Experts *ink Iran with NYC bombing WASHINGTON (AP) - Did Iran play an indirect role in the World Trade Center bombing? Although the actual bombing ap- pears to be the work of amateurs, some experts feel Iran's radical anti- Western regime inspired the Feb. 26 attack that killed six, wounded more than 1,000 and caused $1 billion in damage. Vincent Cannistraro, former chief of CIA counterterrorism operations, said the Iranians had been financing Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, a blind fundamentalist Egyptian cleric be- lieved to be the spiritual leader for at least four of the five Arabs charged in the bombing. Abdel-Rahman, who preaches in New York City area mosques, has denied getting money from Iran and being involved in the bombing. Tehran has not made any official comment. Some experts noted the method of the bombing was consistent with attacks by Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East -especially in the use of a van or truck to deliver the explosive. Iran has been able to expand its influence in part because of a rela- tively new ability to strike a com- mon political cause with Sunni Muslims, a sect which predominates in the Arab world. The sect has been at odds with Shiite Muslims, who predominate in Iran, for more than 1,000 years over religious issues. Asad AbuKhalil, a Lebanese scholar at the Middle East Institute, said Abdel-Rahman, in his taped sermons, stresses the need for coop- eration between Sunnis and Shiites and supports Iran's revolution. AbuKhalil suggested a new polit- ical agenda is uniting frustrated Arab youths and transcending traditional sectarian differences. But experts such as Cannistraro see closer links between terrorism and Iran. He said Iranian Revolutionary Guards are training activists of Abdel-Rahman's Islamic Group at a camp in Sudan. The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 29, 1993- Page 5 Congress lifts restriction on abortion funds Speak out DOUGLAS KAN T ::1 a ly LSA sophomore Eric Williams (right) reads from "Song of Solomon," which he received from Prof. Ralph Williams' "Bible as Literature" class. There was an open microphone Friday on the Diag for a free-speech rally. hclement weather provides roadblock for fighting and supplies in Yugoslavia WASHINGTON (AP) - Michigan lawmakers split on a bill that would lift restrictions on abortion counseling at federally- financed clinics. The bill, passed 273-149, would make law President Clinton's rever- sal of the Bush administration's ban on the counseling. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) was the only Michigan Republican voting for the measure. Before the bill was passed, the House voted 243-179 against efforts to prohibit any clinic that receives federal money from performing abortions on minors only if a parent is notified 48 hours in advance. Voting in favor of the parental notification were Reps. James Barcia (D-Bay City), Dale Kildee (D-Flint), Dave Camp (R-Midland), Peter Hoekstra (R-Holland); Joseph Knollenberg (R-Bloomfield Hills); and Nick Smith (R-Addison). In other congressional action last week, Senators Carl Levin (D- Detroit), and Donald Riegle (D- Flint), joined the Senate in approv- ing the outline of Clinton's plan to cut the deficit and stimulate the economy. The blueprint was approved 54- 45 Thursday and sent to a confer- ence committee to work out an agreement with the House, which passed a similar bill the week before. The actual budget cuts and the spending and tax increases will fol- low in later bills. On Tuesday, the Senate approved a non-binding amendment that said military cuts deeper than those pro- posed by Clinton could go only to- ward reducing the deficit. Riegle and Levin opposed that amendment, which passed 56-43. Also Tuesday, the Senate killed an amendment that would have cut in half Clinton's proposed $112 bil- lion in military cuts over the next five years. Levin and Riegle voted with the majority in killing the amendment. On Wednesday, the Senate voted 52-47 to table an attempt to delete a provision in the economic package calling for increased taxes on Social Security recipients. Levin and Riegle voted to table, the measure. Minutes later, they voted to adopt an amendment urging staff to find another way to generate the money the Social Security levy would raise. The non-binding wording, seen as political cover for Democrats who had supported the tax increase ear- lier, was adopted on a 67-32 tally. Social Security recipients pay taxes on up to half of their benefits once their income exceeds $25,000 for an individual or $32,000 for a couple. The president would raise to 85 percent the portion of benefits. subject to the income tax. Riegle and Levin also voted to reject a GOP attempt at eliminating, Passing 273-149, the bill would lift restrictions on abortion counseling at federally-financed clinics. new taxes and spending boosts that Clinton wants. The vote was 55-44 against it. They then defeated, 57-42, an al- ternative budget-cutting plan offered by Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan). It would have eliminated Clinton's tax and spending increases and replaced them with deep reduc- tions in social programs. Riegle said Clinton is attempting to put an end to the wealth in the United States accumulating with the top 1 percent of wage earners.- "I hear this shopworn set of ar- guments from the people on the other side of the aisle - we tried your plan for 12 years and it did not work," Riegle told the Senate. "The American people reached that judg- ment last November. They sent that crowd out." SARAJEVO, Bosnia- Herzegovina (AP) - Deep snow apparently helped a cease-fire take hold yesterday as U.N. officials battled the elements in another attempt to get food and medicine to the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica. Alija Izetbegovic, president -of Bosnia's Muslim-led government, said he would give Bosnian Serbs 10 to 15 days to accept the U.N.- sponsored peace plan he signed last week. The truce - the longest in the year-old civil war - followed two of the quietest days of the year-old war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, slightly raising hopes that this cease-fire might stick. Earlier accords collapsed quickly. "These have been the first six hours of peace in a year," said Manojlo Milovanovic, chief-of-staff of the Bosnian Serb forces. "I'm very satisfied." Just five minutes before the truce, three people were killed and five were seriously wounded in brief shelling near the presidency building in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnian radio said. Seven shells hit the airport in Tuzla just after noon, damaging two helicopters, said British Maj. Martin Waters, an officer with U.N. peace- keeping troops based in that north- eastern city. The U.N. command in Kiseljak, just outside Sarajevo, said it received no other reports of cease-fire violations. Bad weather may have helped quell the fighting. Snowfall abated by midday in Sarajevo after 60 hours without pause. An aid convoy, led by Gen. Philippe Morillon of France, U.N. peacekeeping commander in Bosnia, tried to reach Srebrenica on Saturday but was blocked by Bosnian Serbs. Yesterday, one truck crashed en route because of the bad weather, and the convoy did not get to the Bosnian border until afternoon, U.N. officials said. On his way back from New York, Izetbegovic said he reluctantly signed the peace plan Thursday because he saw no alternative. The plan "is indeed a very bad one, but other plans are even worse," he said. The plan calls for the division of Bosnia into 10 largely autonomous provinces based on ethnic groups, leaving the national government little power. Izetbegovic said he would withdraw his signature if Bosnian Serbs did not agree to the plan in 10 to 15 days. The military commanders of the Serb, Muslim and Croat factions are to meet April 6 to discuss demilitarization if the cease-fire holds until then. n a ~ft Global economy V. shouldn't you have Global experience? A ustria " G erman y - Gre ece -Ir eland " Unit ed Kingdom V BEAVER COLLEGE It's not too late to give your resume the international edge that will set it apart from the rest. Apply to study abroad through Beaver. You can enroll at a for- Beaver program students overseas interact with other cultures. Not as observers of them, but as partici- pants. Call today for a free cata- 1 flW1MUEIffYIN,~.5II~,t ' .. IIIQiI iUI'"Aiid. 1 ,I I I.,