Page 2-Sunday, April 12, 1981-The Michigan Daily EL SALVADOR POLICY RISKS 'CREDIBILITY GAP' U.S. defense of junta criticized WASHINGTON (AP) - The Reagan administration is risking a "credibility gap" by defending the Salvadoran jun- ta against accusations that its forces have murdered unarmed civilians, critics of U.S. policy in El Salvador con- tend. The critics, including two members of Congress, warned that the ad- ministration will face increasing public skepticism if it continues to try to rationalize Salvadoran actions. Administration officials sought Thursday to counter published reports blaming Salvadoran troops for the murders of 30 men, women and teen- agers who were killed Tuesday in a low- income suburb of the capital of San Salvador. THE DEFENSE OF the junta - from both White House and State Depar- tment officials - came despite eyewit- ness accounts saying government troops and police dragged most of the victims from their homes in the early morning hours and shot them to death. In a prepared statement, State Department spokesman William Dyess suggested that violence in El Salvador was instigated by "extremist forces" and argued that such incidents will con- tinue until the government can "restore stability." A State Department official said Friday that the Treasury police, the branch of the junta's armed forces which reportedly carried out the Tuesday raid, were looking for a secret meeting of guerrilla leaders when the killings occurred. THE OFFICIAL, who requested anonymity, said the Treasury police have told the U.S. embassy that guerrillas opened fire, wounding three police agents and the deaths resulted from the ensuing gun battle. However, the officials said that ver- sion of events does not explain why the bodies were moved to a nearby street where they were found at dawn. Repor- ters who visited the scene also said some of the bullet wounds appeared to be inflicted at close range. Critics of the administration's aid to El Salvador complained in statements issued yesterday that the U.S. reaction to the deaths appeared to be part of a pattern of defending the junta whenever its troops are accused of a, killing. "THERE'S ALWAYS a tendency to put the best light on events," said Rep. Michael Barnes (D-Md.). "It's going to be more difficult for the administr- ation to assume that its statements will get much credibility." "They (administration officials) always hem and haw and try to rationalize it," said another congressional critic, Rep. Garry Studds (D-Mass.). "I wish they would just for once condemn an incident like this as unjustifiable." Studds said the "most grotesque example" of the administration's defense of the junta was last month's statements by Secretary of State Alexander Haig about the murder of four American churchwomen last December. Haig said "the most prominent" theory about how the murders occurred was that the three Catholic nuns and a laywoman were killed when they tried to run a police roadblock. Relatives and friends of the women accused Haig and other administration officials of trying to justify the killings and waging a "smear campaign" to discredit the missionaries. Even State Department officials in- volved in the investigation said privately that the Haig roadblock theory was never a leading explanation for the murders. The administration has sought the blame leftist guerrillas for most of the 10,000 political murders in El Salvador last year. Many Catholic and human rights groups, however, have blamed the government and right-wing paramilitary groups for the vast majority of slayings. OF 4 FLYERS 2Z AN A Shuttle to Ann Arbor Airport Sat. & Sun. every hour from the Michigan Union. Anyone can fly for $20 by taking a Discov- ery Flight with the Michigan Flyers. If you are affiliated with the University of Michi- gan call for information. 994-6208. U.S. may back more UN forces in Lebanon From AP and UPI BONN, West Germany - The Reagan administration may support an expan- ded U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon if fighting continues there, Secretary of State Alexander Haig said yesterday. Haig conferred with French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing in Paris and West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in Bonn, then flew back to Washington after an eight-day, nine-nation tour that focused on the Middle East. N - -IN a 00 00 UG C) SPORADIC CLASHES in Lebanon are threatening to shatter a three-day- old cease-fire between Syrian and Christian forces. Haig described the situation as "very serious." Commenting on his meeting with Giscard d'Estaing, Haig said: "We discussed a role for the United Nations in the situation, and perhaps it will be necessary, if the parties themselves cannot deal with it effectively, to con- sider a peace-keeping force of some kind." "We do feel the matter is urgent and we are involved in a number of coor- dinated diplomatic activities," he said. IN BEIRUT, a spokesperson for the Phalange Party, which fields Lebanon's largest Christian militia, welcomed Haig's suggestion. "We have taken note of the interest of the secretary of state. We are now waiting for these words to be put into effect as soon as possible," the spokesperson said. The United Nations already has a battered peacekeeping force in south Lebanon. But the idea of expanding its mandate to police another war in Beirut was not expected to be greeted en- thusiastically at the United Nations, where the Soviet Union would almost certainly veto the proposal if it ever got as far as the Security Council, obser- vers said. The Syrians also would object and Lebanese President Elias Sarkis, who must contend with rival factions both in and outside of his delicate government, has said he is against the idea. Syrian units shelled the Christian stronghold of Zahle, 30 miles east of Beirut, for eight days before the latest cease-fire took hold Wednesday. The Syrians also traded artillery fire in Beirut withrChristians and units of the recently reconstructed Lebanese national army. IN BRIEF Compiled from Associated Press and United Press international reports Afghan rebels gain control of second largest city NEW DELHI, India-Moslem rebels b5attled Soviet and Afghan gover- nment forces in 23 of Afghanistan's 29 provinces yesterday, and the guerrillas seized control of the second largest city of Kandahar, informed sources reported. They also said Afghan troops were systematically massacring hundreds of villagers. The Afghan army, cut by defections and casualties from 90,000 to 30,000, suffered another blow, meanwhile. A lieutenant, pretending he was on a test run, drove his Soviet-made tank across the Pakistani border and asked fdr asylum, a source close to Pakistan's Defense Ministry reported. A Western diplomatic source in New Delhi said he had confirmation that Kandahar, a city of 200,000 some 285 miles southwest of Kabul, fell to the in- surgents, who have gone on the offensive with the spring thaw. House Reps, conservative Dens rally behind modified budget WASHINGTON-Conservative Democrats in the House are rallying with Republicans behind a slightly modified version of President Reagan's economic plan, despite a week of intensive efforts by Democratic leaders to unify the party. The developing coalition could bury a proposed "Democratic alternative" unveilled last week. And key Democrats were becoming openly skeptical of whether any scheme could be conconcted to attract the party's conser- vatives without alienating its liberals. Despite an unexpected setback in the Senate Budget Committee that Reagan allies insisted was temporary, the budget-trimming portion of the president's plan seemed in far better shape than his accompanying tax-cut proposal as Congress began its two-week Easter recess. Atlanta search continues ATLANTA-About 125 volunteers, some armed with machetes, searched without success yesterday for some clue that would enable police to crack the baffling ,20-month string of slayings of young blacks in Atlanta. The 2 -h our search was concentrated along the banks of the Chat- tahoochee River and in sparsely populated areas of southwest Fulton Coun- ty, where the bodies of many of the victims have been found. It was the 26th such weekend effort and one group of 32 volunteers traveled all night from Trenton, N.J., to participate. Twenty-three bodies have been found over the past 20 months and two other young blacks are listed as missing. East Germany warns Poland not to stray from Leninism BERLIN-East German leader Erich Honecker warned Polish authorities yesterday not to stray from the Leninist line, saying there was no alternative to Soviet-style communism. He also called for a Soviet bloc economic sum- mit on Poland's economic chaos. "Without a single deletion, Lenin's recognition that there is no third way between bourgeois and socialist ideology remains valid today," the East German Communist Party chief said. "Models for a 'renewed socialism,' from wherever they come, always show themselves unsuitable," Honecker told the opening session of East Germany's six-day-Communist Party Congress. The term "renewal" is used to describe the social and political liberalization under way in Poland since last summer's labor strikes that ended with government recognition of the independent union Solidarity. Seventh century synagogue unearthed in Israel WASHINGTON-A rare synagogue that survived the seventh century Islamic conquest of Palestine has been excavated in Israel, indicating some Jews were allowed to practice their religion openly after the invasion, ar- chaeologists say. The first thorough excavation of the site also showed that the synagogue was constructed over an even older, previously unknown Jewish temple, the National Georgaphic Society said yesterday. The newer synagogue, dedicated in 564 A.D., served worshipers for 150 to 200 years before being abandoned and allowed to decay, said Eric Meyers and Carol Meyers, a husband-wife archaeologist team in the religion depar- tment of Duke University. Jailed terrorist denied political status in Britain LONDON-Britain stood firm yesterday against granting political status to prisoners convicted of terrorism despite the election to Parliament of IRA guerrilla Bobby Sands, who declared he has no intention of resigning or en- ding his 42-day-old hunger strike. A spokesperson for the British government in Northern Ireland said San- ds' hunger strike would cause "no change of policy on political status-the government has made clear on a number of occasions the principles by which it is guided." Prison officials also said Sands would receive no special privileges because of his newly won status as a member of Parliament. CZiiP Mtclpgna lg Vol. XCI, No. 157 Sunday, April 12, 1981 The Michigan Daily is edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan. Published daily Tuesday through Sunday mornings during the University year at 420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109. Sub- scription rates: $12 September through April (2 semesters); $13 by mail outside Ann Arbor. Summer session published Tuesday through Saturday mornings. Subscription rates: $6.50 in Ann Arbor; $7 by mail outside Ann Arbor. Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Michigan. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE MICHIGAN DAILY, 420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. The Michigan Daily is a member of the Associated Press and subscribes to United Press International, Pacific News Service, Los Angeles Times Syndicate and Field Newspapers Syndicate. 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