Pi ursdaiy, August Q, 19,76
THEMJC+l+GAN DAILY
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Final atgtack on Tal Zaa tar near,
0
1EIRUT, Lebanon W) - Christian
rightist forces hit Tal Zaatar with artil-
lery, rockets and other heavy weapons
yesterday in what appeared to be the
start of the final effort to eliminate the
battered Palestinian stronghold. Radio
broadcasts said more civilians were flee-
ig the camp.
Reliable sources said negotiations
were under way early this morning for
a total evacuation of Tal Zaatar. The
sources said emergency talks were be-
ing held between the International Red
Cross and Christian officials to work out
a cease-fire.
THE SOURCES SAID the Palestin-
ian command had already agreed to
pull out everyone from the camp, which
held 30,00 persons - mostly civilians
-when the siege began.
The Christian radio said Palestinian
and Moslem artillery, located in West
Beirut and mountain areas to the south-
west, had shelled Christian positions
from which Tal Zaatar was attacked.
Fighting also continued on other fronts
in the 17-month-old civil war.
Casualty figures for the previous 24-
hour period were placed at 91 killed and
129 wounded. The figures are compiled
from hospitals and security sources who
attempt to keep an account of the toll.
NO FIRM COUNT was available on
the number of persons, most of them ap-
parently Lebanese Moslems and other
non-tPalestiniansbraving the Christians'
fire to come out of Tal Zaatar, which has
been- under siege for more than seven
weeks.
But ' indications were that several
thousands had emerged from the camp
and from the Moslem slum of Nabaa,
seized by the Christian fighters last
weekend. They were being collected in
Christian - controlled East Beirut and
transported across no-man's land to the
Moslem-held western sector in motor
convoys organized by the Shiite Moslem
sect.
Some refugees had said on Tuesday
that an unknown number of them had
been killed and wounded by fanatic
Christian soldiers, possibly in defiance
of orders, as the Moslems escaped Na-
baa and Tal Zaatar.
THE CHRISTIAN RADIO said nothing
about this but declared the Christian
rightists were furnishing the refugees
with food and medical aid.
Security sources said as many as
4,000 Christian fighters of the Phalange
and National Liberal parties were taking
part in the attack on Tal Zaatar. The
dwindling force of Palestinians inside the
camp was reduced to small arms.
In continuing efforts to establish a
workable cease-fire, Arab League medi-
ator Ilassan Sabri Kholi met with Pierre
Gevel, leader of the Phalnmge party,
the largest single faction on the right.
KHOLI HAS IKEEN trying since last
Thursdayto keep afloat the league's lat-
est cease-fire, but the more than 50 be-
fore it, the truce initiatise has dissolved
in renewed fighting,
Ford, Reagan, may
face Buckley bid
KANSAS CITY. Mo. (/a) President
Ford's backers, working to head off po-
tentially bitter floor fights over platform
issues, were confronted yesterday with
a new threat-the possibility of a third
candidate in the race for the Republican
presidential nomination.
Sen. James Buckley of New York, a
conservative Republican, told a news
conference in New York City that lie had
been approached by supporters of Ronald
Reagan and asked if he would be willing
to become a compromise candidate for
president.
"I HAVE MADE no decision," Buck-
ley said.
Don't count your
chickens...
The managing editor of the Scribner-
Bantam English Dictionary has decided
to "take a chance" and list Jimmy Car-
ter as the 39th president of the United
States in final page proofs for the dic-
tionary's latest edition. In order' to
meet a January publication date, the
proofs must go tc press by September
15, more than a month and a half be-
fore the nation's voters actually decide
if Carter will become the next presi-
dent. But the dictionary's managing edi-
tor, Walter Glanze, says that even if
Carter loses "it's no major flaw from a
lexicological standpoint. Some people
will laugh about it, and to others it will
be a collector's item." The dictionary
lists Gerald Ford's term in office as 1974-
1977. There is no listing for Ronald Rea-
gan.
U' -
Ha penins,..
. . . There will be a meeting of the
Ann Arbor Tenants Union today at 7:00
at room 44e of the Michigan Union . . .
there will be a special GEO membership
meeting at 7:30 at the Rackham Am-
phitheater.
Weathero nt
It'll be anotier cloudy- day today, with
a good chance of rain. The high will be
in the upper 8's, while tonight's low
will be near 70.
The senator is running for re-election
and Richard Rosenbaum, New York
State Republican chairman, told report-
ers in Kansas City that he had made it
clear to Buckley that "I did not look
ppon his involvement in this situation as
particiltirly priducetive."
Rosenhu', a strong supporter of
Ford, said he talked with Buckley by
teleohone and told him the situation
wold be "counterproductive with ref-
erence to his senatorial aspirations .
I know that he is considering very
seriously my advice."
FOR BUCKLEY to have his name
placed before the convention as a can-
didate for the presidential nomination,
he would he required to demonstrate
that he has the support of a majority of
delegates from at least three states. A
proposal before the party rules commit-
tee would increase that number to five.
Unless Reagan were willing to turn
over his support in some states to
Buckley, there seemed little chance that
the New York senator's name could be
placed before the convention.
However, delegates can vote for can-
didates whether or not their names are
officially before the convention.
AT THE WHITE House, Press Secre-
tary Ron Nessen told reporters that if
Buckley enters the race, it "really NEW YORK SEN. James Buckley was all smiles yes
clinches it for President Ford." nouncement that he had been approached by Reagan
See FORD, Page 7 alternative to the two current front runners.
SHOT AND APPREHENDED BY POLICE
terday following the an-
delegates as a possible
Kansas sniper kills two, wounds seven
WICHITA, Kan. (41, - A sniper armed
with two rifles opened fire yesterday
from the roof of a 26-story hotel in down-
town Wichita, killing two persons and
wounding seven others before he was
shot and apprehended by police.
Officers said 19-year-old Michael Soles
of Sand Springs, Okla:, was captured
after 20 minutes of what they described
as indiscriminate sniper fire.
No charges were immediately filed
against him.
POLICE LT. COL. Bobby Stout said
the shooting began shortly before 3p.m.
from a 26th floor balcony area at the
Holiday Inn Plaza,.
Among the dead were a free-lance news
photographer who was shot as he sat
in a car on the street near the hotel and.
a workman who was hit on the roof of
an adjoining building overlooked by the
hotel.
Identities of the victims were withheld.
WITNESSES SAID the sniper's bullets
hit streets and a shopping courtyard
below the hotel.
"It's hard to tell how many shots there
were," said Dan Rachmann, an attorney
with offices in a nearby building. "I
must have heard 30 or 35 shots, then I
saw him throw down what appeared to
be two rifles. The next thing I saw up
there were two or three police officers."
An engineer who was on the hotel's
26th floor when the shooting began said
he saw the sniper standing on a balcony
with a weapon.
"I SAW ONE guy wounded down there
on the roof of an adjoining building. lIe
crawled about five or six feet before
he collapsed," the engineer said,
Stout said an unidentified citizen tele-
phoned police to report that a man
carrying two rifles was walking around
on the top floor of the hotel.
As officers were dispatched to the
scene, the sniper started firing into the
courtyard area facing the city's civic
center, Stout said.
"FIVE OFFICERS who arrived at the
hotel first went immediately to the 26th
floor," he said. "They entered a room
and could hear the bolt action of a rifle
in an adjoining room."
The five officers burst into the gun-
man's room and wounded him, but there
was no indication of an exchange of gao-
fire with the arriving police.
See KANSAS, Page