toughening of sanctions against the regime in Belgrade, while the Russian government has been lukewarm on them, for reasons that Friday's vote in Moscow showed. The hint is a clear incentive to the Serbs. The Europeans can also gain satisfaction from the US acceptance of their plan to give 51 percent of Bosnia-Hercegovina to the Bosnian Croats and Moslems and 49 percent to the Serbs, as the mainly-Moslem government in Sarajevo had shown in recent weeks it wanted Washington's support for a bigger share. The united call for a four-month extendable ceasefire and peace negotiations within two weeks comes amid a reiteration of the oft- stated principle that there must be a negotiated political, and not a militarily-imposed, settlement, with a comprehensive cessation of hostilities. The form of the ceasefire is also spelled out, and gives the United Nations troops on the ground a clear role as a force of interposition, rather than one limited to protecting humanitarian convoys and the so- called safe areas as at present. "The agreement on cessation of hostilities must include the separation of forces, the withdrawal of heavy weapons and the interposition of UNPROFOR (UN Protection Force) troops," the communique says, adding that this means beefing rather than withdrawing UN troops. "To complete its task in the safe areas and in support of the cessation of hostilities, UNPROFOR will need further reinforcement," it said. But apart from the tough task the so-called contact group of states has in trying to get the negotiations restarted, it is a secret for no one that the western countries which have provided UN troops for Bosnia so far will not want to provide any more given present public opinion. On the other hand a meeting in Geneva this same Friday of representatives of the 51-state Organization of Islamic Conference, while complaining at being left out of the big-power talks on Bosnia, issued a reminder that its member have offered to furnish adequate forces should other states withdraw theirs. President Bill Clinton on Friday selected Stephen Breyer, a Massachusetts federal judge, as his nominee to the US Supreme Court. Breyer, 55, seen as a moderate consensus-builder, had been favored by Clinton last year before he named Ruth Ginsburg to the court. Making the announcement at the White House Rose Garden, Clinton said the chief federal appeals court judge in Boston represents "excellence in knowldge, excellence in judgement." "Without dispute he is one of the outstanding jurists of our age," Clinton added. Clinton's decision ended days of speculation over the nominee to replace 85-year-old Justice Harry Blackmun, who is retiring from the highest US court. Named for life, the nine Supreme Court justices have a huge role in determining the course of American society. The appointees must be confirmed by the Senate. In recent decades, the court has ended segregation, given blacks increased political power, legalized abortion and restored the death penalty. Clinton acknowledged he was pondering two other candidates, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and federal appeals court judge Richard Arnold. Arnold's chances were derailed by health problems and his connections with Clinton's home state of Arkansas, and Babbitt was seen as a highly political choice. Breyer's chances last year were hurt by revelations that he failed to pay social security taxes for a domestic worker -- a problem similar to the one that doomed a Clinton nominee for attorney general. In 1973, Breyer helped prosecute some Watergate cases and later worked as an aide to Senator Edward Kennedy on the judiciary panel that will consider his nomination. Breyer's connections on Capitol Hill and solid judicial background were seen as factors in his favor, making his confirmation easier. Senator Orrin Hatch, the leading Republican on the judiciary panel, has said he would support Breyer, which virtually assures the nomination. Clinton has said he hoped his nominee can be confirmed before the Congress adjourns for the summer. Breyer, a New Englander, studied law at Harvard University and became a clerk for then-Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg. In the 1970s, he taught antitrust and administrative law at Harvard Law School. Building a reputation as a hardworking intellectual with an ability to build consensus, Breyer was next named to a federal commission to set sentencing guidelines. The panel's decision to toughen some sentences has angered factions in the judicial community who feel that the guidelines do not give judges enough leeway. Breyer was named to the 1st Circuit Court in December 1980 and became chief judge 10 years later. The retirement of Blackmun after 24 years on the court gave Clinton his second nominee and a chance to help reshape the high court after it became dominated by nominees of Republican presidents. The court, headed by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 69, named by Richard Nixon, has taken a conservative tilt in recent years. The other justices are Anthony Kennedy, a 57-year-old moderate conservative named by Ronald Reagan; Sandra Day O'Connor, a 64-year- old moderate conservative named by Reagan; Antonin Scalia, 58, another Reagan appointee who is the leading conservative theorist on the court; David Souter, 54, a moderate conservative named by George Bush; John Paul Stevens, 73, a Gerald Ford appointee who has wavered from liberal to conservative; Clarence Thomas, 45, a conservative Bush appointee; and Ginsburg, 61, seen as a moderate centrist. rl Italy's new prime minister, media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, met the US ambassador to Rome Friday for a "cordial" conversation, the premier's office said. Ambassador Reginald Bartholomew passed on US President Bill Clinton's congratulations to Berlusconi who formed his government this week, more than a month since general elections, the office said. Clinton, due to meet Berlusconi in Rome next month, wished the country success in its renewal process and said he expected to work in close contact with him for a further strengthening of an already strong bilateral partnership. Some western observers have expressed concern about the new cabinet, which includes neo-fascists from Berlusconi's coalition partners for the first time since the rule of wartime dictator Benito Mussolini. Addressing some of those fears, new Defence Minister Cesare Previti sent a message to NATO, US Defence Secretary William Perry and the Western European Union underlining his "determination to work on the foundations of traditional Italian involvement" in western defence and security structures. He said the encouragement given by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and strong relations with the United States "constitute fundamental points of reference for Italy, with the construction of a credible European security profile." A strong earthquake struck the southern Philippines before dawn Saturday, toppling power and communication lines in Pagadian City, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, seismologists here said. The temblor, striking at 4:12 a.m. (2012 GMT Friday), registered 5.7 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was plotted in Illana Bay, a few kilometers (miles) south of Pagadian, seismologist Lito Lanuza of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology told AFP. Following the lead set by interest rates, share prices on Wall Street bounced around this past week before closing Friday on a down note as traders awaited the Federal Reserve's next move. The Dow Jones index of 30 blue chips closed down 9.82 points (0.27 percent) Friday at 3,659.68. Share prices started the week by dropping 40 points as bond rates rose to their highest point since November 1992 after the Federal Reserve dashed expectations that it would raise interest rates. This intervention had been expected following the release on May 6 of figures showing employment figures were better than expected. Quarterly Treasury auctions on Tuesday and Wednesday and the release of excellent inflation figures on Thursday convinced traders that the Fed would step in on Tuesday after its Open Market meeting at which monetary policy is decided. Interest rates were again pushed higher by the disappointing results of an auction of 10-year bonds, but they slid lower after the good inflation figures were released. While economic figures have reassured traders, most are still expecting interest rates to rise, said Ed La Varnway, an analyst with First Albany. It is difficult to predict how the markets will react to the Fed's intervention, but traders have been expecting it for so long that they would prefer the Fed to just raise rates "once and for all," said La Varnway. They are expecting a one-half point increase in the rate that banks charge each other to four percent and a similar rise in the discount rate to 3.5 percent. "If the Fed keeps fiddling around with 25 basis point increases, it will keep the markets on edge," said Hildegard Zagorski, an analyst with Prudential Securities. Traders would rather see the Fed raise interest rates by half a point and then adopt a neutral position, Zagorski added. As for future share prices, La Varnway said, "(There is) not enough evidence to say that the correction is over." Among the losers for the week, UAL closed Friday at 119-1/4 down from 127 the previous week, ITT was at 82-1/8 down from 87-1/8 and Compaq at 104-3/8 down from 108-7/8. Among the gainers, Johnson and Johnson was at 42-1/2 up from 40-3/4, Paramount at 42 from 40 and Bankamerica at 46-3/8 from 44-3/4. Transports closed Friday at 1,557.72 down from 1,608.92 the previous week while utilities were at 179.28 down from 188.83. A total of 1.35 billion shares changed hands this week down from 1.40 billion the previous week. British Airways (BA) may sue the French government if it stops the company's flights landing at Orly airport, south of Paris, a company spokesman said Friday. The company would consider seeking compensation, the spokesman said. He did not specify whether the carrier would take immediate action if not allowed to land Monday when the first British Airways flight to Orly is scheduled. British Airways, backed by the British government, is insisting it is entitled to start flights to Orly Monday in line with a European Commission ruling last month. But French authorities have been barring British flights to Orly in defiance of the decision that ordered France to open three domestic routes -- Orly-London, Orly-Toulouse and Orly-Marseille -- to competition. The French government has cited congestion at Orly, environmental considerations and increased access to London's Heathrow airport for French carriers as issues which need to be resolved before the route is opened. It is understood that France offered a compromise by suggesting it was prepared to open Orly to British carriers at the end of June. British Airways has said: "We have the rights and the slots, and we will be starting our first London-to-Orly flights on Monday." The British government has expressed its "full support" for the airline. Air UK has also stated that it would be "going ahead on Monday." But French Transport Minister Bernard Bosson said British airlines planning to defy the ban would do so at their own commercial risk. "All airlines that would play that game will be responsible for the inconvenience their passengers may experience," he warned. In a "very gentle" reminder to Britain, Bosson said, "yes, we are going to open up Orly. But we, who find ourselves in the dock, would like to see Britain make the same effort to open up Heathrow," Britain's busiest airport. In London, a Civil Aviation Authority spokesman noted that the easiest way in practice for the French to prevent BA and other airlines from serving Orly was to reject the flight plan, which every pilot has to submit an hour before takeoff. Air UK has six flights scheduled from Orly to London's Stansted airport and the first is due to leave the south Paris airport at 7:15 a.m. (0515 GMT). BA's first of four Orly return flights is from Heathrow at 6:50 a.m. (0550 GMT). Meanwhile, a third UK airline -- British Midland -- has delayed the start of its four-flights-a-day Heathrow-Orly service until the row is resolved. A strong earthquake rocked the southern Philippines before dawn Saturday, toppling power and communication lines and blacking out the Pagadian City vicinity, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, officials said. The temblor, which struck at 4:12 a.m. (2012 GMT Friday), registered 5.7 on the Richter scale. Its epicenter was in the Illana Bay, a few kilometers (miles) south of Pagadian, seismologist Lito Lanuza of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) told AFP. The quake destroyed at least five houses made of light materials near Pagadian, and residents of coastal areas were evacuated to higher ground in case of tsunamis, giant waves caused by earthquakes, senior police officer Rodolfo Tual told AFP by telephone from Pagadian. "It was very strong, but it lasted just a few seconds," Tual said, adding that it reminded him of a major earthquake which caused tsunamis and killed several hundred people in the south in 1976. Pagadian police are now out in the streets to evaluate the damage, he said, adding that there were no immediate reports of casualties. He said the quake blacked out Pagadian and surrounding areas but that power was restored about 25 minues later. Lanuza said local officials in Pagadian reported to Phivolcs that the temblor toppled power and communication lines and blacked out the city and nearby eareas. Two Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. water tank structures in the city were toppled, he added. He said several weaker aftershocks were recorded, but that Phivolcs' initial calculation was that the quake was not the type that would cause tsunamis. The temblor was felt throughout the western half of the large southern island of Mindanao, he added. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali backed a US plan to shelter refugees at Rwanda's borders Friday, but warned that more was needed. The UN chief renewed his plea to the 15 council members to agree to a plan to deploy 5,500 troops to Rwanda as part of a UN humanitarian mission, reinforcing a UN mission reduced to 270 members. While welcoming the US initiative to establish protected sites for refugees close to Rwanda's borders with Burundi and Tanzania, Boutros- Ghali said concentrating on that "would be to only address a small part of the problem" and could draw more refugees. "I believe that it is essential that any such initiative should be matched by action to assist persons in the interior of Rwanda," he said in a report to the council. The proposed UN force would be composed of troops from Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Australia, and would include 800 troops in the Rwandan capital Kigali to protect the airport and other key sites. But he said such a mission would be facilitated by a ceasefire between warring factions in Rwanda, which plunged into chaos and bloody ethnic fighting following the death of president Juvenal Habyarimana April 6 in a suspicious plane crash. Earlier on Friday in Paris, Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh, the UN special representative to Rwanda said the United Nations' top priority was a ceasefire between rebels and government soldiers and that negotiations on other topics would come later. "For now, it is difficult to resume political negotiations so long as there is no ceasefire," Booh-Booh said. "A ceasefire is theoretically possible but certain conditions must be fulfilled" first, he said referring to the Tutsi rebels' refusal to recognize the transitional government set up following the death of Habyarimana. In Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso made an impassioned plea for the world to end the "unimaginable human tragedy" in Rwanda. "The world must do something to halt this violence," said Ayala Lasso after five days in Kigali where he met with the chiefs of the Hutu-led government army and the mostly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front. Ayala Lasso said the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis had both welcomed his proposal to set up a commission to determine the causes of the massacres which have left some 200,000 dead in the tiny highland eastern African state, and responsibility for them. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees meanwhile said that with US planes now operating an airbridge to take aid to some 250,000 Rwandan refugees in Tanzania had stepped up its efforts and was flying in plastic sheeting for shelters. Some 2,000 refugees are continuing to cross the border each day, said spokesman Ron Redmond. Southern troops suffered "heavy losses" when northern forces recaptured the town of Al Musaymir, northwest of Aden, a spokesman for the defense ministry announced overnight Friday. The report came as northern leaders rejected as "nothing new" a seven- point ceasefire plan put forward by their southern counterparts. Northern troops advanced in the town of Daleh, 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Aden, which controls one of the main routes to the former southern capital, SABA news agency quoted him as saying. Reports on the developments at Daleh were contradictory Friday, with each camp claiming control of the area. The spokesman said southern forces also suffered heavy losses at Abyane where large amounts of weapons and ammunition, including 18 tanks and four armored vehicles, were seized. The rival armies of former North and South Yemen have been locked in civil war since May 5, shattering four years of uneasy union between the conservative north and the Marxist south. Arab League delegates carrying a message from the organization's Secretary General Esmat Abdel Meguid calling for an immediate halt to the civil war were due to meet with President Ali Abdallah Saleh on Saturday. Friday's peace plan, proposed by the southern Yemen Socialist Party (YSP), called for an immediate end to the nine-day war and the creation of a national unity government. But northern leaders repeated demands made at the beginning of the conflict for southern leaders to surrender. A woman who lost her job as a perfume demonstrator because of alleged body odor told a court hearing her wrongful dismissal lawsuit that the incident made people see her as "this smelly person." Sharon Bagnall told an Ontario Court judge that she was humiliated by the April 1991 dismissal by Calvin Klein Cosmetics. "No one sees that I'm a wife, a mother, that I have a life," Bagnall told Judge Lee Ferrier. "They just see this smelly person." The Canadian subsidiary of the US-based firm maintained that Bagnall's odor created a persistent problem for other employees. Arguments ended Friday and a ruling was expected in June. Defending champion Patty Sheehan fired a three-under-par 68 at the windblown LPGA Championship Friday to breeze into share of the halfway lead with Robin Walton. Sheehan began the day back in 17th place, but four birdies and just one bogey put her at two-under 140 through two rounds. Walton's 70 included a double bogey and a bogey as well as four birdies. The pair were trailed by overnight leader Alice Ritzman, who carded a 73 for 141. They were the only three golfers under par after two rounds on the par 71 DuPont Country Club course. Briton Laura Davies eagled her last hole for a 72 that put her on 142, tied with Meg Mallon. "The wind gusted and came from everywhere," said Ritzman, who is seeking her first victory in 17 years on the tour. "It seemed like it changed direction every five seconds. It was a nightmare." The winds pushed up the cut to nine-over, the highest on the women's tour this year. "I shoot like this every week," Walton said. "But usually I get trashed." Given the conditions and her own recent run of indifferent play, Hall of Famer Sheehan ecstatic after her round. "I'm just thrilled to death," she said. "It was probably one of my best rounds of the year." She got three birdies in her first five holes -- at 11, 12 and 15. "That certainly put me in a good position, knowing I was not in danger of missing the cut," she said. "It was the first time this year I felt in control." Moving to the front nine, Sheehan birdied the second, then gave one back at eight where she left her approach short with a three-iron. "I had a brain hemorrhage," she said. "I used the wrong club. It's as simple as that." While Sheehan was moving up from 17th place, overnight co-leader Dottie Mochrie was dropping back to the same spot with a 78 for 146. She closed with a dreadful double bogey, missing a 12-foot putt for par, then angrily knocking the remaining two-inch putt past the hole. bb94 Prime Minister Jean Chretien told members of his governing Liberal Party he would continue efforts to build Canadian unity despite the efforts of Quebec separatists. Describing Canada as "the best country in the world, a country that is the envy of the world," Chretien's message was seen as a critique of separatists who want to see his native province of Quebec become an independent state. Speaking to nearly 3,000 jubilant supporters six months after winning a landslide election victory he said he would do "what is right for my country, Canada ... Our challenge is to keep building this country." Chretien offered no new policy initiatives, even though the convention is supposedly a policy-making convention. Instead, he stood firm on patriotic themes and rhetoric before a partisan crowd which continuously interrupted him with standing ovations. Many delegates broke into a chorus of the national anthem "O, Canada" when Chretien ended his speech. One of the standing ovations came when Chretien told delegates that he had decided not to allow the United States carry out any more cruise missile tests over Canadian territory after this year. The tests began under another Liberal prime minister, Pierre Trudeau. Once elected, Chretien said he would review the situation, but would allow two tests already planned for this year. Ukraine agreed Friday to adhere to guidelines for nonproliferation of missile technology, the White House said. Vice President Al Gore and Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Shmarov signed a memorandum of understanding on the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which the United States and 24 other nations belong to, the White House said in a statement. "The memorandum is a welcome expression of the strong partnership that the United States and Ukraine have established to address issues of nonproliferation and arms control," the statement said. "Ukraine's commitment to abide by the the criteria and standards of the MTCR is an important step that shows the readiness to be a responsible national actor in the sale of high-technology goods and services, including in the aerospace sector." The accord bans the export of missiles or missile technology to countries that could use it to build such weapons. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has urged the British government to respond positively to a document detailing demands for clarification of the Anglo-Irish joint declaration. The document was transmitted to the British government by the Irish government Friday on behalf of Sinn Fein. "Sinn Fein has a clear view of what is required to achieve a lasting peace founded on democratic principles. We have a peace strategy aimed at moving the situation in that direction," Adams said in a statement. He added: "It is necessary that the replies from London to our questions properly and honestly clarify these issues so that the peace process can be advanced." "It is important that the British government responds positively to this initiative and answers the questions put to it in a direct and comprehensive manner." A statement issued by Northern Ireland Secretary Patrick Mayhew earlier Friday said the British government would study and make public Sinn Fein's demands for clarification of the December 15 Anglo-Irish declaration. "It is clearly in the public interest for people to know what these questions are. We shall make them public with our comments within a matter of days once we have had an opportunity to give them proper consideration," his statement said. The Anglo-Irish declaration, signed in December by British Prime Minister John Major and his Irish counterpart Albert Reynolds, offered Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army's political wing, a full place in peace talks once the IRA renounced violence -- an offer that was not definitively accepted or rejected, pending clarification. Sinn Fein previously insisted on face-to-face meetings with government officials, apparently probing for resumption of the type of secret contacts it held with British officials during most of 1993. London, meanwhile, had hitherto refused to give any clarification, saying that the declaration was self-explanatory. But Mayhew hinted last month to an American congressional committee that he would consider responding to specific queries. Friday's exchange is likely to raise hopes that republican leaders may be edging closer to declaring an end to their 25-year armed campaign opposing British rule in Northern Ireland. Canada's Paul Tracy crashed here Friday during practice for Indianapolis 500 pole qualifying, dimming chances of a front-row sweep by the Mercedes-powered Penske team. Tracy spent Friday night at Methodist Hospital following neurological tests and X-rays after he lost control of his car at 240 mph (384 km/h) in the third turn. Tracy was listed in good condition with a concussion and bruised left foot but is questionable for qualifying. Record speeds and a crowd of more than 200,000 people are expected Saturday at the 2.5-mile (4km) oval for time trials despite forecasts of late-day rain. Rookies Hideshi Matsuda of Japan and Canada's Jacques Villeneuve won the first spot in the qualifying line in a blind draw. Reigning Indy champion Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil was next-to-last in the order, just ahead of 1993 Indy pole winner Arie Luyendyk of the Netherlands. Tracy's primary car suffered extensive damage, but his backup car was tested late Friday and could be ready if Tracy was declared fit to drive. "Paul should be driving tomorrow," said Fittipaldi, Tracy's teammate. "We still aren't sure what happened. But the backup car is ready. I tested it at 225 mph (360 km/h)." Tracy, Fittipaldi and 1992 Indy winner Al Unser Jnr were favored to sweep the front berths in the 33-car field for the May 29 race. All three Roger Penske team drivers use the new Mercedes motor, which has extra boost over conventional Indy-car engines thanks to a loophole in rules for this race alone. "I'm not a betting man, but I know who is going to get the pole," said reigning series champion Nigel Mansell. "Penske is going to run away with it." Fittipaldi has the top practice lap of 230.483 mph (368.772 km/h), with Brazil's Raul Boesel next best at 230.403 (368.644 km/h) followed by Tracy, Unser, Eddie Cheever, Mansell, Mario and Michael Andretti. "If we can make the front row, it would be a real coup," said Michael Andretti, making his Indy return after spending last season on the Formula One circuit. Those top drivers are aiming for the speedway records, set in 1992 by Roberto Guerrero, of 232.618 mph (372.188 km/h) for one lap and 232.482 mph (371.971 km/h) for a four-lap qualifying run. "There is no more pressure-filled day in racing than pole qualifying here," said Mario Andretti, a three-time Indy pole winner in his 29th and final 500. "Qualifying for this race is an event in itself. It's the only race where you have a week to get going as fast as you can just to get into the race." Owner-manager Derrick Walker, a former Penske chief, said he expected a pole speed above 234 mph (374 km/h). "Jesus," said stunned driver Mark Smith upon hearing the prediction. "I was hoping he would say 227 mph," added racer Robby Gordon. The fastest rookie is Villeneuve, son of the late Formula One racer Gilles Villeneuve. He has reached 226.637 mph (362.619 km/h) in a Reynard-Ford. Other rookies above 220 mph (352 km) are Adrian Fernandez of Mexico, Brazil's Mauricio Gugelmin and Matsuda. Lyn St. James, the only female driver here, reached 225.749 mph in practice Friday, the top speed ever recorded for a woman racer. js94bb A photographer filed a one million dollar lawsuit against Michael Jackson Friday as a photographer claimed the pop star did nothing to stop his bodyguards from beating him and taking his film. Free-lance photographer Alex Oliveira alleges two Jackson bodyguards attacked him in New York's Central Park March 31 as he tried to photograph the pop superstar. Oliveira filed the lawsuit in federal court, naming the bodyguards as "John Does I and II." According to Oliveira, one of the bodyguards told him to "give me the ... film or I will break your neck." Then, said Oliviera, the bodyguards pushed, choked and shoved him as they took his film and camera. Oliviera alleged that Jackson failed to discipline, train or control his bodyguards. Oliviera contends he suffered severe and permanent injuries including back, shoulder and neck pain, sleeplessness, anguish, and pychological and emotional distress. Ukraine has dismantled its 46 intercontinental missiles, Interfax news agency quoted President Leonid Kravchuk as saying Friday. The scrapping of the SS-24 missiles was part of an agreement signed in Moscow January by Kravchuk, US President Bill Clinton and his Russian counterpart Boris Yeltsin. The agreement called for the complete denuclearization of the former Soviet republic where a total of 176 missiles, including the 46 intercontinental missiles with a range of more than 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) had been deployed. The report came as Ukraine agreed to adhere to guidelines for nonproliferation of missile technology, according to the White House in Washington. US Vice President Al Gore and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Shmarov signed a memorandum of understanding on the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), to which the United States and 24 other nations belong, the White House said in a statement Friday. Nearly 100 Rwandan nurses, doctors and drivers of the relief organization Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) have been killed in the country's civil war since mid-April, MSF announced Friday. The killings happened inside refugee camps, hospitals and medical centers. An MSF team that visited the massacre sites said only 40 civilians out of about 2,800 grouped at the Saint Joseph center at Kibongo survived a massacre there on April 15. The others were killed by exploding grenades, rockets, automatic arms fire or were knifed, between 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. They were buried in a mass grave under the bishopric's refectory later, the organization said. A nurse who had been kidnapped and raped by army troops and beheaded, along with two drivers and a clergyman, was among the victims. MSF said the killings among its staff were the first since the organization was created in 1971. The report came as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso made an impassioned plea Friday for the world to end the "unimaginable human tragedy" in Rwanda. Ayala Lasso said in Geneva the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis had both welcomed his proposal to set up a commission to determine the causes of the massacres which have left some 200,000 dead in the tiny highland central African state, and determine responsibility for them. The UN Security Council delayed a vote Friday on a plan to deploy 5,500 UN troops to Rwanda to reinforce a UN mission reduced to 270 members. While welcoming the US initiative to establish protected sites for refugees close to Rwanda's borders with Burundi and Tanzania, UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said concentrating on that "would be to only address a small part of the problem" and could draw more refugees. "I believe that it is essential that any such initiative should be matched by action to assist persons in the interior of Rwanda," he said in a report to the council. After several hours of discussions, the council postponed action on the Rwanda proposal until next week, said Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria, the council president this month. The proposed UN force would be composed of troops from Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Australia, and would include 800 troops in the Rwandan capital Kigali to protect the airport and other key sites. But Boutros-Ghali said such a mission would be facilitated by a ceasefire between warring factions in Rwanda, which plunged into chaos and bloody ethnic fighting following the death of president Juvenal Habyarimana April 6 in a suspicious plane crash. Earlier on Friday in Paris, Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh, the UN special representative to Rwanda said the United Nations' top priority was a ceasefire between rebels and government soldiers and that negotiations on other topics would come later. "For now, it is difficult to resume political negotiations so long as there is no ceasefire," Booh-Booh said. "A ceasefire is theoretically possible but certain conditions must be fulfilled" first, he said referring to the Tutsi rebels' refusal to recognize the transitional government set up following the death of Habyarimana. In Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso made an impassioned plea for the world to end the "unimaginable human tragedy" in Rwanda. "The world must do something to halt this violence," said Ayala Lasso after five days in Kigali where he met with the chiefs of the Hutu-led government army and the mostly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front. Ayala Lasso said the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis had both welcomed his proposal to set up a commission to determine the causes of the massacres which have left some 200,000 dead in the tiny highland eastern African state, and responsibility for them. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees meanwhile said that with US planes now operating an airbridge to take aid to some 250,000 Rwandan refugees in Tanzania had stepped up its efforts and was flying in plastic sheeting for shelters. Some 2,000 refugees are continuing to cross the border each day, said spokesman Ron Redmond. The World Bank has approved loans for India totaling 6.5 billion to seven billion dollars for the next three years, officials said Friday. The loans are less than the nine billion dollars approved for the previous three-year period, but reflect the changing nature of the aid and improvements in India's economy, said Heinz Vergin, the bank official in charge of India. Bank officials noted that Indian economic growth reached 13 percent in 1992 and 1993. Inflation was 13 percent in 1993 and 5.3 percent in 1992. Both economic growth and inflation are expected to be 10 percent next year. The World Bank loans are no longer aimed at propping up India's currency reserves, but financing specific economic projects, Vergin said. In a related matter, the bank said its International Development Association would provide a 117.8 million dollar credit to help fight blindness in India. The funds will allow some eight million Indians to undergo cataract surgery between now and the year 2000, the bank said. "This is the boldest effort yet to reduce blindness in a developing country," said the bank's Donoso Clark. "The project's main focus will be on restoring the sight of poor people, particularly women." The bank said about one-third of the world's 35 million blind people live in India, and that 40 percent of Indians blinded by cataracts were between 40 and 60 years old. The World Bank has also funded programs to help reduce AIDS, leprosy, tuberculosis and malaria in India, as well as several projects on child and maternal health. A Polynesian race many deny exists, which 150 years ago was driven to the edge of extinction by a genocidal war, might win justice after the High Court here ruled they were entitled to seek compensation for lost lands. The Moriori lived on the isolated Chatham Islands, 870 kilometres (539 miles) from here, until 1835 when the Te Ati Awa Maori tribe arrived from New Zealand and began slaughtering them. Tommy Solomon was even referred to as the "last" Moriori when he died in 1933. Now the approximately 200 remaining Moriori have filed a suit with a quasi-judicial body seeking a return of lands. Moriori Charlie Preece says his race is getting stronger and the tribunal, by agreeing to hear their land claims, was giving them recognition as a race. "It's taken 160 years to get this far. Now we want to do things that should have been taken care of a long time ago," he said. But Maoris, claiming a right of conquest and the fact that the Native Land Court last century had refused to recognise Moriori, had gone to the High Court seeking to stop the hearing. The Moriori story, often marked by accusations of racism and bias, has only rarely been debated publicly and is one of the country's darkest secrets. Whites used to claim Moriori were a peaceful race who occupied mainland New Zealand until the Maori arrived and exterminated them. Although there is no evidence of Moriori populations in mainland New Zealand, this version of history is used as a justification for the later white occupation. But pro-Maori academics claim there was no such race as the Moriori, and that the group living on the Chathams were simply descendants of Maori fishermen taken by wind and tide to the islands. Oddly, the Maori claim Moriori have no right to complain because they are a conquered people, but such rationale on mainland New Zealand advanced by whites towards Maori would be regarded as unacceptable. Two years ago a joint New Zealand-Thai study of skulls revealed marked differences between Maori and Moriori. Whites first visited the Chathams in 1791, then occupied by an estimated 2000 Moriori. Whalers and sealers followed, bringing diseases which killed off hundreds of Moriori. The Moriori were known as pacifists and when word of this reached Te Ati Awa Maori in 1835 they seized a ship in Wellington harbour and sailed to the Chathams. "Moriori, A People Rediscovered" by Michael King, a book published in 1990 and for the first time outlining what happened, told of around 1,400 deaths in the wake of the Maori arrival. One Moriori said they were taken prisoner: "The women and children were bound, and many of these, together with the men, were killed and eaten, so that the corpses lay scattered in the woods and over the plains. Those who were spared from death were herded like swine, and killed from year to year." By the 1870s there were fewer than 100 Moriori left, and the Maori Land Court of that time held the Chathams to be Maori land, by right of conquest. Scotland Yard detectives are to investigate the theft of four million dollars (2.6 million pounds) from the United Nations headquarters in Somalia, a police spokeswoman said early Saturday. A team from the Yard's international and organised crime squad will fly to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, early next week, said a Yard spokeswoman. The UN called in Scotland Yard after the cash, used to pay the international organisation's staff in the strife-torn African state, where there are few banking facilities, disappeared from a filing cabinet at its main compound in Mogadishu a month ago. The spokeswoman stressed it was not unusual for international agencies to draw upon the expertise of Scotland Yard officers in investigating crime abroad. But, although Scotland Yard detectives would question and possibly fingerprint suspects, they were not authorised to make arrests, she said. The Italian industrial group Riva said late Friday it was pulling out of a deal to buy the giant eastern German EKO Stahl steelworks, embarrassing the Kohl government in the region ahead of October's elections. Riva said it would not revise its decision "whatever new proposals are made," the Treuhand privatisation state holding company said. The move comes after two weeks of talks which tried to renegotiate the 100 percent buyout which was worth 1.1 billion German marks (700,000 dollars), one of the most ambitious privatisation projects in the former communist East. The deal came unstuck over differences between Riva and the IG Metall union over the choice of a neutral member of the company's supervisory council and the pace of job cuts, which would bring staffing down from 3,000 to 2,300. The union has also questioned Riva's economic soundness. The Treuhand said it would immediately get back in touch with investors who had shown an interest in the company earlier. The EKO Stahl works is a key employer in the depressed eastern German region of Eisenhuettenstadt. President Bill Clinton announced Friday he plans to nominate George Bruno the new US ambassador to Belize. Bruno, 51, is an attorney specializing in human rights issues. He was a member of the Justice Department during president Jimmy Carter's administration. Bruno has degrees in civil administration and US history and has participated as an international observer to elections in Pakistan and Romania. Clinton also announced he intends to nominate Phyllis Oakley, a career Foreign Service Officer to be the next assistant secretary of state for population and refugees. Oakley, 60, has been acting director of the department's Bureau of Refugee Programs since March. She has also worked as the State Department's deputy spokeswoman and has experience on intelligence, Middle East and humanitarian assistance issues. At the agriculture department, Clinton intends to fill two top slots. He will nominate Jose M. Amador as assistant secretary for science and education. He will be responsible for science, technology and education programs. Amador is a native of Cuba. He presently heads the Texas A M Research Center. Senior figures from Britain's Labour opposition party hope their new leader will be known by mid-July, following the death of John Smith which has devastated British politics, the press reported Saturday. An early leadership contest could capitalise on the party's current strength over the ruling Conservative party which, according to an opinion poll Saturday has fallen into third place -- 21 points behind Labour and half a point behind the Liberal Democrats. Labour's chairman David Blunkett said the party would move "sensibly but quickly into resolving the leadership, and the opinion appears to be we should try and do that by mid-July." Blunkett said the timetable for a leadership contest would be drawn up by the party's ruling national executive at its next meeting on May 25. Meanwhile, Britain's three main political parties have announced a suspension of campaigning in the Europen elections until after Smith's funeral Friday in Edinburgh, and a political truce, as a mark of respect, has called a temporary halt to partisan attacks. It is still too early to gauge the effect of Smith's death on Labour's chances of success. However, a Gallup Poll taken before his death from a heart attack Thursday, but published in Saturday's Telegraph found nearly half of voters think Labour will win the next general election. In the wake of the Tories' drubbing in local elections last week, the survey gives Labour, on 45 and a half percent, a 20 and a half point lead over the Liberal Democrats which are on 25 percent. The Tories are third on 24 and a half percent. Few place all the blame on British Prime Minister John Major. Most point the finger at the government as a whole, although only 13 percent of Gallup's respondents think Major is "firmly in charge." In Inverness to a Scottish Tory conference, Friday night, in a speech recast to remove political aspects, Major indicated he had no intention of standing down and asked: "Judge me on my whole term. All of it. You can't judge a house when only the foundations are laid." Editorial comment in Saturday's Telegraph analysed the current sombre political mood: "The death of Mr Smith and Labour's prospective leadership trauma could influence national politics in two obvious ways. "First, the current wave of emotion may spill over into some sympathy votes for Labour at the European elections on June 9, enlarging the party's likely triumph. "Yet Mr Major's prospects of retaining the Tory leadership seem strengthened... If the government can avoid another self-inflicted crisis for a few weeks, the Tory leadership issue may recede as public attention focuses on the future of the Opposition." On her first full day as acting Labour leader for the imminent Euro- election campaign Margaret Beckett on Friday expressed confidence that her party's leadership issue would be decided without rancour "to make sure that his (Smith's) life's work is not frustrated by his death." In Saturday's Daily Mirror, Beckett said she hoped the memory of Smith's decency would change the attitudes and behaviour of all politicians. And she pleaded for unity to continue: "He was very proud of the way the party has pulled together. He was very proud of the sense of unity and the will to win." She urged her party to: "continue to display that unity and will to win... We must all conduct ourselves so that he would have been proud of us and do nothing that would let him down. We must do nothing that will in any way mean that his work comes to nothing." As to the leadership candidates, the bookies' 1-3 favourite for the job is domestic affairs expert Tony Blair. A Briton was flogged 50 times for breaking Moslem drinking laws in the Gulf State of Qatar, his father said Friday. The British Foreign Office confirmed it was looking into the case, which is thought to be the first time a Briton has been flogged in Qatar. Computer technician Gavin Sherrard-Smith, 30, was lashed with three- foot canes in the jail where he is serving a six-month sentence. The beating took place on May 3, but Sherrard-Smith's father learned it had taken place from a letter which arrived Friday. In a post-script, his son wrote: "PS. Got my 50 on Tuesday. All okay. Glad it's over." Appeals for clemency by his 72-year-old father, former colonel Derek Sherrard-Smith failed, despite further appeals from British diplomats. Sherrard-Smith -- who denied selling alcohol to a Moslem -- was sentenced to 50 lashes, six months in jail and deportation after his arrest in November. Qatar allows westerners to drink only at home and strictly controls the sale of alcohol. A couple from Mali was given a four-year suspended sentence Friday by a court in the Paris suburb of Bobigny, after mutilating their two daughters by the traditional African practice of female "circumcision." The prosecution had asked the court to set an example in the widely publicised case, which would send a message to the African community. "I was circumcised at my birth, I wanted my children to be like me," explained mother Dembele Soumare, aged 34, who argued that she had not known the operation was illegal in France. Her husband Guessouma, 54, said he was not involved in the affair which he described as "women's business which does not concern the head of the family." The local hospital discovered that 12-month-old Fatoumata Soumare had been infibulated -- a ring passed through the outer lips of her vagina -- and her clitoris removed when she was hospitalised for an anaemic condition in August 1990. Her sister Feta, aged three, was then examined by the emergency services who found the clitoris and smaller vaginal lips removed, typical of the ritual circumcision practised on young girls in around 30 African countries. Dembele, saying she had acted alone, described meeting a circumciser who brought her to an unknown address where she operated on the children as they sat on the mother's knee. "I did not look at what she was doing, I do not know what instrument she used. My girls bled very little," she told the court. The operation cost 100 francs (17 dollars). Her husband acknowledged knowing that the operation was illegal. "If my wife had asked me I would have told her not to do it," he said. A witness from the childrens' inspectorate who interviewed the couple after their arrest contradicted this testimony, saying that at the time the father defended the operation as a normal custom. A strong earthquake rocked the southern Philippines before dawn Saturday, toppling power and communication lines and houses, authorities said, with at least three people reportedly injured by falling debris. The temblor, which struck at 4:12 a.m. (2012 GMT Friday), registered 5.7 on the Richter scale with its epicenter just a few kilometers (miles) off the shore of Pagadian City, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said. The quake, which resulted from tectonic plates colliding, also registered a five on the Rossi-Forel scale in Pagadian, meaning that unstable objects would be toppled but stable structures would not be damaged. Pagadian police, contacted by telephone, said that when the quake hit, residents of coastal areas panicked and fled to higher ground for fear of tsunamis -- extremely high waves -- but have since returned to their homes when it became apparent no tsunamis were coming. Senior police officer Rodolfo Tual said the quake "was very strong but it lasted just a few seconds," adding that it reminded him of a major earthquake that caused tsunamis and killed several hundred people in the south in 1976. Power and some communication lines in the city of 110,000 were knocked out by the quake but electricity was restored after a few minutes. Residents of Pagadian were quoted by southern Philippine radio stations as saying that about 43 houses made of light materials collapsed, injuring three people. Police said they were trying to confirm these reports. The quake was felt throughout the western half of the large southern island of Mindanao but had no significant effects outside of Pagadian, Phivolcs said. The UN Security Council delayed a vote Friday on a plan to deploy 5,500 UN troops to Rwanda to reinforce a UN mission reduced to 270 members. While welcoming the US initiative to establish protected sites for refugees close to Rwanda's borders with Burundi and Tanzania, UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said concentrating on that "would be to only address a small part of the problem" and could draw more refugees. "I believe that it is essential that any such initiative should be matched by action to assist persons in the interior of Rwanda," he said in a report to the council. After several hours of discussions, the council postponed action on the Rwanda proposal until next week, said Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria, the council president this month. Diplomatic sources said there were unconfirmed reports that the force would be composed of troops from Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Australia, and would include 800 troops in the Rwandan capital Kigali to protect the airport and other key sites. But Boutros-Ghali said such a mission would be facilitated by a ceasefire between warring factions in Rwanda, which plunged into chaos and bloody ethnic fighting following the death of president Juvenal Habyarimana April 6 in a suspicious plane crash. Earlier on Friday in Paris, Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh, the UN special representative to Rwanda said the United Nations' top priority was a ceasefire between rebels and government soldiers and that negotiations on other topics would come later. "For now, it is difficult to resume political negotiations so long as there is no ceasefire," Booh-Booh said. "A ceasefire is theoretically possible but certain conditions must be fulfilled" first, he said referring to the Tutsi rebels' refusal to recognize the transitional government set up following the death of Habyarimana. In Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso made an impassioned plea for the world to end the "unimaginable human tragedy" in Rwanda. "The world must do something to halt this violence," said Ayala Lasso after five days in Kigali where he met with the chiefs of the Hutu-led government army and the mostly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front. Ayala Lasso said the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis had both welcomed his proposal to set up a commission to determine the causes of the massacres which have left some 200,000 dead in the tiny highland eastern African state, and responsibility for them. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees meanwhile said that with US planes now operating an airbridge to take aid to some 250,000 Rwandan refugees in Tanzania had stepped up its efforts and was flying in plastic sheeting for shelters. Some 2,000 refugees are continuing to cross the border each day, said spokesman Ron Redmond. Japan's main opposition Liberal Democratic Party plans to submit a no- confidence motion against Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata, possibly as soon as budget bills are approved, according to party leader Yohei Kono. In an interview with the Asahi Shimbun published Saturday, he said that the Hata coalition, which holds only 190 seats in the 511-seat lower house, was formed against "the people's will." The ruling coalition was forced to form a minority government last month after the Social Democratic Party (SDP) withdrew its support. It is Japan's first minority government in 39 years. Kono hinted that the no-confidence motion might be submitted after budget bills are passed. He said: "I think it is necessary to pass the budget bills for the sake of people's daily life." The bills, for the fiscal year to March 1995, are expected to be approved during the current parliamentary session which ends June 29. Kono, whose party is the biggest in parliament, urged the SDP to back the no-confidence motion. He said he wanted to link up with the SDP to overthrow the Hata coalition if the two parties could agree common policies. The two parties, which control 280 seats in the lower house, have already agreed to cooperate in parliament. Hata has said he does not intend to call a snap general election if a no-confidence motion is passed. Japan's Justice Minister Hiroshi Nakai said Saturday that Japan could not make an exception and issue a visa to Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona. Maradona has been refused entry to Japan with the Argentine soccer squad because of a drug conviction. In an interview with Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK), Nakai said, "I know Maradona is a superstar. I know about Japan's soccer boom. But we cannot make a special case for him." He said Japan was conducting an anti-drug drive so could not issue a visa to Maradona because his drug record was relatively recent. The 33-year-old soccer player was arrested in Buenos Aires in 1991 for cocaine possession and charged in 1992 in Italy for drug use. Maradona was invited by the Japan Football Association as a member of the Argentine national team to participate in a three-nation tournament here scheduled for May 22-29. Japan failed to win a place in the World Cup finals, but soccer is a boom sport with the launch of the nation's first professional football league last year. Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao left Saturday on a week-long trip to the United States, where he is expected to hold talks on the thorny nuclear issue, officials said. The 73-year-old premier left by a special Air India plane from a military airbase on the capital's outskirts, accompanied by a high- level delegation that includes Finance Minister Manmohan Singh. It is the first visit to the US by an Indian premier since Rajiv Gandhi went to Washington in October 1987, and the most controversial of foreign trips by Rao since he took office in June 1991. Indian officials say New Delhi's ambitious nuclear and missile programmes will top Rao's agenda in his meetings with President Bill Clinton and other US officials. Opposition leaders had pressed Rao to call off the visit to denounce what they alleged was US arm-twisting over nuclear non-proliferation, Kashmir, human rights and trade. At the root of Indo-US differences is the refusal by New Delhi, which exploded a nuclear device in 1974, to sign the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty or agree to a pact on a nuclear-free South Asia. The Press Trust of India news agency reported Saturday that Rao "was expected to tell the US ... that it will not accept Washington's plans for a multilateral meet on nuclear non-proliferation in South Asia." The US administration, which fears that South Asia is a potential nuclear flashpoint, also wants New Delhi not to induct an indigenous surface-to-surface Prithvi missile in the army and halt research on the intermediate-range Agni ballistic missile. A US proposal to supply 38 F-16 planes to Pakistan, with which India has fought three wars and which it accuses of backing Moslem separatism in Kashmir, has also angered New Delhi. Indian officials said Rao, who launched a radical programme of economic liberalisation in July 1991 ending four decades of quasi- socialism, will invite increased US investment in India. Rao arrives in New York Sunday for meetings with the large Indian community there and then goes to Houston for talks with US business leaders. On Tuesday, he will fly to Boston, where he will give a lecture at Harvard. His two-day stay in Washington Wednesday and Thursday includes a speech to a joint session of Congress, and a two-and-a-half-hour session with Clinton. The two are scheduled to hold a joint press conference Thursday. Rao is also to have talks with Defence Secretary William Perry, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Former prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa has agreed to give testimony about his financial transactions in a bid to reopen debate in parliament on the budget, it was reported here Saturday. The Tokyo Shimbun, quoting coalition sources, said Hosokawa agreed to give evidence after opposition parties still refused to join in the budget debate until he clarified his role in a loan from a scandal- tainted trucking firm. Hosokawa reportedly received 100 million yen (950,000 dollar) from Tokyo Sagawa Kyubin in 1982 for campaign use. Hosokawa resigned last month after he acknowledged that he illegally paid no interest on the loan to the firm, which used to have ties with gangsters and influential politicians, including former Liberal Democratic Party kingmaker Shin Kanemaru. Hosokawa is also alleged to have traded stocks under the name of his father-in-law. But he has denied this. The ruling coalition, Japan's first minority government in almost four decades, has pledged to pass the budget bills by the end of June. Budget debates have been stalled since early March. reports TOKYO, May 14 (AFP) - IBM Japan Ltd. is to more than double its recruitment in 1995 because it is expecting a recovery following brisk sales of semiconductors and computers, news reports said Saturday. The Japanese subsidiary of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is to hire about 300 university graduates next year, compared with 140 this year, the Yomiuri newspaper said. It is the first time in six years that the company is to boost the number of new employees. The newspaper said the gain was based on expectations that the company, which suffered losses last year, planned to reap profits this year on brisk shipments of semiconductors. The Yomiuri also said the larger recruitment was aimed at preparing for growing markets of multimedia-related businesses in the near future. The company, facing severe business conditions in Japan, has restructured and shed 3,000 employees last year. Japan's Fujitsu Ltd. also plans to boost recruitment next year from 300 new graduates last year to 400 next year, the Yomiuri said. The Japanese computer maker, which suffered its first ever loss last year, also expects profits for the current year on growing demand for semiconductors and workstations. Australia is considering a UN request for a contingent of troops as part of a 5,500 strong force that may be sent to Rwanda, officials said here Saturday. The request followed UN Security Council discussion of a US plan to send troops to establish protected sites for refugees, although the council on Friday postponed action on the proposal until next week. A decision on the request would probably require the approval of cabinet or at least the prime minister and senior ministers covering defence and foreign affairs. Sources here say at least 10 western countries, mostly European, have also been asked to make a contribution along with a number of African countries if the Security Council gives the go-ahead. A foreign affairs department spokesman said: "I can confirm that a request has been received from the UN in the last few hours, but no decision has been made about it yet. The spokesman was unable to say how many troops would be contributed. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has offered to resign after legislators refused to ratify a draft accord settling the separatist conflict in Abkhazia, a deputy said. Legislators said they would draw up a draft of their own, different from the one hammered out by a government delegation and Abkhazian envoys and mediated by Russia. Former Georgian prime minister and deputy, Tengiz Sigua, told journalists after the parliament meeting Friday that Shevardnadze offered his resignation as he had failed to win support for the draft. Early Friday Georgian deputies were given a first glimpse of the draft which is to be signed in Moscow Sunday in the presence of representatives from the United Nations and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The draft calls for a 12-kilometer (seven-mile) security zone in the Gali region in southern Abkhazia, where Commonwealth of Independent States troops and UN observers will be deployed, the Iprinda news agency reported. Some deputies fear the security zone will definitely bar access to Abkhazia from Georgia, and said the negotiated settlement was tantamount to "surrender." Shevardnadze stepped down for a few hours last September 14 after parliament refused to grant him special powers to impose a state of emergency because of the worsening crisis in Abkhazia. At least four bombs exploded in trouble-torn Karachi early Saturday, the official Associated Press of Pakistan said. No casualties were immediately reported from the blasts which started when unidentified attackers in a car hurled a bomb inside a mosque. People were just gather for dawn prayers in the middle class Gulshan-i-Iqbal area of the port city. At least four bombs exploded in trouble-torn Karachi early Saturday, the official Associated Press of Pakistan said. No casualties were immediately reported from the blasts which started when unidentified attackers in a car hurled a bomb inside a mosque. People were just gather for dawn prayers in the middle class Gulshan-i-Iqbal area of the port city. The bomb went off in the courtyard. An adjacent Islamic religious school escaped without serious damage or injury, reports said. Three more blasts were heard in Karachi's suburbs, police said without giving details. The early morning blasts followed a week of violent clashes between police and the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) in which more than 30 people were killed. The MQM represents Urdu speaking settlers from India after the 1947 partition of the subcontinent. It has accused the administration of the southern Sindh province of persecuting its community. The authorities accuse the MQM, the main opposition group in the Sindh assembly, of involvement in alleged terrorism. MQM sources said more than 2,000 people had been arrested following clashes earlier this month. It said "false" charges had been used. Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Sergei Terchenko arrived here Tuesday for a three-day visit to discuss ways of implementing economic and trade agreements. Terchenko, accompanied by a high-level political and economic delegation including the ministers of energy, trade and transportation, was greeted at the airport by Vice President Hassan Habibi. He told reporters that his visit was aimed at boosting bilateral relations and speeding up cooperation in various fields -- including air, sea and road transportation. Habibi said the two countries would discuss implementation of accords already reached during visits to Alma Ata last October by President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and to Tehran by the Kazakh leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in November 1992. An official from the Kazakh embassy in Tehran told AFP that his country and Iran would also discuss oil cooperation. Japan's Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Ltd. is to write off 400 billion yen (3.8 billion dollars) over three years to help bail out affiliates suffering bad loans, a newspaper said Saturday. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said the write offs would include 130 billion yen it was to report in the financial year to March to support six of its troubled nonbank institutions. The Osaka-based life insurer, which is to suffer unexpected losses for the time being, will suspend bonus payments for its managers and cut their monthly salaries by up to ten percent duirng the year to March 1995, the daily said. Sumitomo's unrealised gains on property and securities holding at the end of March were estimated at 2,000 billion yen. After three months of record-breaking sales overseas, South Korea's auto exports slowed to 58,100 units in April, but were still up 6.6 percent from a year ago, manufacturers said Saturday. The average monthly growth of auto exports from January through March was 18.1 percent, but automakers here shipped only 84 percent of their monthly export goal in April, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association said. Meanwhile, domestic sales in April jumped 14.8 percent from a year ago to 139,200 vehicles, causing delayed delivery and forcing makers to turn some of their overseas shipments to the domestic market, the association said. The average first quarter monthly increase of domestic sales was 7.1 percent, it said. China has played one of its trump cards in its bid to obtain renewal of trade privileges from the United States with the release of Chen Ziming, a symbolic figure of the 1989 pro-democracy movement. Chen, a 41-year-old economist, was condemned in February 1991 to 13 years prison for "plotting against the government" and "counter- revolutionary propaganda." His sentence, and a similar one imposed on his friend Wang Juntao, who was freed last month and went to the United States for medical treatment, were the heaviest imposed on leaders of the movement, which ended with the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4. Chen, described by the authorities as the "black hand" of the movement, was freed to have medical treatment, Xinhua news agency announced Friday in a brief five-line dispatch in its English-language service. He contracted several illnesses while in a Beijing prison and is suffering serious heart problems, according to his family. "In releasing Chen on apparent humanitarian grounds, the government has played its joker which undoubtedly will weigh heavily in Bill Clinton's choice," said a western diplomat. The US president must decide by June 3 whether to renew China's Most Favoured Nation status which grants favourable access to the US market for Chinese goods. Washington has said renewal is linked to progress in China's human rights record. Chen's freedom follows the recent release of six Christian dissidents from labour camps where they had been serving terms ranging between one and three years. "The authorities are not taking many political risks in releasing opponents who are ill and a handful of Christians, and allowing some others to emigrate," said the diplomat. These gestures to appease Washington do not represent a change in the government's repressive policies or an improvement in the human rights situation, political analysts said. Last Thursday, Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin defended the bloody repression in Tiananmen Square for the first time publicly. He said any fresh demonstrations would be dealt with similarly. On Friday the People's National Congress also approved the revision of the law on public order aimed at preventing the slightest criticism of the authorities. A clampdown on the more active dissidents which began late last year has intensified in recent weeks with the arrest of at least six people in Beijing and Shanghai. The most recent victim was Yang Zhou, spokesman for the Chinese Association for Human Rights, arrested at his home in Shanghai. Meanwhile, China's most famous dissident Wei Jingsheng is still under police guard in a government residence in a Beijing suburb. Beijing still has another card to play to win over Washington, according to most political analysts. Bao Tong, 62, the most senior Chinese official jailed after the 1989 demonstrations was transferred a month ago to a hospital in Beijing because of deteriorating health. His family said he has complained of inflammation of the thyroid, salivary glands and lymph nodes. But he remains under police surveillance in his hospital bed. Bao, an economist and former top aide to disgraced Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang, is serving a seven-year sentence for "counter- revolutionary propaganda and incitement." A radical Islamic daily on Saturday protested against a visit by a group of US newspaper editors and said it would boycott a meeting between the journalists and representatives of the Iranian press. The chief-editors of 13 US newspapers and magazines arrived here earlier this week on a three-day visit to "raise their understanding of present-day Iran," a US journalist told AFP. They have already held several meetings with representatives of the Iranian media and were to meet Saturday with the editors-in-chief of the press in Tehran. "It is not clear who invited the American editors to Iran and why the culture ministry has arranged a meeting between them and Iranian chief-editors," said Jomhuri Islami, a daily close to Islamic hardliners. The paper warned that the meeting could be a "ploy" by Washington to try and reopen talks with Iran through an indirect channel. Tehran and Washington broke diplomatic ties in 1980 after radical students stormed the US embassy here and took its staff hostage. The United States has called several times for direct negotiations, but the two sides have yet to make a breakthrough. Islamic hardliners are fiercely opposed to any talks with Washington. A Chinese flotilla was spotted steaming into the Sea of Japan overnight for the first time since the end of World War II, the Japanese defence agency said Saturday. Four Chinese naval ships, including a destroyer and a frigate, were believed to be on their way to the Russian Far East port of Vladivostok on a goodwill visit, agency officials said. Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported earlier this month that three Chinese naval ships, led by Chinese northern fleet commander Vice Admiral Wang Jing, will arrive in Vladivostok on Tuesday. The visit will reciprocate a port call to the Chinese port of Qingtao by a fleet of three Russian naval ships in August. The officials said the Chinese ships included a 3,250-tonne Luda-class destroyer, a supply ship, a submarine support and rescue ship and a 2,250-tonne frigate. Queen Beatrix was expected Saturday to formally appoint three party officials to negotiate a broad coalition government for the Netherlands, thrown into political turmoil after this month's general election. The Christian Democrats (CDA), who have dominated the political scene for most of this century, lost 20 seats in the vote on May 3, retaining only 34 in the 150-seat lower house of parliament. Their partners in the last government, the Social Democrats (PVDA), lost 12 seats but became the biggest parliamentary party with 37 seats. The right-wing Liberal Democrats (VVD) gained nine seats, putting their tally to 31, while the left-wing Democrats '66 (D66) party doubled its score to 24 seats. The negotiators will be Klaus de Vries for the PVDA, Gijs van Aardenne for the VVD and Jan Vis for D66, a statement from the palace said late Friday. De Vries, director general of the federation of Dutch local councils since 1988. A lawyer, who has worked in the justice ministry, he was a member of parliament from 1973 to 1988. Van Aardenne is a former minister of the economy, who was also deputy prime minister in the first cabinet of Ruud Lubbers from 1982 to 1986. Vis has chaired the D66 parliamentary group in the Senate, of which he has been a member since 1980. A former journalist, he teaches constitutional law at the university of Groningue. If the negotiators manage to reconcile the differences between their respective parties, they will present a final report to the Queen, who will then decide who should be asked to form a government and possibly become the country's next prime minister. The left-right coalition, if it comes off, will be the first time the Christian Democrats have been left out of power for 75 years. Analysts said however that despite the goodwill expressed on all sides, it would not be easy to set up because of wide differences of view on certain issues, notably social security. If negotiations break down, there are two possible scenarios: to bring back the outgoing Christian Democrat-Socialist coalition with the addition of the D66 Liberals, or an alliance between the Christian Democrats with the VVD and D66. India is to evacuate 15 Nepalese nationals stranded in civil war-torn Yemen, the Indian embassy said here Saturday. The announcement of the planned evacuation from Yemen's capital Sanaa, follows a request to India by the Nepalese government, an embassy statement said. "A message has been conveyed to the Indian Ambassador in Sanaa that all Nepalese nationals holding valid travel documents should be evacuated along with the Indian nationals," it said. "It is understood that the Nepalese nationals will be arriving on May 18 or 19 by the Indian ship, M. V. Nicobar in Bombay and the Royal Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi will coordinate their further movement from Bombay to Kathmandu," it added. Vetaran Malawi President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, facing challenges from three presidential contenders in multi-party elections on Tuesday, said Saturday his work of ruling Malawi was not yet finished. Banda, believed to be in his 90s, said in a 20-minute speech on state radio that the future Malawi needed an experienced leader like him. "The future holds challenges and dangers, needed to be led by the experienced and capable government of Kamuzu," he said. Describing the elections as historic, Banda said Malawi needed politicians of ability, honour and good reputation. "MCP (the ruling Malawi Congress Party) has that ability, skill , integrity and experience," he said. Banda, accused of serious human rights abuses during his three decades in power, said his government would respect human rights and uphold good and accountable government. ''We will limit state power by laws,'' he said. Banda's address was his last campaign effort after cutting short his campaign tour of the country due to a "leg problem." The Singapore High Court has made a landmark sex equality ruling that a house-husband can claim a share of his working wife's property in a divorce, a report said Saturday. Judicial Commissioner K.S. Rajah ruled Friday that the unemployed man looking after the household was entitled to similar rights as women given benefits in matrimonial property disputes, the Straits Times reported. The couple, whose identity was not disclosed, had been married for 26 years and divorced last year. The husband "housewife" demanded a a share of a flat worth 355,000 Singapore dollars (233,000 US). He was awarded 50,000 Singapore dollars. The 55-year-old husband, described as a freelance Christian pastor, said he cooked, cleaned the house and looked after the three children while the wife worked. The wife, 48, claimed she paid for the purchase of the house with her earnings and her husband did not make any financial contribution. In ordering the 50,000 Singapore dollar payment, the judge said he had taken into consideration the oustanding mortage of 84,000 Singapore dollars. The report said the husband could not be contacted as he had gone to Malaysia. The woman told reporters she was too upset to talk about the matter. Kuok Philippine Properties Inc., plans a stocks rights offering and sale totalling 802.97 million pesos (28.7 million dollars) to finance expansion and diversification, documents obtained Saturday said. The Malaysian-Philippine real estate joint venture will offer 727.51 million pesos (26 million dollars) in stock to existing holders. An additional 75.46 million pesos (2.7 million dollars) will be sold to Eastern Securities Development Corp., a local brokerage firm. The documents, obtained from the official Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), did not say what Eastern Securities would do with the shares. Proceeds from the rights offering will be used to help finance the construction of a three billion peso (107 million dollar) office complex in Manila's financial district of Makati. It will also go to raising the 480 million pesos (17.2 million dollars) necessary for the company to acquire about 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of land just outside Manila, to be developed into a "multiuse complex," in partnership with two other unidentified real estate firms. The documents also said that part of the proceeds would go to the 500 million pesos (17.8 million dollars) the company needs to raise to acquire about 20 to 35 percent in an unidentified "major food processing and manufacturing concern." Bangkok police arrested four young Russian women on prostitution charges after raiding two hotels in the capital, news reports said Saturday. A Thai woman, Darin Chitklaew, 43, also was arrested in the raids on Friday and charged with procurring customers, they said. Police said the Russians had admitted travelling to Thailand in January on tourist visas to work as prostitutes. Bangkok police arrested four other Russian women on prostitution charges in March. News reports have said that more than 3,000 Russians were now working as prostitutes here. One Thai language daily said there were more than 11,000. But Thai officials say the influx started after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. Police said the women faced a maximum fine of 1,000 baht (40 dollars) and deportation. Several armored cars took up positions Saturday in the Georgian capital Tbilisi ahead of a debate in parliament on President Eduard Shevardnadze's challenge to deputies to abolish the post of presidency. The armored cars were reinforcing police checkpoints already in place for several days in the center of the town, witnesses said. Shevardnadze submitted Friday his resignation and proposed abolishing the presidency to protest the deputies' refusal to ratify an accord towards settling the conflict with the separatist republic of Abkhazia in western Georgia. Ramaz Sakavarelidze, Shevardnadze's press officer, quoted by the Georgia news agency Iprinda said that Shevardnadze would remain parliamentary speaker, a post to which he was elected in October 1992. Shevardnadze has been head of state since his election in November 1992. The deputies fear the accord will authorize the secession of Abkhazia. The accord, to be signed Sunday by Georgian and Abkhazian delegations in Moscow, calls for deploying Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) troops in a 12-kilometre (7.2 mile) security zone separating Abkhazia from the rest of Georgia. Georgia has been hit since becoming independent in 1991 by a series of political crises, including two civil wars and the Abkhazian secession struggle, at a time when the national economy is in ruins. In Buenos Aires, Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona confirmed that his team were pulling out of the Kirin Cup, following Tokyo's decision to ban Maradona. Grondona said on Friday night that the decision was final. Argentina, who were due to face Japan and France in the tournament, have already arranged a friendly against Chile on May 18 to make up the gap in their final World Cup preparations. A depot stocking bombs for Russian warplanes blew up Saturday in the Vladivostok region in far-eastern Russia, ITAR-TASS news agency reported. Rescue workers were sent to the site. No casualty or damage figures were yet available, the agency said. The blasts took place at 3:40 p.m. (0440 GMT). Iran has protested to Tokyo over the cremation of an Iranian who allegedly committed suicide in Japan, saying it was against Islamic law, the official IRNA news agency said. The Iranian embassy in Tokyo lodged the protest in a letter to the Japanese foreign ministry, it said. A Japanese municipality said it ordered the cremation of the body "because of the hot weather and since it could not determine the victim's identity," according to IRNA. The embassy, however, said the body had been identified four days after it was discovered and demanded that the foreign ministry open an investigation into the case. The body of the Iranian, who apparently committed suicide, was discovered on May 1, IRNA said. Thousands of Iranians work in Japan. Group A result from the men's volleyball World League here Saturday: Italy 3 Japan 2 (15-10, 7-15, 15-6, 13-15, 15-12 The Chinese authorities on Saturday followed up the jailing of two US citizens for fraud by issuing a stern warning to foreigners who flout the country's laws. "Foreign businessmen who think they can do what they like in China are wrong," said the People's Daily newspaper in a front page article, a day after Chinese-Americans Fransisco Hung Moy and Raymond Lee, were jailed for 20 and 14 years respectively. The pair were convicted of orchestrating a massive financial scam in which they tricked a branch of the Agricultural Bank of China, in the northern Hebei province, out of 200 standby letters of credit worth 10 billion dollars. "The development of a socialist market economy is accompanied by a strict legal framework which everybody must obey," the paper said. The editorial was headlined "A rare case, a big lesson." Referring directly to the case of the US citiziens, the newspaper said: "Foreigners in China must respect Chinese law just as Chinese people have to respect foreign law," it added. The authorities were careful not to unduly frighten off much needed foreign investors, stressing the aim was not to shut the door on businessmen, but to get rid of dishonest ones. "We want to defend the rights and interests of foreign societies. Friends from all five continents are welcome in China," the article said. Former French minister Bernard Kouchner called on the international community Saturday to help avert "genocide" in the ethnically divided country. "We cannot stand by and let genocide be perpetrated," said Kouchner, who arrived here on Thursday and spent Friday touring orphanages and camps for people made homeless by the five-week conflict. Kouchner, a doctor who founded the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, told reporters the international community must shoulder its responsibilities and address the "gigantic humanitarian problem" in Rwanda. He is a former socialist minister for humanitarian action. The UN Security Council delayed a vote Friday until next week on a plan to deploy 5,500 UN troops to Rwanda to reinforce a UN mission reduced to 270 members. Kouchner has held talks with both sides in the conflict, which flared between the ethnic minority Tutsis and majority Hutus following the mysterious plane crash death of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6. "I would like to persuade both sides of the need to protect civilians, women and children," of whom 20,000 are "displaced" in Kigali, he said. He held talks in northern Byumba with rebel leader Paul Kagame, whose Rwandan Patriotic Front is drawn from the Tutsis, and in Kigali with the Rwandan army chief of staff, general Augustin Bizimungu. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the latest fighting. Sporadic bursts of heavy weapons continued in the Rwandan capital Saturday as rebels fighters battled government troops in an attempt to take control of the city, United Nations sources said. Saturday's fighting mainly involved larger weapons fired from long distances, unlike the close range small arms duels that raged in Kigali on Friday. Most of the fighting, pitting the mainly Tutsi Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) against Hutu-dominated government troops, was taking place in areas surrounding the headquarters of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) and the road leading to the airport. The rebels claimed on Friday that they have taken control half the country after five weeks of heavy fighting with government forces during which tens of thousands of people have died. The tiny central Africa nation plunged back into a murderous ethnic war after Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana was killed in an alleged rocked attack on his plane on April 6. The UN Security Council on Friday delayed a vote on a plan to deploy 5,500 peacekeepers to Rwanda to reinforce some 400 troops now there. A decision is expected next week. Bosnian leaders reacted angrily Saturday to US backing for a European peace plan giving 51 percent of Bosnia-Hercegovina to a Bosnian Croat- Moslem federation and 49 percent to Serbs. Bosnian Serbs, who control over 70 pecent of the territory, for their part rejected giving as much as 51 percent to the Bosnian Croats and Moslems. Mustafa Bijedic, Bosnian ambassador in Geneva where the leading powers also including Russia took their united stand late Friday, told AFP that America had "now joined with Europe in rewarding fascist Serb aggression". He said there were no moral or international legal grounds for giving 50 percent of a state to "an aggressor which has killed one quarter of a million people". Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic, who also condemned the new US- European-Russian stand, meanwhile met in Geneva Saturday with US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, a US diplomat said. The Bosnians had been hoping for Washington's support in their bid to increase the territory to be apportioned to an agreed Bosnian Croat- Moslem federation from 51 percent to 58 percent. The Bosnia ambassador warned that such reward for Belgrade-backed Serb aggression paved the way for similar support to dissatisfied minorities elsewhere, such as Russians in Latvia and Ukraine or Hungarians in Romania. "It could happen anywhere in the world," Bijedic said, but added that there was "still a chance" that Europe would "think about what could happen" and "not produce a time bomb in the Balkans". The Bosnian Serbs Saturday said the Croats and Moslem Bosnians could not have the 51 percent the European plan would give them, the Bosnian Serb news agency reported. Momcilo Krajisnik, president of the Bosnian Serbs' self-styled parliament, said they in no way had more than the Serbs "as they are neither moral nor military victors and moreover do not possess such a proportion of territory". "We believe that one has to take into account the situation on the ground, namely that the Serbs control 73 per cent of the territory and that they are owners of 64 percent," he was quoted as saying. South Korea on Saturday aired worries over a North Korean telex to the IAEA saying was preparing for the change of fuel rods in a five megawat nuclear reactor without outside inspectors present. "It is extremely regrettable that North Korea gave notice of its decision to prepare to go ahead with the rod change on its own," a foreign ministry statement said. The United States has warned that Pyongyang could extract enough plutonium from the spent fuel to make four or five nuclear bombs. Washington says it is vital that North Korea allow inspection and sampling of the rods. The foreign ministry statement added that South Korea hoped the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could clarify the situation when its monitors leave for North Korea this weekend. "We stress the crucial importance of sampling and securing the rods as demanded by the IAEA and remind North Korea that the nuclear problem should not be taken to a destructive phase by unilaterally changing the fuel rods." A ministry spokesman told AFP that the wording of the telex left it "far from clear" as to whether "they have started or are preparing to start" changing the rods at the five megawatt experimental reactor at the Yongbyong nuclear complex, 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Pyongyang. "We are waiting for the IAEA report," he added. In Vienna on Friday, IAEA spokesman David Kyd said the nuclear watchdog's inspectors, scheduled to leave for Pyongyang over the weekend, should "be able to do most of their work, which is satisfactory for us." Kyd added that the trip was expected to last eight days but could be extended if necessary. He also confirmed that North Korea had responded positively to an invitiation from the IAEA to hold talks on narrowing differences on the scope of inspections. In Washington, State Department spokesman David Johnson indicated Friday that a third round of high-level talks with Pyongyang hinged on the outcome of the new IAEA inspections. Johnson said Washington would consider setting a date for the talks after the inspections were completed. Plans for the third round of talks were called off when the IAEA said in March their inspectors had not been given full access to the sites they weanted to visit, inlcuding a crrucial radio-chamical laboratory. North Korea contended then that the UN nuclear watchdog had tried to go beyond its mandate. A fire that broke out overnight in a hostel whose residents included foreigners killed three people and left one person missing, police said Saturday. But police said that it was unlikely that the fire was racially motivated. Up to 20 people lived in the hostel, but none were seeking asylum. Police did not know the cause of the fire which destroyed the three- storey building. Damage was estimated at some 300,000 German marks (182,000 dollars). Iran has denied a US newspaper report that it secretly delivered a planeload of arms to Moslems and Croats fighting the Serbs in Bosnia, the official news agency IRNA reported Saturday. "The allegations by the American daily that Iran has sent arms to Bosnia are false," the Iranian embassy in Croatia said, quoted by IRNA. The Washington Post reported Friday that a planeload of arms was delivered earlier this month. But IRNA, quoting Croatian officials in Zagreb, said the load comprised of humanitarian aid such as rice, flour, sugar and cooking oil, which was delivered to a Moslem charity in Bosnia. The Post, quoting Western and Moslem sources in Sarajevo, said a Boeing 747 landed at Zagreb airport on May 4 to deliver 40 containers with an estimated 60 tonnes of explosives, detonators and raw material for mortars. One-third of the load was allegedly delivered to Croatia and the rest transported by government trucks to the Moslems in Bosnia. Iran, a stauch supporter of Moslems in their battle against the Serbs in Bosnia-Hercegovina, has lobbied hard for the Moslems to be exempted from the UN arms embargo on the former Yugoslavia. Twenty-three people were killed and several seriously injured when a bus collided with a lorry in western Kenya late Friday, the official Kenya News Agency reported Saturday. The accident occurred near Bungoma after the bus left the town for Nairobi. More than 500 people have died in road accidents in Kenya already this year. Zimbabwe's Mark McNulty showed he is equally at home in the wet as on South Africa's sunshine circuit by charging into a two shot lead in the rain-hit Spanish Open here. The 40-year-old had to wait more than five hours to start his second round on Friday at Club de Campo after heavy overnight rain, and more in the morning prevented play from starting until early afternoon. Even then, play was only possible for 30 minutes before another downpour delayed things for another two hours -- setting the scene for a series of evening finishes. McNulty started at the 10th with a birdie three and two more birdies in his first six holes saw him overtake first round leader Ernie Els of South Africa, one of many players who were told that their second rounds would not start until Saturday. McNulty almost sank a 60-yard pitch to the 12th and holed from 25 feet at the 15th before again having to return to the clubhouse when another storm hit the saturated course. At 7.30pm, the Zimbabwean reached the turn in 34,and then put clear daylight between himself and the rest of the field by making further birdies at the 10th and 12th. He was seven under when darkness halted golf after he had played 14 holes. McNulty has only just returned to the European circuit after damaging shoulder tendons while playing beach cricket with his children in Cape Town three weeks ago. "I fell very awkwardly diving to take a catch and landed heavily on my right side," he said. South African Wayne Westner was among a group of 12 players who pulled out with a variety of injuries and strains. Westner had been sick overnight and his explanation was quickly accepted. But former European number one Ronan Rafferty could be fined up to 250 pounds for walking out after five holes of his second round. "I am not going to make up an excuse," said the Ulsterman. "I just don't want to play anymore." Sweden's Klas Eriksson, winner of the Challenge Tour last year, was forced out with a bad wrist, while veteran Spaniard Ramon Sota, 56 -year-old uncle of Severiano Ballesteros said: "I am withdrawing because I am too old for all this." Defending champion Joakim Haeggman, Sweden's first Ryder Cup player, could have been forgiven for joining the exodus. But he battled on against poor form which saw him take sixes at his first two par fives, making it a near certainty that he will not make the cut. Ballesteros, hoping for a second successive victory after his success at St. Mellion last week, struggled to stay in touch despite making birdies at the third and eighth to go two under par. The Spaniard three-putted the ninth and dropped another stroke at the 10th to return to where he began the day at level par. The first to make sure of a place in the third round was Manny Zerman, an Italian-born South African who was raised in Durban but now lives in the USA. He has 73 for 143 after reporting for play at eight o'clock in the morning but not completing his 18 holes until nine at night. A depot stocking bombs for Russian Pacific fleet warplanes blew up Saturday, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Vladivostok in far- eastern Russia, ITAR-TASS news agency reported. Armored cars as well as a train were sent to the site to evacuate residents from the zone and a large-scale rescue effort was underway. No casualty or damage figures were yet available, the agency said. The blasts at 3:40 p.m. (0440 GMT) near the village of Novonejino shook Vladivostok, witnesses said in the agency report. The Russian emergency ministry said there were neither chemical nor nuclear weapons at the depot. Officials from the Pacific fleet and a counter-espionnage team were sent to the site to determine the cause of the explosion, military officials said in the ITAR-TASS report. A special team from the defense ministry left Moscow for the scene, the emergency minstry said. The Kremlin apartment of the founder of the Soviet state has been shut for a year and its contents moved to his home outside Moscow to permit renovations, the news agency ITAR-TASS reported Saturday. Lenin's Kremlin apartment had been preserved as it was during his lifetime, and his furniture and boxes containing 42,000 articles were moved earlier this week to the museum at Leninskiye Gorky, the house where he died, ITAR-TASS said. The official order concerning the move notes that it is temporary, and points out that government services in the rest of the Kremlin building affected have also had to be transferred elsewhere. But it appears unlikely that Lenin's Kremlin apartment, where he lived from March 1918 to October 1923, will reopen to the public. The apartment became a museum in 1955. The move follows the closure in November of the Lenin museum at the entrance to Red Square, leaving the mausoleum containing Lenin's mummified body as the last place in the vicinity of the Kremlin to hold a relic of the Soviet leader. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Saturday it was time for Israel and the PLO to push ahead with negotiations on extending Palestinian self- rule, following its launch in Jericho and Gaza. "We must continue the negotiations without waiting, not only on extending autonomy to other parcels of the territories, as we will do in Washington, but also to negotiate the handover" of civilian powers, he told Israeli radio. "It would be wrong to believe that we can be in charge of the existence of the Palestinians in Nablus, Hebron and Ramallah," which are towns on the occupied West Bank, along with Jericho, he said. Peres referred to education, health, welfare and taxes. On Friday, as Palestinian policemen took over Jericho, Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin said Israel could withdraw totally from the West Bank within five years. As for Jericho itself, Peres said he was "very happy that our heart has been unburdened of this weight." "When I hear the relief of our soldiers who were sent to serve as targets for young stone-throwers, I tell myself: our soldiers have been brave, but, thank God, it's over," he said. The foreign minister, adding his voice to scepticism already expressed in Damascus, said he doubted US Secretary of State Warren Christopher's shuttle mission to Syria and Israel, starting on Sunday, could produce a breakthrough. "For the time being, Syria's proposals do not give us much hope," he said. Beilin, meanwhile, told the US television network CNN: "I think the American mediation is vital. We will be able to see peace between us and Syria within months." An official in Damascus has charged that Israel had "minimized the US role by reducing it to a mere postman delivering the Israeli point of view without any amendment." Syria insists on a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Christopher is to meet Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara on his arrival in Damascus on Sunday night, before heading the next day for Israel, where he is expected to stay until early Wednesday. US officials with the secretary in Geneva on Saturday also played down the latest peace mission. "The one certainty is that there will be a lot of trips ... It will be a long and arduous process," one official warned. Washington, as the chief sponsor of the Middle East peace process, has turned its attention to Syria since the signing of the Israel-PL0 accord on May 4 to launch autonomy in Gaza and Jericho. Italy's European policy will not be affected by the "radical political change" in the country, whose government includes neo-fascist ministers, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Martino said Saturday. In an interview with the daily Corriere della Sera, Martino said the change since right-wing media magnate Silvio Berlusconi took over as prime minister following March elections "does not mean a break with the fundamental line of our foreign policy." "It is essential that we make it understood straight away that we do not have any intention of giving up Italy's European vocation." He said he would meet Sunday in Brussels with Italy's ambassadors posted to the 12 European Union countries, ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting scheduled for Monday. Martino is also due to hold talks in Brussels on Monday with European Commission President Jacques Delors. The Italian foreign minister intends to fly to Washington afterwards to meet US leaders for talks focusing on preparations for the July 8 Group of Seven summit of the world's leading industrialised nations in Naples. Pressed on Italy's European policy, the minister said it would be based on "an active policy in support of a political Europe, which is absolutely necessary." "Europe must find a way of speaking with a single voice on foreign policy and must reach a common defence," he said. Martino, who is close to Berlusconi, renewed criticism of the fixing of exchange rates during the move towards a single European currency by a target date of 1999. "I am not anti-European when I criticise an excess of intervention on markets. I would also like to recall that an excess of directives (from the EU) make Europe appear in the eyes of public opinion as another level of regulation which is superimposed on that of the nation. "And that leads to a reaction of rejection," he said. Austrian Formula One driver Karl Wendlinger remains in a stable condition after his crash on Thursday, doctors said here Saturday. One doctor, speaking on grounds of anonymity, said that the trauma suffered by Wendlinger's brain "appeared stable" following a scan at Nice's university hospital where the driver, still in a deep coma, is being treated. But there appeared grounds for cautious optimism, as the doctor added: "He has come through the first 48 hours after the accident -- during which the chances of neurological deterioration are at their highest. "But it remains highly likely that there will be major functional after-effects. He added there is also the risk of complications arising from the coma -- an infection and/or breathing difficulties. Wendlinger's family and fiancee, along with members of his Sauber- Mercedes team, have been taking turns to stay at the driver's bedside. The Austrian crashed during a practice session for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, two weeks after Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger were killed in accidents at the San Marino Grand Prix. Riot police Saturday stopped 400 South Korean students from attacking the homes of two former generals-turned presidents facing action for alleged involvement in the military supression of a 1980 civil uprising. Scuffles lasted half an hour in heavy rain after hundreds of riot police, armed with tear gas, stopped the students some 200 meters from the homes of Chun Doo-Hwan and Roh Tae-Woo, who live in the same area. "Punish the main culprits of the Kwangju massacre," shouted students trying to push their way through columns of police. Many carried iron pipes but did not use them. The demonstration came on day after dissidents filed a civil petition urging prosecutors to investigate the two former presidents on charges of insurrection and homicide. In addition to the petition, veterans of the uprising have filed a suit against the two, and 33 former military officers on the same charges, accusing them of killing many innocent citizens in a bid to seize power. The two former presidents led generals in the military-controlled government in 1980. Chun became the nation's president the year following the uprising in the southern city of Kwangju, and Roh succeeded him in 1988. The Chinese government will increase aid to the 100 million poorest people, whose plight has been worsened by the country's economic miracle, according to Civil Affairs Minister Doje Cering. "The living conditions of the poor may be worsening for a time due to inflation," the China Daily quoted the minister as saying on Saturday. He added that financial and material aid to the poor would be a government priority for the next five years, but emphasised that inflation would "also make the government's social relief more difficult." Inflation has risen 20 percent since the start of the year and in some cities is runing at more than 30 percent. The gap between poor and rich regions is growing ever wider in a country that officially has only 30 million people living below the poverty level, fixed at 200 yuan (23 dollars) a year. As the number of beggars and homeless increase with each new liberalising reform of the economy, the government is fully aware growing poverty could cause social and political instability. Fierce artillery battles raged Friday between Bosnian Serb forces and the Bosnian army in the Vares region in northern Bosnia, a UN spokesman said Saturday. UN troops in the Nordic battalion on the scene reported nearly 300 detonations and heavy automatic weapons fire near Vares, 40 kilometres (25 miles) southwest of Tuzla, French Major Eric Chaperon, UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) spokesman said. At Dastansko, three kilometres east of Vares, 13 mortar shells and 17 tank mortars were fired from positions controlled by the Moslem- dominated Bosnian army, Chaperon said. A further 265 detonations were reported from Bosnian territory, provoked by Serb artillery fire, he said. In another incident, six British UN troops had been held for several hours at a Serb checkpoint and stripped of their weapons, ammunition and personal effects, Chaperon said. He said it occurred at Rogatica, 35 kilometres (20 miles) east of Sarajevo. The soldiers were on their way to Gorazde in three vehicles. They were allowed through the Serb checkpoint at Rogatica without any problems, but then stopped a few kilometres further on and turned back to Rogatica, where their weapons, ammunition and personal belongings were taken off them, including their cameras, Chaperon said. Then the captain of the convoy was forced by the Serbs to read a statement in front of a camera apologising to the Serbs for having gone through the checkpoint too quickly, even though Chaperon said the convoy had been authorised to pass. At Gorazde in eastern Bosnia, mortar shells were fired Friday evening from the north of the Moslem enclave, on the limit of the three- kilometre (1.8-mile) exclusion zone imposed by NATO on Bosnian Serbs. Fighting was also reported Friday evening just north of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. Chaperon said 10 self-propelled grenades had been fired and heavy machine gun and light weapons fire was heard for around two hours on the front line separating the Bosnian army and Serb forces. Chaperon said Viktor Andreev, the UN civil affairs coordinator, paid a call on Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in his stronghold of Pale on Friday afternoon to hear his excuses. Andreev was also due to go to Pale again on Sunday to clarify rules governing the passage of UNPROFOR convoys through Serb-controlled Bosnian territory. Meanwhile the spokesman for the UN High Committee for Refugees, Kris Janowski, reported that two Saudi aid workers had been missing since May 8 in the region of Mount Igman, around 20 kilometres from Sarajevo. The two men, whose names were given as Chafik M. Ayadi and A. Moulehi, were identified as members of the Muwafaq organisation. They were last seen at an UNPROFOR checkpoint at Pazarici, at the foot of the mountain, in Bosnian territory, he said. After the checkpoint the road to Sarajevo becomes an earth track where it is very easy to stray into Serb-controlled territory. US President Bill Clinton is to meet visiting Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon to discuss Northern Ireland, officials in Dublin announced. Reynolds, who arrived in the United States on Friday, had not been scheduled to meet any members of the US administration during his trip, which is essentially concerned with trade, until he received the last-minute invitation from Clinton. Reynolds met businessmen in Chicago on Friday and was to have been the guest of an American university on Saturday. He will make the trip to Indianapolis, but it was not known what time he would meet Clinton or how long the meeting would last. It will be the leaders' second meeting in less than two months. Clinton invited Reynolds to Washington on March 17. The Irish government on Friday transmitted a document to London detailing demands for clarification of the Anglo-Irish joint declaration from Sinn Fein, the political wing of the outlawed Irish Republican Army. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams on Friday urged the British government to respond positively to the request, saying: "It is necessary that the replies from London to our questions properly and honestly clarify these issues so that the peace process can be advanced." A statement issued by Northern Ireland Secretary Patrick Mayhew said the British government would study and make public Sinn Fein's demands for clarification. Reynolds is due to fly back to Dublin on Sunday. Some 77 civilian casualties were reported by hospital staff here Saturday after nearly two hours of heavy weapons fire traded by rival Afghan factions battling for and against President Burhanuddin Rabbani. According to a defence ministry official there was no infantry offensive by the coalition rival forces of Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Uzbek General Abdul Rashid Dostam during the bombardment late Friday. However, pro-Rabbani troops on the frontline in the old city based close to Dostam's Bala Hissar fortress said they came under strong attack by Uzbek frontline troops. These particular pro-Rabbani troops, stationed in the otherwise deserted ruins of Shor Bazaar receive the brunt of rival faction military pressure because close quarters fighting is a daily occurance here even when it is quiet elsewhere on the frontlines. Kabul was notably quiet Saturday with no reported incidents on the frontlines apart from the usual minor skirmishing, and the heavy weapons of both sides also remained still. Fighting continues in the provinces 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Kabul around Baghlan and Pul-i-Khumri centres which are under siege by Rabbani's strongman ex-defence minister Ahmad Shah Masood. "There is no change in the general military situation there," a defence ministry official said. Despite earlier defence ministry claims that the old city of Baghlan had been captured by Masood's men a week ago it seems all of Baghlan is still in the hands of Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami faction and their Uzbek and Ismaelia religious sect allies. Defence ministry officials are adamant, however, that Kunduz -- which fell briefly to Dostam in February -- and all surrounding districts are totally in the hands of pro-Rabbani forces. Vietnamese state firms unable to pay their debts will soon be brought before special economic courts, a directive from the prime minister published Saturday said. Insolvent state companies which fail to pay up by July 1 will face the courts under a bankruptcy law introduced last year, Premier Vo Van Kiet's order published in the Party daily Nhan Dan said. He appealed to beleaguered firms to "speed up the repayment of their debts in order to reestablish financial discipline and create normal conditions for the operation of state enterprises." Under the new bankruptcy legislation, state firms must settle debts they have incurred, even if it means digging into their assets and capital to do so. Company heads who flout the law are liable to both judicial and administrative sanctions. The directive also applies to companies which have already been disbanded. State and foreign creditors are owed nearly a billion dollars, according to official statistics. So far endebted firms have paid back only 50 million dollars. A radical restructuring of the public sector in Vietnam has halved the number of state enterprises to 6,000 over the last four years. Bosnian leaders reacted angrily Saturday to US backing for a European peace plan dividing Bosnia, viewing it as a reward for Serb aggression, but Serbs also rejected the proposed territorial division. The plan endorsed by the United States, Russia and five west European states in Geneva late Friday would provide 51 percent of Bosnia- Hercegovina to a Bosnian Croat-Moslem federation and 49 percent to Serbs. Bosnian vice-president Ejup Ganic said: "They (the leading powers) want us to achieve a peace settlement and at the same they want us to swallow the results of ethnic cleansing. Those two things are contradictory." He said the Geneva meeting participants did not deny the London conference principle of rejecting territorial gains made by force. "Now they say: go in the direction of 51 percent/49 percent, which of course will not produce results," Ganic said. Asked whether the Moslem Bosnians were ready for new negotiations within two weeks as the Geneva meeting urged, Ganic declined to answer directly but said: "We are being squeezed by the international community". He said the 51 percent for Croats and Moslems did not provide enough place for the people concerned, and he warned of the dangerous precedent of giving into aggression. "If you legitimize ethnic cleansing and genocide then of course it means that you given a green light for similar cases to start somewhere else," Ganic said. However he found "interesting" the Geneva meeting's call for a cessation of hostilities with the withdrawal of heavy artillery. "I think that this is something we will look carefully at and that we will negotiate with the Serbs," he said. Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic, who also condemned the new US- European-Russian stand, met in Geneva Saturday with US Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Despite a bitter complaint from Silajdzic that Friday's stand amounted to "rewarding pure force", Christopher said Saturday that the Bosnian premier seemed to understand the US point of view. "I told him we were doing everything we could to ensure that a reasonable settlement is achieved for the Bosnian government. He seemed to understand that point of view," Christopher said. The two are due to meet again Sunday. The secretary of state, speaking after also meeting Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev, revealed that in their meeting Friday the foreign ministers considered the possibility of calling a special summit to cap the Bosnian peace process. The Bosnian Serbs Saturday said the Croats and Moslem Bosnians could not have the 51 percent the European plan would give them, the Bosnian Serb news agency reported. Momcilo Krajisnik, president of the Bosnian Serbs' self-styled parliament, said they in no way have more than the Serbs "as they are neither moral nor military victors and moreover do not possess such a proportion of territory". "We believe that one has to take into account the situation on the ground, namely that the Serbs control 73 per cent of the territory and that they are owners of 64 percent," he was quoted as saying. The Patriarch of All Russia Metropolitan Aleksei II left Moscow on Saturday with a delegation of officials from the Russian Orthodox church for a five-day official visit for former Yugoslavia. The patriarch, who was invited by the Serbian Orthodox church, said before leaving that he considered his visit "a peace mission aimed at ending the bloodbath in former Yugoslavia." The Russian delegation will visit Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia- Hercegovina, in particular the capital Sarajevo. Meetings are scheduled with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and the president of the rump Yugoslav republic, Zoran Lilic, but none with Bosnian or Croat leaders figure on the delegation's official programme. Germany's Michael Schumacher stamped his authority on a free practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday, although the race remains overshadowed by the crash involving Karl Wendlinger. The Austrian is in a deep coma after Thursday's smash, the latest nightmare faced by Formula One after the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix two weeks ago. Schumacher has won all three races this season, including San Marino, which was re-started after Senna crashed. But the death of the Brazilian triple world champion looks to have ended all interest in this year's title race. Hugely talented and driving the best car in the championship, Schumacher now has no serious rival for the crown. McLaren-Peugeot and Ferrari are also likely to win races this season, as could the late Senna's teammate at Williams-Renault, Damon Hill, but there is little doubt that Benetton-Ford will get the top prize. Schumacher was nearly half a second faster than Finland's Mika Hakkinen, at the wheel of the McLaren, as they went through their paces on this legendary street circuit Saturday morning. Gerhard Berger, who has done much to mobilise drivers over safety in the last fortnight, and will be a leading figure in the newly-formed Grand Prix Drivers Association, set the third best time in a Ferrari. Hill was fourth, fellow Briton Mark Blundell fifth in the Tyrell- Yamaha and Berger's French teammate Jean Alesi was sixth fastest. The last official practice was scheduled later in the day. South African Airways (SAA) will stop its weekly flight to Lisbon in September as part of a rationalisation programme, the national carrier said in a statement Saturday. SAA said the Lisbon route was no longer viable and that the last flight to the Portuguese capital would depart from Johannesburg on September 2 and would return the following day. The Irish consul in San Francisco, Declan Kelly, is to be prosecuted for drunken driving and causing a traffic accident, in which five people were hurt, prosecutor Arlo Smith said Saturday. Kelly went through a red light and hit several vehicles in the accident, which happened here on May 5. He refused to undergo a test for alcohol, invoking his diplomatic immunity. A blood sample taken in hospital after the accident for medical reasons showed that his blood had more than twice the level of alcohol than the legal limit. Palestinian policemen were deployed Saturday in Jabalia after Israeli troops withdrew under the cover of night, to the delight of the Gaza refugee camp where the intifada was born. "Jabalia, the camp of the revolution, has been liberated," cried Awad al-Mamduh, whose brother was killed in the uprising against Israel's rule of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. A new contingent of 240 policemen, recruited from Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) units in Sudan, marched into the Strip late Saturday from the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. At 5 a.m. (0200 GMT), the Jabalia refugees jumped for joy to see that Israeli troops had just pulled out of the base set up in the heart of the camp in 1970 as well as from an administration building in the neighbouring village. As the sun rose, most of the camp's 75,000 residents and the 25,000 in the village took to the streets to celebrate. A dozen of them scaled the army's 30-metre (yard) tower to hoist the Palestinian red-green- white-black flag. A four-year-old child, seeing a policeman for the first time, took fright and burst into tears, "They're not Jews, they're Palestinian soldiers," his mother reassured him. As hundreds of people watched from rooftops, women banged on drums and chanted nationalist songs, a policeman in olive-green uniform saluted and hugged another child. Militants of the Fatah Hawks of PLO leader Yasser Arafat fired off celebratory rounds of gunfire in the air. Even Hamas, the Islamic militants who oppose the self-rule deal with Israel, shouted slogans to welcome the police. "My son didn't give his life for nothing. He died for Palestine, and I'm so happy that they're gone," said Um Iyad al-Ashkar, wearing a pendant with a photograph of her son who was killed by Israeli soldiers in February 1988. "But my joy will not be complete until all the (Jewish) settlers leave our land and Jerusalem is ours again," she said. Mamduh voiced pride at Jabalia's long history of resistance. "In 1970, we started resisting the occupiers. We didn't let up during 80s, and it was here that the intifada all started." On December 9, 1987, a day after four Palestinians were run down and fatally injured by an Israeli truck driver, residents of impoverished Jabalia took out their fury on the army's base. A young Palestinian was shot dead and several other deaths followed, before the uprising spread to the rest of Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli bullets have claimed the lives of more than 1,250 Palestinians in the intifada. "Who would have believed that the Israelis would leave our land when only yesterday they were still hitting us," said Um Said, a 45-year- old woman, commenting on the last clashes before the police deployment. During the night, after a HAMAS attack in which two soldiers were shot and wounded, the army burst into several homes, roughed up five Jabalia residents with their batons, and fired tear-gas, according to Palestinian sources. Soldiers took souvenir photographs of each other in action, while enforcing the last night-time curfew, they said. With the latest Palestinian deployment, almost 1,500 policemen have now entered the Strip, where the south of the territory has now been completely evacuated by the army. After police took over the West Bank town of Jericho on Friday, the rest of Gaza is to be handed over by next Wednesday. Alan Rudolph, director of the "Moderns," paid tribute Saturday to US movie legend Robert Altman for producing his new film, hours ahead of its official premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Presenting "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" in the official competition, Rudolph told a press conference: "His fingerprints are all over this. He's the guilty one. Leave me out of this." Altman, who has a retrospective of his work showing at the 47th International Film Festival, produced Rudolph's latest offering, about maverick US novelist Dorothy Parker. Altman was not at the press conference, but Rudolph indicated that the director, whose films include the 1970 Cannes Golden Palm winner MASH, was on his way and would be at the premiere Saturday evening.. The film, also starring Campbell Scott and Matthew Broderick traces out the life of the notorious alcoholic at the heart of the literary and intellectual world of 1920s New York -- the vicious circle of the title. Mixing black and white and colour -- unusually, with the latter used for flashbacks -- the movie had been widely compared with Rudolph's 1988 film "The Moderns," about the US intellectual and literary world in 1920's Paris. Rudolph starkly rejected the comparison. "I don't think this film has anything to do with "The Moderns" quite frankly," he said. "I think that's an easy comparison because they're both in the Twenties." But he said "The only thing they have in common apart from me is that they were both shot in Montreal." Rudolph, 50, strongly defended the independence of his films -- often accused of eccentricity -- against the more mainstream US film industry. "Kill a guy, tell a joke, that's how to make a hit in America," he scorned. Jennifer Jason Leigh in the title role was preparing for her second premiere in three days -- she played a hard-hitting journalist in the US film that opened the festival Thursday, "The Hudsucker Proxy." Asked about playing Parker, who tried on several occasions to kill herself, she said: "Being inside her mind was a painful experience, but I wish I was still making the movie." Above all though Rudolph paid tribute to Altman. "When someone of that calibre says they like something ... you think well maybe I'm doing it alright," he said. "He's not a good producer," he said. "He's a great producer." A depot stocking bombs for Russian Pacific fleet warplanes blew up Saturday, shaking the far eastern city of Vladivostok some 100 kilometres away and triggering the evacuation of the nearest village. ITAR-TASS news agency reported that the 3,000 residents of the village of Novonedzhino were being evacuated. Several were hurt by broken glass and were taken to hospital, but no deaths were reported. Armored cars as well as a train were sent to the site to evacuate residents from the military zone about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Vladivostok in far-eastern Russia. Military officers and their families also live at the base, but the number of residents there was not known. The news agency said that communications were currently impossible with the base which was sealed off by police and the army. According to the news agency Interfax, the explosions triggered fires in the nearby forest. Witnesses told ITAR-TASS that the blasts at 3:40 p.m. (0440 GMT) shook Vladivostok. The Russian emergency ministry said there were neither chemical nor nuclear weapons at the depot. Officials from the Pacific fleet, including Rear Admiral Igor Khmelnov, the fleet's first deputy commander, and a counter-espionnage team were sent to the site to determine the cause of the explosion. A special team from the defense ministry left Moscow for the scene, the emergency minstry said. Exactly two years ago, a fire caused by negligence triggered a series of explosions at a Pacific fleet weapons stockpile in a Vladivostok suburb. Several people were killed and 6,000 residents were evacuated amid the fires which raged for more than two days, destroying munitions depots and fleet facilities. After basking in almost three weeks of historic glory which saw the death of apartheid, South Africans took a final break this weekend before getting back to work and school Monday. Big business and schools turned a blind eye to two and a half weeks of disruption that included four public holidays and spontaneous and organised parties country-wide after South Africans voted overwhelmingly on April 26-29 for Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC). Celebrations reached a crescendo on Tuesday when Nelson Mandela took the oath in front of an auspicious array of world leaders to become the country's first democratically-elected president. But the party is now over, and for Mandela's new multi-racial government, this means facing the awesome task of providing the country's 2.5 million unemployed with jobs and building 2.5 million houses for the homeless. It also means tackling the vast discrepancy in quality of education between the country's minority whites and majority blacks. At the end of 1993 about 40 percent of black pupils passed their final year examinations, compared to 96 percent of whites. In an editorial headlined "At the end of it all we're on our own," the Star newspaper said: "The pitfalls of the future lie in ... how South Africa extends the means by which it gives all its citizens their place in the sun. Addressing the majority's aspirations will require more than a political solution; the new South Africa will live or die by the economic decisions it takes." Selby Tindleni, a schoolteacher and ANC worker in the townships surrounding Cape Town, said Saturday that the day after Mandela's inauguration unemployed people were queueing up outside town council offices demanding jobs. "They say Mandela has promised them jobs and they want them now," he said. "We need to explain to them that these things take time." With the demise of white-minority rule, aid of up to five billion rand (1.3 billion dollars) is poised to pour into South Africa, the Star newspaper said. But, it cautioned in a front-page story, the first 1.7 billion rand (472 million dollars) promised over the next 12 months is nowhere near enough to lift an economy trying to emerge from a five-year recession. It is half the sum South Africa borrowed from the International Monetary Fund at the end of last year -- funds used to bolster foreign exchange reserves which, despite the injection, plummeted by 3.2 billion rands (888 million dollars) in the first four months of 1994. "Aid dents the pride of the nation and promotes a poor work ethic," the Star article said. "In short, the entire country has to get back to work -- to work hard, efficiently and assiduously." A starting point to provide jobs, education and training, the newspaper said, is to enhance South Africa's economic growth rate to five percent this year, from a predicted three percent. The requirements appeared to be in place to achieve this: Relative peace means foreign investment is ready to enter the conomy, inflation remains in single digit figures and the end of the recession is in sight. And black pupils were Friday ordered by four influential education bodies to go back to school after weeks of disrupted lessons. In a joint statement the National Education Co-ordinating Committee, the South African Democratic Teachers Union, the Congress of South African Students and the South African Students Congress said: "Now that we have achieved our liberty, the time has come for all learners and educators to apply themselves with dedication." Taiwanese police Saturday smashed a major drugs ring when they arrested seven people suspected of smuggling 150 kilograms of heroin worth 188.6 million US dollars into the country. The seven -- five Taiwanese and two Singaporeans -- are accused of trafficking in heroin they brought into Taiwan from Thailand, police said. Police in the southern city of Kaohsiung swooped on some of the Taiwanese suspects as they allegedly peddled the drug at their homes, while the others were seized in a a bowling alley in the city. The Taiwanese include suspected heroin wholesaler Chou Chih-kang, 43, and a woman, Chang Wei-lun, 19. The two Singaporeans -- Tan Guan-hsiou, 37, and Hok Wei-min, 26 -- were arrested in Taipei, police said, adding that 38 kilograms of heroin were found in the seven suspects' homes. The Singaporeans claimed they were hired by a Hong Kong man to smuggle the drug three months ago. The seven were sent to the district prosecutor's office for charges to be filed. Taiwan usually imposes life sentences in jail and the death penalty on drug smugglers and traders. India's central bank on Saturday kept interest rates unchanged but cut commercial banks' lendable resources, in a bid to fight double-digit inflation. "It is a tight monetary policy," Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Chakravarthy Rangarajan told reporters here after announcing monetary and credit policy for the first half of fiscal 1994-95, which began in April. "The paramount objective would be to ensure a sharp reduction in the inflation rate by about four percentage points over the present level," he said. Inflation is currently hovering at around 11 percent. Rangarajan said the cash-reserve ratio, the amount of money commercial banks are statutarily required to keep in reserve, had been raised from 14 to 15 percent. The lending and deposit rates were unchanged at 14 and 10 percent. The RBI chief said high foreign capital inflows had fuelled the current inflationary spiral, the worst since the 1991 hike to 17 percent before New Delhi launched its market reforms. "The present credit policy has been drawn up against the background of a very difficult situation when both inflation and money supply are up," he said. French bank Credit Lyonnais intends to make Asia a priority region for expansion, its president Michel Renault, said here Saturday. Renault, who is on a visit to China and Vietnam, said: "We want to develop the volume of our operations here." The Credit Lyonnais president said his firm wanted to challenge commercial and merchant banks. He has already discussed extending Credit Lyonnais's network in China. The bank has offices in Tianjin, Shanghai and Xiamen and main offices at Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangdong. "We are waiting for permission for more, the quicker the better," said Renault. Credit Lyonnais is the only foreign bank with Vietnamese offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and on Saturday, Renault met with deputy Prime Minister Tran Duc Luong and other senior Vietnamese government officials. "Vietnam has its qualities even if it has been the subject of too much attention in recent years," he commented. The IAEA said Saturday that North Korea had "begun preparations" for changing fuel rods at a controversial nuclear reactor and warned that inspectors would cut short a visit if the operation had reached a "critical stage." The inspectors are due to leave Vienna for Pyongyang on Sunday in order to be Tuesday at the Yongbyong nuclear complex, 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Pyongyang, International Atomic Energy Agency spokesman David Kyd said Saturday. He said the inspectors would ascertain whether "North Korea has just proceeded with normal preparation measures" to change the fuel rods in the five megawatt nuclear reactor, "or whether they are already at a critical stage" by removing seals on the fuel. "If the North Koreans are already at the critical stage, the IAEA inspectors will be recalled to Vienna, but if the work is normal, the inspectors' work will continue," Kyd said. South Korea on Saturday aired worries over North Korea's telex to the IAEA saying Pyongyang was preparing for the change of fuel rods without outside inspectors present. "It is extremely regrettable that North Korea gave notice of its decision to prepare to go ahead with the rod change on its own," a foreign ministry statement said. The United States has warned that Pyongyang could extract enough plutonium from the spent fuel to make four or five nuclear bombs. Washington says it is vital that North Korea allow inspection and sampling of the rods. The foreign ministry statement added that South Korea hoped the IAEA could clarify the situation when its monitors leave for North Korea this weekend. "We stress the crucial importance of sampling and securing the rods as demanded by the IAEA and remind North Korea that the nuclear problem should not be taken to a destructive phase by unilaterally changing the fuel rods." According to Kyd, the trip was expected to last eight days but could be extended if necessary. He also confirmed Friday that North Korea had responded positively to an invitation from the IAEA to hold talks on narrowing differences on the scope of inspections. In Washington, State Department spokesman David Johnson indicated Friday that a third round of high-level talks with Pyongyang hinged on the outcome of the new IAEA inspections. Johnson said Washington would consider setting a date for the talks after the inspections were completed. Plans for the third round of talks were called off when the IAEA said in March their inspectors had not been given full access to the sites they weanted to visit, including a crucial radio-chemical laboratory. North Korea contended then that the UN nuclear watchdog had tried to go beyond its mandate. Kyd said Saturday that the inspectors, leaving to examine the radio- chemical laboratory, were not scheduled to inspect the reactor. But he said they "will have access to the five megawatt reactor to undertake maintenance work, including notably changing batteries and film." "There they would see whether the reactor is in the same state as in March or whether the North Koreans have removed the seals" on the fuel, he said. The Bosnian Moslem government and Bosnian Croat representatives Saturday marked their agreement to set up a federation in Bosnia- Hercegovina with a ceremony in the presence of US Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Also present at the ceremony in the US embassy in Geneva, and representing the government in Zagreb, was the Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic. Christopher said the federation agreement, which has been negotiated step-by-step over the last two months in Bonn, Vienna and Washington under the auspices of special US envoy for ex-Yugoslavia Charles Redman, was "already paying dividends" in terms of peace and humanitarian relief. Croat and Moslem Bosnian forces, which had been allied against Serb forces, began fighting last year, particularly in central Bosnia for control of the Hercegovina town of Mostar before talks on the federation agreement began to take serious shape. Christopher said guns had been silenced over a distance of 200 kilometres (120 miles) and supply lines opened up to allow in humanitarian relief, thus alleviating the suffering of thousands of people. "A framework has been established for protecting the political and human rights of the people who live in the federation borders. These are truly significant accomplishements. "Where there was war and suffering there is now the promise of peace and democracy. The darkness of the inter-ethnic strife is slowing giving way to a glimmer of reconciliation." The US secretary of state, playing tribute to the role played by Croatian minister Granic in reaching the accord, said it provided the basis for regional cooperation and was a first step toward lasting peace in Bosnia-Hercegovina. But this would require patience, goodwill and recognition on all sides that the interests and future of people in the region, especially that of children, could only be secured by sincere, prolonged and difficult negotiations, Christopher said. He said the message of the ceremony was that peace could be achieved and the life of people improved through negotiations. He congratulated Bosnian premier Haris Silajdzic, the Bosnian Croat leader Kresimir Zupac and the Croatian foreign minister. Originally, a formal signing ceremony had been expected in Geneva Saturday for the federation agreement. But an accord upon it reached in Vienna earlier in the week provides the federation with 58 percent of Bosnia-Hercegovina territory. This stands in contrast with a European peace plan for the former Yugoslav republic endorsed late Friday in Geneva by the US and Russia which gives the federation only 51 percent. The parties in the federation have said they would like the Bosnian Serbs to join in too, but they have shown no interest so far. In its present form it lays the framework for relations between the Bosnian Moslem and Croat populations in Bosnia-Hercegovina and Croatia. Japanese organisers started a race against time on Saturday to find a replacement for Argentina in the Kirin Cup. "We are negotiating with countries which have friendly ties with the Japanese Football Association," an association spokesman said. Officials have until Monday night to find a replacement because of the time needed to obtain entry visas, he said. Deadly errors that led to a string of fatal air crashes have plagued the US armed forces even as the Pentagon prepares to release results of an inquiry into one of its most embarrassing blunders, the downing of two US helicopters in northern Iraq by US fighters. Twenty-six people died during an April 14 international protection force mission when US air-to-air missiles slammed into two Blackhawk helicopters flying across the Kurdish zone of Iraq. The Pentagon is expected to announce in mid-May that the pilots of the two US F-16 fighters confused the Blackhawks with Soviet-made Iraqi Hind helicopters. Three weeks earlier, on March 23, twenty-three people were killed at Pope Air Base in North Carolina when an F-16 and a C-130 cargo plane landed by accident on the same runway. Less than one week before the Pope crash, a C-130 gunship heading out of Kenya on a mission to support the US withdrawal from Somalia crashed into the sea, killing seven. Pilot error was likely the cause, according to preliminary reports. The General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, released a separate report criticizing the lack of training for US Air Force Reserve officers. In addition, the GAO said the reserve fleet is composed of aging aircraft. The report comes at a time when the Pentagon is relying more and more on the reserves to offset its main force losses stemming from budget cuts. According to James Hessman, an editor of the military magazine "Sea Power," the annual Pentagon budget cuts could hurt training and preparation levels. "All the nation's armed services have been deferring, downgrading, or selectively abandoning modernization programs essential to future readiness," said Hessman. A report submitted to Congress at the beginning of the year, however, said that the armed forces remained relatively well prepared but "less than in the past." The 1995 budget proposal reflects the preoccupation of the new secretary of defense, William Perry, with concerns about biting into funds earmarked for training and equipment upgrades. Funding for this modernization was up 92.9 billion dollars out of a total Defense Department budget of 263.7 billion dollars in 1995, 4.9 billion dollars more than 1994. The 1995 fiscal year begins October 1. For the Pentagon, this should help to implement the "Bottom Up Review," a major Defense Department study conducted last year to chart budget requirements if the Pentagon wanted to be prepared to conduct two Gulf War-sized operations simultaneously. The ability to conduct such operations is not necessarily assured, however. Air force officials acknowledged recently during congressional hearings that troop transport problems could arise under such circumstances. The author of the report, defense specialist John Collins, said it would be practically impossible to support two campaigns at once. He added it would already be difficult to respond to a regional conflict without the help of US allies. Moreover, the fact that only one of four bombs carried by an US F/A-18 hit its target and exploded during an April 11 NATO raid over Bosnian Serb positions is particularly disquieting. Of the other three, one bomb would not release and two hit without exploding. "The defense industrial base as a whole could become the Department of Defense's Achilles heel," said Hessman. Above all, according to Collins, the focus put for many years on peace-keeping missions, the war against drugs or humanitarian assistance, have forced the armed forces to put more of their training and modernization funds into financing these operations. This was the case with Somalia and Bosnia, and the 300 million dollars allocated for 1995 peacekeeping operations does not seem to hint at any shift in this trend. Passengers travelling South African Airways (SAA) will face a barrage of greetings in at least four languages, in keeping with the new South Africa, the national carrier said in a statement Saturday. In the bad old days of apartheid South Africa, travellers on SAA were addressed in two languages, Afrikaans first and then English. From Saturday, four days after Nelson Mandela's inauguaration as the country's first democratically-elected president, passengers will be greeted in English first, then Afrikaans, then Zulu and Sotho. And on international flights "a greeting appropriate to the country of destination or origin" as well, SAA said in a statement. "It is important that SAA be accepted by its diverse passengers," SAA chief executive Mike Myburgh said in the statement. "We are excited about the rebirth of a new South Africa and we must align ourselves with the evident change and with international acceptance now that we have become part of the world market again." SAA was also busy scraping the old orange, blue and white South African flag off all its aircraft and replacing it with the new, predominantly black, green and gold one. A battle raged Saturday between rival army units in the strategic region of Daleh as hopes faded for Arab League mediators to secure a ceasefire in Yemen's civil war. The north, rejecting a southern ceasefire plan, said troops loyal to President Ali Abdallah Saleh also captured the town of Al-Musaymir, northwest of the south's stronghold of Aden. The south had suffered "heavy losses." In Daleh, 90 kilometres (55 miles) down the road from the port city, northern forces were mopping up the last pockets of resistance and making further advances, Sanaa said. Southern military officials said their warplanes were mounting raid after raid on the Daleh region, where correspondents saw seven northern soldiers dead on the side of the road, just five kilometres (three miles) from the village. On Friday, the mountain village itself was almost deserted apart from southern soldiers, they said. Hundreds of residents have fled to Aden. The two sides have not issued a casualty toll since the war erupted on May 5, although the north said Monday that 74 of its troops had been killed and more than 200 wounded. A Scud missile Wednesday on Sanaa claimed 25 more lives. Clashes were also taking place in the Abyan region, east of Aden, but fighting had eased in Kharaz, on the coast 120 kilometres (75 miles) to the west of the city. The south has said the war between Saleh's troops and the forces of Vice President Ali Salem al-Baid, was being waged on five fronts. On the diplomatic front, an Arab League delegation has been here since Thursday waiting to see the president and deliver a call from the League's secretary general, Esmat Abdel Meguid, for an immediate ceasefire. A northern spokesman in Sanaa said the meeting was finally likely to take place on Saturday. But a source at the organisation's Cairo headquarters said the League was not expected to make any headway because both the south and north had toughened their positions. The ruler of Bahrain, Emir Issa ibn Salman al-Khalifa, Saturday joined the ceasefire calls and urged Yemen's rival leaders "to allow reason to prevail." The south put forward a seven-point ceasefire plan on Friday, calling for the creation of a national unity government, but it was swiftly rejected by the north as "nothing new." Sanaa demands the surrender of southern leaders, accusing them of seeking partition, four years after Yemen was unified. A spokesman in Sanaa told AFP the north demanded the surrender of the "war criminal" Baid and "all those responsible for the war, so that they can be judged for war crimes." Baid's Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) proposed the two armies should separate and be "withdrawn to the positions they held before the war." The YSP plan also called for prisoner releases, for the rights of political parties to be recognised and that "the lives, goods and rights of citizens be protected." In the latest evacuation of foreigners, more than 200 nationals of the former Soviet Union arrived Saturday in Moscow on a flight out of Moscow, the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS said. The Philippines foreign ministry said at least 619 Filipinos, including 40 children and six pregnant women, were still waiting evacuation from Yemen. Police blocked off the Georgian capital Tbilisi Saturday as parliament debated a controversial peace accord with the separatist republic of Abkhazia. Some 7,000 police were in the streets as well as blocking entry and exit to the city, an interior ministry spokesman said. Interior Minister Shota Kviraia directed the "anti-crime" operation personally, he added. Police had by late morning seized more than 30 automatic arms and pistols. Several armored cars had taken up positions earlier Saturday, reinforcing police checkpoints already in place for several days in the center of the town, witnesses said. President Eduard Shevardnadze submitted Friday his resignation and proposed abolishing the presidency to protest the deputies' refusal to ratify the accord towards settling the conflict with breakaway Abkhazia in western Georgia. The deputies fear the accord will authorize the secession of Abkhazia. The accord, to be signed Sunday by Georgian and Abkhazian delegations in Moscow, calls for deploying Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) troops in a 12-kilometre (7.2 mile) security zone separating Abkhazia from the rest of Georgia. A Shevardnadze spokesman said Saturday that the president did not intend to resign but to examine proposals by deputies to adopt a purely parliamentary government system. Ramaz Sakavarelidze, Shevardnadze's press officer, quoted by the Georgia news agency Iprinda said that Shevardnadze would in any case remain parliamentary speaker, a post to which he was elected in October 1992. Shevardnadze has been head of state since his election in November 1992. On September 14 last year, he resigned for several hours to protest parliament's refusal to give him full powers. Georgia has been hit since becoming independent in 1991 by a series of political crises, including two civil wars and the Abkhazian secession struggle, at a time when the national economy is in ruins. Starting grid for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix (front row to be left empty out of respect to Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger): 1st row Michael Schumacher (Germany) Benetton-Ford 1:18.560, Mika Hakkinen (Finland) McLaren-Peugeot 1:19.488 2nd row Gerhard Berger (Austria) Ferrari 1:19.958, Damon Hill (GB) Williams- Renault 1:20.079 3rd row Jean Alesi (France) Ferrari 1:20.452, Christian Fittipaldi (Brazil) Footwork-Ford 1:21.053 4th row Gianni Morbidelli (Italy) Footwork-Ford 1:21.189, Martin Brundle (GB) McLaren-Peugeot 1:21.222 5th row PierLuigi Martini (Italy) Minardi Scuderia Italia 1:21.288, Mark Blundell (GB) Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:21.614 6th row Ukyo Katayama (Japan) Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:21.731, Michele Alboreto (Italy) Minardi Scuderia Italia 1:21.793 7th row Erik Comas (France) Larrousse-Ford 1:22.211, Andrea de Cesaris (Italy) Jordan-Hart 1:22.265 8th row Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Jordan-Hart 1:22.359, Johnny Herbert (GB) Lotus-Mugen Honda 1:22.375 9th row J.J. Lehto (Finland) Benetton-Ford 1:22.679, Olivier Beretta (France) Larrousse-Ford 1:23.025 10th row Pedro Lamy (Portugal) Lotus-Mugen Honda 1:23.858, Olivier Panis (France) Ligier-Renault 1:24.131 11th row Eric Bernard (France) Ligier-Renault 1:24.377, David Brabham (Australia) Simtek-Ford 1:24.656 12th row Bertrand Gachot (France) Pacific-Ilmor 1:26.082, Paul Belmondo (France) Pacific-Ilmor 1:29.984 French film hearthrob Alain Delon, 58, has had an operation for a hernia, his film producer friend Norbert Saada said Saturday. Delon, whose screen career spans more than three decades, starred in films including "Is Paris burning" in 1965, and more recently "Un Amour de Swann" in 1984. He is due to leave hospital on Sunday. He was admitted Tuesday after complaining of stomach pains. Russian orthodox church Patriarch Aleksy II arrived from Moscow on Saturday with a delegation of church officials for a five-day official visit to the former Yugoslavia. "I hope to meet all parties to the conflict in this region and wish to see a quick end to the blood-letting and suffering of innocent people," he said on landing. The patriarch, invited by the Serbian Orthodox church, said earlier in Moscow that the visit was "a peace mission aimed at ending the bloodbath." The Russian delegation will visit Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia- Hercegovina. Meetings are scheduled with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and the president of the rump Yugoslav republic, Zoran Lilic, but none with Bosnian or Croat leaders figure on the delegation's official programme. Russia has been a traditional ally of the Serbs, who are fellow Slavs and orthodox Christians. The IAEA said Saturday that North Korea had "begun preparations" for changing fuel rods at a controversial nuclear reactor and warned that inspectors would cut short a visit if the operation had reached a "critical stage." The inspectors are due to leave Vienna for Pyongyang on Sunday in order to be Tuesday at the Yongbyong nuclear complex, 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Pyongyang, International Atomic Energy Agency spokesman David Kyd said Saturday. He said the inspectors would ascertain whether "North Korea has just proceeded with normal preparation measures" to change the fuel rods in the five megawatt nuclear reactor, "or whether they are already at a critical stage" by removing seals on the fuel. "If the North Koreans are already at the critical stage, the IAEA inspectors will be recalled to Vienna, but if the work is normal, the inspectors' work will continue," Kyd said. South Korea on Saturday aired worries over North Korea's telex to the IAEA saying Pyongyang was preparing for the change of fuel rods without outside inspectors present. "It is extremely regrettable that North Korea gave notice of its decision to prepare to go ahead with the rod change on its own," a foreign ministry statement said. The United States has warned that Pyongyang could extract enough plutonium from the spent fuel to make four or five nuclear bombs. Washington says it is vital that North Korea allow inspection and sampling of the rods. US Defense Secretary William Perry said late Friday that the threat of confrontation with North Korea could come to a head within a few weeks. "In many ways Korea poses poses the greatest security threat to the United States and the world today," said Perry. "We have to regard the situation as very serious," he added. The South Korean foreign ministry statement added that it hoped the IAEA could clarify the situation when its monitors leave for the North this weekend. "We stress the crucial importance of sampling and securing the rods as demanded by the IAEA and remind North Korea that the nuclear problem should not be taken to a destructive phase by unilaterally changing the fuel rods," said the ministry. According to Kyd, the trip was expected to last eight days but could be extended if necessary. He also confirmed Friday that North Korea had responded positively to an invitation from the IAEA to hold talks on narrowing differences on the scope of inspections. In Washington, State Department spokesman David Johnson indicated Friday that a third round of high-level talks with Pyongyang hinged on the outcome of the new IAEA inspections. Johnson said Washington would consider setting a date for the talks after the inspections were completed. Plans for the third round of talks were called off when the IAEA said in March their inspectors had not been given full access to the sites they weanted to visit, including a crucial radio-chemical laboratory. North Korea contended then that the UN nuclear watchdog had tried to go beyond its mandate. Kyd said Saturday that the inspectors, leaving to examine the radio- chemical laboratory, were not scheduled to inspect the reactor. But he said they "will have access to the five megawatt reactor to undertake maintenance work, including notably changing batteries and film." "There they would see whether the reactor is in the same state as in March or whether the North Koreans have removed the seals" on the fuel, he said. Black rival political groups buried the hatchet Saturday at the Western Areas gold mine outside Johannesburg, where seven miners have died in clashes in the past month, owners Johannesburg Consolidated Industries (JCI) said. JCI chief Kennedy Maxwell, quoted in the daily Citizen, said management-led talks produced an agreement on a code of conduct, the setting up of a committee of inquiry into the incidents and security arrangements acceptable to all. Seven people died in three and a half weeks of political tension between supporters of the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the African National Congress (ANC) at the gold mine west of Johannesburg. Mine engineer John Brownringgs told the newspaper that work would start up Saturday. No independent confirmation was immediately available. Security forces under the new government moved swiftly Thursday to prevent further clashes at Western Areas and confiscated up to eight tonnes of homemade and traditional weapons from the mine hostel, Frans van Rensburg, a spokesman for JCI said earlier this week. Trade union officials said politically motivated fighting between IFP and ANC supporters started on April 17, nine days before South Africa's first all-race elections. They said one person was killed on April 17, two others died in fighting during the April 26-29 poll and four were killed Wednesday. Nelson Mandela's ANC won the election, ending more than 300 years of white-minority rule. Because most miners stay in large hostels accommodating thousands of people, ethnic and political differences often boil over and result in violence. In one of the worst incidents, four miners were killed Wednesday in an underground battle in the mine's south shaft between workers armed with axes and picks before security forces moved in to help restore order. About 9,500 miners were on strike Friday after defying a court order Thursday that ordered them back to work at the Kloof gold mine near Carletonville, 50 kilometres (32 miles) west of here. The owners of the Kloof mine, Gold Fields, estimated production loss since the strike began on May 5 at around 25 million rands (6.8 million dollars) and Friday ordered the strikers to return to work by Sunday. Workers had downed tools eight days ago following the dismissal of a trade union leader for allegedly intimidating workers during a strike in March. Thousands of tribesmen have poured into the north western Pakistani town of Malakand to press demands for the enforcement of Islamic law in the region, witnesses said Saturday. Reciting Koranic verses and chanting slogans they started a sit-in which they said would not end until President Farooq Ahmed Leghari announced the enforcement of Sharia (Islamic) laws in the tribal district of the North West Frontier Province. Witnesses said thousands of demonstrators started filling the small town from Thursday after their May 11 deadline expired. By Saturday the number had passed 20,000 with more joining, reports said. The tribesmen blocked a 20-kilometer (12 miles) of roads. They are living in tents on hills and plains while many have put up plastic sheets to shelter from rain and cold winds in the mountainous terrain, witnesses said. The rally was organised by the Tehreek-i-Nifaz Shariat (TNS - Movement for the enforcement of Shariat) formed in 1990. TNS leader Soofi Mohammed told reporters he believed the government would accept the demand. Police and paramilitary troops were on the alert. But though no trouble had been reported officials would not comment on the situation in Malakand. TNS sources said the president had promised to consider their demand for enforcement of Islamic penal code but no decision has been officially announced. The campaign followed a supreme court verdict in February abolishing special regulations under which the region of Malakand, Swat and Buner was run by the NWFP government. The former states were merged in the provincial administration in the late 1960s. Prior to the merger the region had special Moslem courts which used to decide local disputes on the basis of Islamic laws. The tribesmen were unhappy at the Provincially Administered Tribal Area regulations used after the merger. They expressed resentment at powers given to local administrators. They also oppose federal laws put in place as a result of February's supreme court verdict but not yet implemented. Former Palestinian prisoners toured the empty Israeli jail here Saturday as their new police force met local dignitaries on the first full day of deployment in Jericho. Apart than mounting joint patrols with Israeli border troops outside the town, there was little active duty for the police. And with administrative offices closed, a holiday atmosphere took hold of the West Bank town. "Today we are resting and distributing the new posts," said Major Ahmad Abou Hamida. "We are cleaning up the place and we will be ready for full work in a couple of days." Essam Mahmoud, a 35-year-old who was jailed here in 1988 toured the prison with other former inmates. "I wanted to see my old cell ... I can't believe that now I can enter here without handcuffs," he said. Another former detainee, 40-year-old Ahmad Umtar, pointed to a cell's white-washed walls. "There were all our names on the walls here. Now they're all gone." "I came here today with feelings of anger at the Israeli injustice and brutality. I wanted to see this old place. I now hope all of Palestine will be liberated." At the new Palestinian headquarters, the former offices of Israel's military administration, senior police officers met local dignitaries to discuss the details of self-rule and the changes to come. Police were on alert at the gates after a child killed himself by accident there in the midst of celebrations Friday by firing a gun that happened to be loaded. A woman and an elderly man were also injured in the accident. In an investigation by the self-rule authorities, the officer who owned the gun was being questioned and would be punished for negligence if found guilty, said Mohammad Shaker, in charge of public relations. As the euphoria which greeted the transfer of power a day earlier eased, Jericho residents mingled with the policemen. Small groups of people crowded around to exchange stories at police posts, and cars driving in from the rest of the West Bank stopped to shake hands with forces at an informal checkpoint. Palestinian policemen were also deployed Saturday in Jabalia on the Gaza Strip after Israeli troops withdrew under the cover of night. With the latest deployment, almost 1,500 policemen have now entered the Strip, where the south of the territory has been completely evacuated by the army. The rest of the Strip is to be handed over by next Wednesday. The media here blasted the British government Saturday for refusing to comment on the alleged bugging of the Iranian embassy in London, saying its silence acted as proof of the "act of espionage." Tehran said Wednesday that a listening device had been found inside a wall at the Iranian embassy in London about two weeks ago. Britain has refused to comment on the affair. The affair dominated media headlines Saturday with papers of every political persuasion as well as the official agency IRNA criticising London. Kayhan, a daily close to Islamic hardliners, called the discovery of the device "a scandal" and criticised the British government for its "ambiguous silence." A conservative daily, Resalat, meanwhile urged the government to punish Britain by reconsidering its political and economic ties. "The Iranian nation cannot see Tehran have warm economic relations with a country which conspires against it," it warned. Iranian deputy foreign minister for European Affairs, Mahmud Vaezi has said workers found the battery-charged device while tearing down a wall in Iran's new embassy building. But Iran decided not reveal the discovery pending further investigation, he added. He said Tehran had sought explanation from London, but stressed that the discovery would "weaken relations with Britain. Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has charged the device's discovery led Britain to "fabricate the baseless story" over alleged Iranian links with the Irish Republican Army (IRA), to avoid embarrassment over the issue. In late April London accused Tehran of having contacts with the IRA and summoned Iranian charge d'affairs Gholamreza Ansari to the Foreign Office to demand that any contact with the provisionals should cease. Tehran has called on Britain to provide proof of its allegations. North Korea said Saturday it had begun changing fuel rods on a controversial nuclear reactor before the arrival of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. "As is known, the replacement of fuel rods has begun at our five- megawatt experimental nuclear power station according to its operation plan," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said. In an inteview with the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) monitored here, the spokesman said the IAEA had baulked at sending inspectors to observe refuelling operations at the plant while demanding samples from the fuel rods. "Under such conditions, we had no choice but to remove seals and start taking out fuel rods for safety reasons," the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official news agency. A hand grenade was lobbed into the courtyard of a Shiite mosque in Karachi on Saturday in an attack police said appeared to be linked to friction between rival Moslem groups. No-one was reported injured, but officials said security had been tightened to prevent an outbreak of new sectarian violence. The southern port city, still recovering from violence that has seen 30 deaths, was jittery amid reports of four bomb blasts around dawn. But police denied the report by the official Associated Press of Pakistan. They said blasting in a nearby stone quarry might have been mistaken for bomb blasts. The mosque attack appeared linked to friction between groups from the minority Shiite and majority Sunni Moslem communities. But police said they had no immediate clue as to the identity of the attackers. Last month, five people were injured when a grenade exploded in another Shi'ite worship place. Apart from the sectarian trouble, the city of over 10 million people has been hit by ethnic violence. The 30 deaths were in clashes between police and Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM). MQM represents the large Urdu-speaking community of people who migrated from India after the partition of the sub-continent in 1947. The party has accused the government victimizing the Mohajir people, an allegation denied by the authorities. The army has been deployed throughout Sind province, of which Karachi is capital, since June 1992 to reduce the crime rate and control ethnic and sectarian violence. The MQM contested last October's elections to the provincial legislature, taking 27 seats in its urban strongholds of Karachi and Hyderabad. The MQM is at loggerheads with Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's ruling Pakistan People's Party. Several MQM leaders, including four senators and the leader of the opposition in the Sind, Assembly are currently in detention. The MQM claims more than 2,000 of its supporters have been arrested from Karachi alone. The director of Madrid's Prado museum, Francisco Calvo Serraller, announced Saturday he was resigning over a dispute with Culture Minister Carmen Alborch on the commercial use of a gallery. Calvo Serraller, 46, made the announcement in a letter published by the daily El Pais. He had been museum director since October 22 last year. He clashed with Alborch for allowing the gallery containing Velasquez' masterpiece "Las Meninas" to be photographed for a fee of 80,000 pesetas (600 dollars). The photographs were for a furniture magazine on which Calvo Serraller's wife is an editorial adviser. Calvo Serraller maintained that the museum rules permit the commercial use of galleries, but the minister said earlier this week that she did not agree. Formula One driver Karl Wendlinger remains stable after his crash on Thursday, with doctors now encouraged by the Austrian's condition here Saturday. Wendlinger crashed during a practice session for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix and is currently in a deep coma, with swelling around the brain. Professor Dominique Grimaud, head of the intensive car unit at Nice's Saint-Roch university hospital, said Wendlinger's condition was "still stable. "There has been no aggravation of the clinical indicators, but an oedema of medium density remains." Grimaud, sounded a note of optimism though when he described the Austrian's state of health as being "an encouraging stability -- but nothing more." Another doctor, speaking on grounds of anonymity, said: "He has come through the first 48 hours after the accident -- during which the chances of neurological deterioration are at their highest." Wendlinger's family and fiancee, along with members of his Sauber- Mercedes team, have been taking turns to stay at the driver's bedside. The Austrian crashed two weeks after Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger were killed in accidents at the San Marino Grand Prix. The Jewish community and the press on Saturday united in denouncing the police for incompetence in their handling of a racist-inspired manhunt in the east German town of Magdeburg. "I do not understand how this could have happened. It is a scandal that the police did not manage to protect these people," the president of the central council of Jews in German, Ignatz Bubis, told the daily Express in an interview. The Cologne daily, Koelnische Rundschau, reflected the sentiment of many newspapers when it asked: "Who is in charge of patrolling Magdeburg? The police or nightwatchmen?" Last Thursday, Father's Day in Germany, when married and single men traditionally indulge in drinking bouts, turned sour when gangs of skinheads banded together to hunt down immigrants in the former East German town of Magdeburg. Around 50 youths, armed with sticks and knives, turned on a group of Africans, before launching a full-scale manhunt through the streets. According to police up to 150 youths took part in the incident, in which only three people were injured. Criticism of the local authorities has been all the harsher because the local department of public prosecutions has since freed all but one of those arrested. "We cannot for the moment prove that they were involved," prosecutor Rudolf Jaspers said on Saturday. "All those taken in for questioning maintained that they were only spectators." "It was like being back in the worst era of the SA (the main Nazi militia up to 1934)," the government official responsible for immigrants and foreign workers, Cornelia Schmalz-Jacobsen said, who saw the events in Magdeburg as a "horrible climax" to the xenophobic violence, which has flared in Germany since reunification. "This manhunt marks a new level of violence," according to Klaus Hurrelmann, a professor at the university of Bielefeld and expert on extreme-right movements. Since unification in 1990 dozens of people have been killed, victims of right-wing violence ranging from attacks on immigrant hostels in Rostock to arson attacks in Moelln and Solingen on the homes of Turks, in addition to almost daily isolated assaults on foreigners. "I cannot conceive how the police allowed these criminals to go after only checking on their identities," said Bubis, who has often spoken out against what he sees as laxity on the part of the authorities in dealing with the extreme-right. Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Christian Democratic Union, in response to public outrage at seeking a band of skinheads attack foreigners in broad daylight with impunity, has called an emergency meeting of the committee on legislation in the lower house on Monday. It is proposing that police be given powers to hold suspects in custody for longer without pressing charges and for stiffer penalties for those convicted of racist attacks. But it could run into opposition from the Liberal FDP, which maintains that existing legislation is sufficient as long as it is firmly implemented. Canada's Paul Tracy, among the Indianapolis 500 pole favorites, was declared medically unfit to drive here in Saturday's time trials. Tracy suffered concussion and a bruised left foot in a practice crash on Friday and spent the night at Methodist Hospital. Tracy was among three drivers using the Mercedes engine which has dominated practice speeds this week over the 2.5-mile (4km) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. Doctors conducted neurological tests and x-rays on Tracy overnight and ruled Saturday morning he was not yet ready to drive. His condition will be re-evaluated Sunday. Under Indy 500 qualifying rules, only qualifiers on the first day can compete for the pole. Later qualifiers, even with faster speeds, must start behind first-day qualifiers in the May 29 race. Tracy skidded through the third-turn wall at 240 mph (384 km/h) on Friday, hitting the outer wall of the fourth turn. He lost consciousness momentarily during the crash, which caused extensive damage to his Mercedes-powered Penske car. A backup car has been prepared and tested, but forecasts of rain for Sunday make it unlikely Tracy can make the field before next weekend's final qualifying sessions. Thailand's Rattanapol Sor Vorapin retained his International Boxing Federation straw-weight title on Saturday after knocking out challenger Roger Espanola. Rattanapol floored the ninth-ranked Filipino in the sixth round of the scheduled 12-round bout in the central Thai province of Saraburi. In his sixth title defence, Rattanapol dominated the fight from the start with strong left and right hooks to the body and face, while Espanoya managed only occasional right hooks and light left jabs to his opponent's face. Rattanapol improved his fight record to 18 wins, including 13 knockouts, one draw and two losses. Espanola's record now stands at 15 wins, including 10 knockouts, one draw and two losses. North Korea said Saturday it had begun refuelling a controversial nuclear reactor before the arrival of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "The replacement of fuel rods has begun at our five-megawatt experimental nuclear power station according to its operational plan," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman told the official Korean Central News Agency. The spokesman said the IAEA had refused to send inspectors to observe the refuelling operation at the Yongbyong plant unless the fuel rods could be sampled. Such tests would reveal the extent of North Korea's nuclear bomb capability. "Under such conditions, we had no choice but to remove the seals and start taking out fuel rods for safety reasons," the spokesman was quoted as saying by the news agency, monitored in Tokyo. IAEA inspectors were due to leave Vienna on Sunday and arrive in North Korea on Tuesday. Agency spokesman David Kyd said in Vienna earlier that North Korea had begun "preparations" for changing fuel rods at Yongbyong. He warned that the inspectors would cut short the visit if the operation had reached a "critical stage." The North Korean official said "refuelling is taking place under the watch of the cameras installed by the agency. So, there are no grounds for concern about the diversion of the replaced fuel rods for another purpose." Troops loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh have captured the key town of Daleh, north of Aden, after several days of fierce fighting, correspondents said Saturday. Local and foreign journalists taken to Daleh, which lies 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the southern stronghold of Aden, confirmed it was held by northern troops. Northern military officials said they captured the town on Friday. Daleh controls a key position on the road to the main southern air base. Several days of fighting around the area has forced residents to flee, seeking safety in Aden. With the loss of Daleh, the south called Saturday for the Arab League to intervene to stop 10 days of war between rival northern and southern troops, Aden Radio said. The Council for the Coordination between Parties and the Masses, Organizations and Nationalists in Aden sent a message to the League urging it to protect "towns and citizens against all acts of aggression," it said, monitored by the BBC. The League should intervene to see that a reconciliation accord signed in Amman in February between the two parties is implemented, it added. An Arab League delegation has been in Yemen since Thursday trying to broker a ceasefire between Saleh and his southern rival, ousted vice- president Ali Salem al-Baid. A seven-point peace plan put forward by the southern Yemen Socialist Party on Friday was swiftly rejected as "nothing new" by northern leaders. Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky said Saturday he wanted to show ordinary Russians' struggle to come to terms with post-Soviet capitalism in his entry for the coveted Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival. Konchalovsky, presenting "Kurochka Riaba" (Riaba My Chicken) ahead of its premiere here later Saturday, said the film reflected the widespread crisis created by the switch to a market economy after 70 years of communism. "Freedom sometimes bears unexpected fruit," he told a press conference, describing his tale of a small village in the middle of Russia rocked by the encroachment of capitalist values. "Everyone thought that the end of communism, or totalitarianism was fantastic ... the fall of the Berlin Wall and so on, it provided great hope," he said. "Then suddenly it isn't working," he added. The film, a witty mixture of gritty realism and quasi-surreal fairy tale, focuses on the fate of Assia, a staunch party member gradually converted to the power of money. This is brought about first by her affection for a fellow villager who builds himself a woodcutting factory, making lots of money and increasingly cutting himself off from the rest of the village. Then, in a fantastical turn of events Assia, played by Inna Churikova, discovers a golden egg apparenty layed by her constant companion, her chicken Riaba. The whole village soon gets to hear of the treasure, and the film takes off from there. It comes nearly 30 years after Konchalovsky's "Assia's Happiness," made in 1967 but kept from public screenings for nearly 20 years by the Soviet authorities. Konchalovsky meanwhile went to the United States where he pursued his directing career, before returning to his home country -- at least for film-making purposes -- in recent years. Explaining his feelings on the society he found upon his return, Konchalovky explained: "We are in the 15th century politically speaking ... it's not that we are savages, that's just the way it is." German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel on Saturday called on European Union states to offer economic aid to Croatia and speed up moves to seal an association treaty with the former Yugoslav republic. Efforts to secure peace in the war-torn Balkans should be rewarded, Kinkel added, an apparent reference to Croatia's role in persuading its Bosnian Croat allies to form a federation with Moslems in neighbouring Bosnia-Hercegovina. "I am going to work to ensure that the European Union resumes economic and financial cooperation with Croatia," Kinkel said in a statement released by the foreign ministry here. "The parties at war (in the former Yugoslavia) must recognise that efforts towards peace must be rewarded," he said, adding that "aggressors cannot count on receiving any support in the rebuilding of their country." Germany has long been an ally of Croatia and has held secessionist Bosnian Serbs responsible for the two-year conflict which has torn the former Yugoslav republic apart. The German minister said he would call for Croatia to receive aid under the EU's Phare development scheme for central and eastern European states, and press for "negotiations on a treaty of association (between Croatia and the EU) to be relaunched." Germany takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union from Greece on July 1. In Geneva, the Bosnian Moslem government and Bosnian Croat representatives Saturday marked their agreement to set up a federation in Bosnia with a ceremony in the presence of US Secretary of State Warren Christopher but fell short of signing a document.. Also present at the ceremony in the US embassy in Geneva, and representing the government in Zagreb, was the Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic. Originally, a formal signing ceremony had been expected in Geneva Saturday for the federation agreement. English football legend Bobby Charlton could become national coach to Sierra Leone, according to the sports minister of the west African state, Charles Mbayo. Mbayo announced on Saturday he had sacked all the coaching staff of the national squad "with immediate effect", following their first round elimination from the African Nations Cup finals in Tunisia during March. "Leone Stars' performance fell hopelessly short of expectations," Mbayo said, adding: "It was a national disgrace and severe blow to our pride. "It is time to rehabilitate our national pride and restructure the team for future participation." The minister announced an "arrangement to secure the services of former England captain, Bobby Charlton who is expected here in two weeks' time". The side had previously been coached by Egypt's Mohamed Mustapha Abdel Ghali and Sierra Leone's Obi Metzger. Roy Plunkett, the chemist who invented Teflon, died Thursday at his home in Texas. He was 83. Plunkett discovered the material in 1938 when he was working for DuPont. Teflon is best known as the non-stick material on frying pans. Germany's Michael Schumacher will start from the front in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, although the race remains overshadowed by the crash involving Karl Wendlinger. The Austrian is in a deep coma after Thursday's smash, the latest nightmare faced by Formula One after the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix two weeks ago. Out of respect for Senna and Ratzenberger, the drivers were set to leave the front row clear on Sunday, starting a line further back. Schumacher, who has won all three races this season, stamped his authority on Saturday's final official practice in the Benetton-Ford. The German was nearly a second faster than Finland's Mika Hakkinen, at the wheel of the McLaren-Peugeot, as they went through their paces on this legendary street circuit. Gerhard Berger, who has done much to mobilise drivers over safety in the last fortnight, and will be a leading figure in the newly-formed Grand Prix Drivers Association, set the third best time in a Ferrari. The late Senna's teammate at Williams-Renault, Damon Hill, will start on the second row of cars alongside Berger, whose French teammate Jean Alesi will start on the third with Brazil's Christian Fittipaldi in the Footwork Ford. Hugely talented and driving the best car in the championship, Schumacher now has no serious rival for the crown in the wake of Senna's death. McLaren-Peugeot and Ferrari are also likely to win races this season, as could Hill but there is little doubt that Benetton-Ford will get the top prize. Troops loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh have captured the key town of Daleh, north of Aden, after several days of fierce fighting, correspondents said Saturday. Local and foreign journalists taken to Daleh, which lies 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the southern stronghold of Aden, confirmed it was held by northern troops. Fighting was reported to be going on south of the strategic town, as northern troops continued their push towards Aden. Northern officials, who said Friday they had captured Daleh, said Saturday they had seized the town of Al-Musaymir, further south and only 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the southern air base at Al-Anad. Independent sources said fighting was going on close to Al-Musaymir Saturday with tank and artillery reinforcements deployed in the area to bolster the north's forces. Southern forces were trying to repel the advance by launching air raids on northern positions, the sources in Aden said. With the loss of Daleh, the south stepped up efforts to end the fighting calling Saturday for the Arab League to intervene in the 10 -day-old war between rival northern and southern troops, Aden Radio said. Late Friday northern leaders rejected a seven-point peace plan put forward by the southern Yemen Socialist Party as "nothing new." Aden radio said the Council for the Coordination between Parties and the Masses, Organizations and Nationalists in Aden had sent a message to the League urging it to protect "towns and citizens against all acts of aggression." The League should intervene to see that a reconciliation accord signed in Amman in February between the two parties is implemented, added the radio, monitored by the BBC. An Arab League delegation has been in Yemen since Thursday trying to broker a ceasefire between Saleh and his southern rival, ousted vice- president Ali Salem al-Baid. They hope to deliver a call from the League's secretary general, Esmat Abdel Meguid, for an immediate ceasefire. A northern spokesman in Sanaa said the meeting was finally likely to take place on Saturday. Earlier southern military officials said their warplanes were mounting raid after raid on the Daleh region, where correspondents saw seven northern soldiers dead on the side of the road, just five kilometres (three miles) from the village. Hundreds of residents have fled Daleh and surrounding villages, seeking safety in Aden. Clashes were also taking place in the Abyan region, east of Aden, but fighting had eased in Kharaz, on the coast 120 kilometres (75 miles) to the west of the city. The ruler of Bahrain, Emir Issa ibn Salman al-Khalifa, Saturday joined the ceasefire calls and urged Yemen's rival leaders "to allow reason to prevail." The south's ceasefire plan on Friday called for the creation of a national unity government, prisoners releases and for the right of political parties to be recognised. But Sanaa repeated demands for the surrender of southern leaders, accusing them of seeking partition, four years after former North and South Yemen were unified in May 1990. In the latest evacuation of foreigners from the war-torn country, more than 200 nationals of the former Soviet Union arrived Saturday in Moscow on a flight out of Moscow, the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS said. The Philippines foreign ministry said at least 619 Filipinos, including 40 children and six pregnant women, were still waiting evacuation from Yemen. Two cargo ships, each carrying around 20 crew, collided Saturday in the English Channel and one of the vessels was on the point of sinking in seas off Dover, British coast-guards said. Three helicopters and rescue vessels were on the way to the scene. Switzerland's Tony Rominger won his sixth stage in the Tour of Spain here on Saturday, all but guaranteeing a record-breaking hat-trick of wins in the event. The 1992 and 1993 winner, who has led this year's race since the opening time trial, triumphed again in a 53km solo ride against the clock. Barring accidents, he should make history on Sunday in the final leg. No rider has ever won the Vuelta three times in succession. England's FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United here on Saturday remained goalless at half-time in a typically super-charged, yet scrappy match. Denmark's Jakob Kjeldbjerg nearly stole the limelight in this most prestigious sporting fixture in the English calendar. From a Denis Wise free-kick after 33-minutes, the ball came at an awkward height for Chelsea's John Spencer on the edge of the box. He shot lamely, but the ball came out nicely for Kjeldbjerg, who fired straight at Schmeichel. The match began with a crowded midfield and slippery pitch stifling skill and any flowing moves. Norwegian Erland Johnsen was booked in the first minute for a foul on Giggs as the Londoners gave a first showing of their rugged tactics. Manchester United skipper Steve Bruce also went into the book in the 18th minute as the double-chasers became more and more frustrated. Though United began the match as overwhelming favourites, it was Chelsea who gained the upper hand midway through the half. Mark Stein had the first real chance in the 22nd minute at the near post. And three minutes later, his Chelsea striker partner John Spencer just failed to make contact in front of Schmeichel's goal. Moments afterwards, Gavin Peacock confirmed the Londoners superiority as he hit the crossbar with Schmeichel well beaten. It was Peacock who scored both goals as Chelsea did a league double over champions United this season. In the 37th minute, France's Eric Cantona headed across Chelsea's goal, but Mark Hughes just failed to connect with a header as he sprinted forward. The most positive player in the first half was Ukrainian winger Andrei Kanchelskis, whose pace continually threatened Chelsea's defence. White House officials dimissed reports that President Bill Clinton and Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds were to discuss Northern Ireland here on Saturday. Clinton had invited Reynolds, who is in the United States on a trade trip, to join him but officials insisted there would be no talks. Reynolds was here anyway to speak at a university so the president invited him to join him as a courtesy, said a White House official. Two Asian cargo ships, each carrying around 20 crew, collided Saturday in the English Channel and one of the vessels was on the point of sinking off Dover, British coastguards said. Three helicopters, including one from the French coastguard, and rescue vessels were on the way to the scene of the collision, which occurred at 2:30 p.m. (1330 GMT). Dover coastguards were unable to provide further details about the collision. Rescue boats from Newhaven, Hastings and Eastbourne were alerted after coastguards received distress calls from one of the ships. Lloyd's underwriters in London named vessels in collision as the Tokyo registered Ariake, carrying a cargo of fruit, and the Taiwanese- registered container ship Ming Fortune. According to Lloyd's the Ming Fortune was the more seriously damaged of the two. Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic denounced Saturday as "unacceptable" western calls for a four-month ceasefire throughout Bosnia. "We think that is too long. (A) two month (ceasefire) would suffice to find a political solution," Izetbegovic told journalists here. He added that Bosnian insistence on a "temporary ceasefire means we retain the military option at our disposal if political negotiations fail." The call for a four-month truce was issued Friday by foreign ministers of the United States, Russia and several European countries.