Voice of America, 99-11-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] NATO-ROBERTSON-INTERVIEW BY ANDRE DE NESNERA (WASHINGTON)

[02] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY JOE CHAPMAN (NEW YORK)

[03] TUESDAY'S EDITORIALS BY KEVIN LYNCH (WASHINGTON)

[04] TURKEY / KURDS (L ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)

[01] NATO-ROBERTSON-INTERVIEW BY ANDRE DE NESNERA (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: NATO's new Secretary-General, George Robertson, says Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic must go since he is an impediment to his country's future progress. Mr. Robertson talked about the lessons learned from the Kosovo conflict, NATO enlargement and relations with Russia in a wide-ranging interview with the Voice of America during his first trip to the United States (this week). National Security Correspondent Andre de Nesnera reports from Washington.

TEXT: In one of his first interviews since becoming NATO Secretary-General in mid-October, Mr. Robertson reflected on this year's Kosovo air campaign - the alliance's first offensive military action in its 50 year history. Mr. Robertson says NATO learned an important lesson from its dealings with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

[02] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY JOE CHAPMAN (NEW YORK)

INTRO: U-S stock prices closed mixed today (Tuesday) after a late session plunge wiped out a rally led by high technology stocks. V-O-A's Joe Chapman reports from New York.

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 66 points, or about one half of one percent, to 10- thousand-581. The Standard and Poor's 500 fell six points to one-thousand-347. But the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite squeezed out a 13-point gain to two- thousand-981 for its third record high in three trading days. The Dow Jones Industrials were up about 100 points in an early session rally while the Nasdaq Composite broke through the three-thousand level for the first time ever. But shares gave up most of the gains in the final two hours. Most analysts agree there was no change in the market fundamentals to cause the sudden price drop.

[03] TUESDAY'S EDITORIALS BY KEVIN LYNCH (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: The crash of the EgyptAir plane off the coast of the eastern United States continues to attract the attention of the nation's editorial writers. Other topics include: renewed efforts to bring peace to the Mideast; a new voice against the U-S embargo on Cuba; and two major Christian religions settle a breach that endured five centuries. Now, here with a closer look and some excerpts is ________________ and today's editorial digest.

TEXT: "Staggering but true," says the Los Angeles Times today about Sunday's plane crash, the third major airline disaster off America's northeast Atlantic coast in just over three years. The paper writes:

VOICE: What was learned from the previous crashes, which claimed a total of 459 lives in 1996 and 1998, may help speed the investigation into Sunday's crash of the EgyptAir Boeing 767- 300ER and the deaths of its 217 passengers and crew members. ... Mindful of the wild speculation on the cause of the TWA explosion three years ago, investigators said they anticipated a long process and downplayed the possibility of terrorism. One lesson ought to be clear. Boeing should hand over every bit of information it has on the plane (767-300ER) and let federal investigators decide what is pertinent.

TEXT: Like the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald also comments on the need for more openness by Boeing.

VOICE: The fatal crash occurred soon after news that the Boeing company (held up the release for years of a report) that might improve airline safety. ... Just a day before, the Washington Post reported that Boeing didn't provide all the information needed to investigators of the similarly sudden fatal plunge of TWA Flight 800, a Boeing 747, in 1996. For 16 years Boeing (did not release) its report about how heat builds up and creates explosive vapors in the center fuel tank of military version of the 747. That's unconscionable.

TEXT: The Baltimore Sun has this comment on the service taking place in Oslo, Norway, to commemorate the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated four years ago by a Jewish extremist. Besides honoring the memory of Mr. Rabin, the Sun says the three leaders in attendance - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and U-S President Bill Clinton -- must also consider the future of the Mideast peace process:

VOICE: The United States has always been Israel's ally when the issue is Israel's existence. On the most intractable issue now, the status of Jerusalem, Washington takes no position. But on two lesser, practical matters, United States policy - if expressed - is closed to the Palestinian view. One of these is the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Washington quietly deplores them. A Clinton contribution to this discussion would strengthen Palestinian leverage in the compromise to be reached.

TEXT: The other issue, says the Baltimore Sun, is the extent of separation between a Palestinian state and Israel. Washington and Mr. Arafat, the paper says, want greater inter-dependence between Israel and the Palestinian authority, but Mr. Barak, sensitive to anxieties over terrorism, wants stronger fences between Israel and the land controlled by the Palestinians. Mr. Clinton's influence, the Baltimore Sun says, could be helpful to both leaders if they need an excuse to make a concession.

TEXT: The New York Times comments today on Cuba and the latest U-S official to call for an end to the U-S embargo against the island. The Times writes:

VOICE: Pope John Paul II last year deplored the United States' embargo against Cuba for the suffering it has caused and the way it isolates ordinary Cubans from outside ideas. A similar judgment has now been reached by the conservative Republican governor of Illinois, George Ryan, who visited Havana last week. ... Regrettably, the Clinton Administration remains trapped in the futile policies of the Cold War past. It criticized Mr. Ryan for meeting with Fidel Castro and restated its opposition to trade with Cuba. That will please some in the Cuban-American community, and their congressional allies. But it will not help bring constructive change to Cuba. The time is ripe for changing American policy toward Cuba from isolation to democratic engagement.

TEXT: On Sunday, 482 years after the Protestant Reformation, leaders of the world's Lutheran and Roman Catholics signed a declaration settling the major disagreement that ended five centuries of division. U-S-A Today says of the agreement:

VOICE: After five centuries of bitterness and backbiting, and hundreds of thousands of deaths in religious wars, Sunday's ceremonial reconciliation of an argument that today seems remote and obscure is, to say the least, overdue. ... (OPT) Martin Luther, a pastor and theology professor offended by corruption and fund-raising abuses in the church, challenged its authority in the 1510s. He declared that salvation - getting to heaven - was attainable only through individual faith and the grace of God. The [Catholic] hierarchy sharply defended its doctrine that actions, including generous contributions to the church, could make a critical difference. (END OPT) ... Personal attacks, half-truths and lies spread by both sides poisoned the atmosphere between Catholics and non-Catholics until very recently. ... If Catholics and Lutherans, after centuries of demonizing each other, can turn a new page of respect and reconciliation, surely the public has the right to expect as much from others who call themselves leaders in every community wracked by divisions.

TEXT: With that editorial comment from U-S-A Today, we conclude this roundup of U-S editorials for Tuesday.
NEB/KL/WTW 02-Nov-1999 12:29 PM EDT (02-Nov-1999 1729 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[04] TURKEY / KURDS (L ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)

INTRO: Turkey's top military official says at least 700-rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, the P-K-K, have withdrawn from Turkish territory in recent months. But as Amberin Zaman reports from Ankara, the commander in chief of Turkey's armed forces, Huseyin Kivrikoglu, says the rebels should not withdraw, but should surrender to Turkish authorities.

TEXT: General Kivrikoglu said as many as 700 Kurdistan Workers' Party fighters have left Turkish soil in recent months for bases in Iran and Kurdish- controlled northern Iraq. He said it would be, in his words -- more meaningful for them to surrender with their weapons, rather than to withdraw. He said those who withdraw could always return. General Kivrikoglu made the comments in Diyarbakir the largest city in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast region. The Turkish army has been coordinating its 15-year battle against the P-K-K from the city. Turkish military officials say no more than 15-hundred rebels remain in Turkey, down from a peak number of 10-thousand in the early 1990's. The P-K-K fighters are apparently withdrawing in response to a call in September from their captured leader, Abdullah Ocalan, to halt their attacks and leave Turkey. The call is in line with Ocalan's efforts to prove to the Turkish government he is sincere about negotiating a peaceful end to the Kurdish rebellion he launched 15-years ago -- initially for Kurdish independence. In recent years Ocalan scaled back his goals to political and cultural autonomy. Since his capture by Turkish special forces in Kenya in February, Ocalan has been seeking to project himself as a man of peace, saying he all he wants is to help firm up Turkey's democracy. But Turkish officials say his sole aim is to avoid execution. They say they will never negotiate with a man they describe as -- a baby killer and terrorist. Ocalan was sentenced to death for treason by a Turkish court last June. An appeals court is reviewing the verdict and will announce its ruling November 25th. (SIGNED)
NEB/AZ/JWH/RAE 02-Nov-1999 11:50 AM EDT (02-Nov-1999 1650 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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