10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 18, 1995
Chechen officials agree to proposed truce with Russia,
Los Angeles Times
MOSCOW-Raising hopes that the mass
bloodshed in Chechnya could end as early as
this evening, two high-level Chechen offi-
cials agreed yesterday to a truce proposed by
Russia's prime minister as a way out of what
has become a Russian national tragedy.
But Kremlin insiders immediately cast
doubt on whether the officials, who planned
to report back to Chechen President Dzhokar
Dudayev, could actually guarantee that the
defiant fighters in the breakaway Muslim
republic would lay down their weapons.
"Judging by the emissaries that Dzhokar
Dudayev has sent to Moscow, it is clear that
he does not control the situation in the repub-
lic," said Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Filatov.
An attempt at a cease-fire last week broke
down less than two hours after it began - in
part, it appeared, because word that the fight-
ing was to stop did not reach combatants.
However, the truce agreement did appear
to be an indication that Prime Minister Viktor
S. Chernomyrdin, seen as one of the more
dovish members of the Kremlin inner circle,
was taking on more control of Russian policy
on Chechnya.
Chernomyrdin had proposed an extensive
cease-fire, including a ban on artillery shell-
ing and troop movements, in a nationally
televised address Monday night, then fol-
lowed it up at a meeting with Chechnya's
chief prosecutor and justice minister yester-
day.
"It can be said that beginning (tonight)
evening, the fightingwill be stopped," Chechen
Chief Prosecutor Usman Imayev, told report-
ers. If the cease-fire does take effect, it could
let President Boris N. Yeltsin step back from
what has become a military disaster for Rus-
sia. Although the official death toll among
Russian soldiers in Chechnya is only about
500, Parliament defense experts put the figure
at closer to 3,000, and hundreds if not thou-
sands ofcivilians are said to have died as well.
The expense of the offensive, launched on
Dec. 11 when up to 40,000 Russian troops
moved into Chechnya to break its bid for
independence, threatens to bust this year's
national budget and hurt market-oriented re-
forms. The widespread killing of Russia's
own citizens has damaged Moscow's foreign
relations, tarnished the military's image and
brought outraged protests from human rights
groups.
The intense bombardment of Grozny, the
Chechen capital, continued yesterday as Rus-
sian troops maintained their campaign to take
over the city center. A tri-color Russian flag
was reportedly on its way to Grozny, to be
planted atop the nine-story presidential pal-
ace, seat of-the rebel government, in place of
the green Chechen flag that has been flying
there.
. But Chechen militants still reportedly con-
trolled the palace last, and the Interfax news
agency said that Chechen snipers and gre-
nade-launchers there kept the Russian troops
at bay.
It said Chechen military leaders acknowl-
edged that they had taken to executing Rus-
sian scouts they caught.
The Chechens told Interfax that the fight-
ing in general in Grozny had grown much
more cruel.
U
Ex-Orange County treasurer blames bosses
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -
His bosses paid little attention to the
way he invested their money and he
made little effort to tell them before
Orange County went into bankruptcy,
its former treasurer said yesterday.
Robert L. Citron's history of lu-
crative investing of public funds had
made him a hero to the nation's fifth-
largest county and to 186 government
entities that pooled their money in the
investment fund he managed.
But Citron's plunge into heavy
borrowing from brokers to purchase
risky securities resulted in a $2 billion
loss and led to the fund's bankruptcy
last month. The mess focused atten-
tion on the investment practices of
officials entrusted with public funds.
In his first public remarks about
the disaster, Citron testified before a
state Senate committee yesterday that
there was virtually no oversight of his
activities. He never relayed to county
supervisors warnings in 1993 about
his portfolio from Merrill Lynch &
Co., his chief broker, or told the su-
pervisors of a 1994 inquiry by federal
regulators, he said.
"I was so sure of what I was doing
based on the many years of success I
had," Citron told the Senate Special
Committee on Local Government In-
vestments.
"In retrospect, I find that I was not
the sophisticated treasurer I said I
was," he said.
Citron testified under oath but
without a promise of immunity against
prosecution.
Merrill Lynch, the nation's larg-
est brokerage firm, remained above
the financial scandals of the 1980s
but has come under scrutiny in the
Orange County case, with questions
about whether star municipal invest-
ment salesman Michael Stamenson
improperly pushed risky strategies on
Citron.
The former treasurer said yester-
day that pressure from the county
supervisors and Merrill Lynch sales
pitches led him to make the high-risk
investments.
Even as Merrill Lynch warned
Citron that rising interest rates could
torpedo his fund, it continued to sell
him interest rate-sensitive securities
and provide him with some forecasts
of lower rates by its top analyst,
Charles Clough, Citron said.
Merrill Lynch, which made more
than $100million in the 1993-94year
selling securities and underwriting
municipal bonds for the county, has
portrayed Citron as a sophisticated
investor who would simply give his
business to others if Merrill threat-
ened to cut him off.
Paul Critchlow, a Merrill Lynch
spokesman, said Citron lobbied suc-
cessfully to pass many laws easing
restrictions on investments made by
municipal treasurers around the na-
tion and showed an understanding of
the complexity of arcane derivative
securities in reports and letters.
Critchlow said Citron had de-
scribed developing software to moni-
torcomplex investments and had criti-
cized San Jose officials for a similar
investment loss, blaming them instead
of Merrill Lynch.
"He can't say all those things and
then say he was unsophisticated and
was led down the garden path by
Merrill. It just doesn't wash,"
Critchlow said.
The Orange County fund was
brought down by sharply rising inter-
est rates, heavy demands by brokers
for more collateral and some inves-
tors deciding to redeem their hold-
ings.
"
WE'LL GIVE YOu10 WEEKS.
Ten weeks may not seem like much time to prove you're capable of being a
leader. But if you're tough, smart and determined, ten weeks and a lot of
hard work could make you an Officer of Marines. And Officer Candidates
School (OCS) is where you'll get the chance to prove you've got what it takes
to lead a life full of excitement, full of challenge, full of honor Anyone can say
they've got what it takes to be a leader, we'll give you ten weeks to prove it.
Marine-resa
Tre Fewi: The Pivu~rd.7The Aannes
Capt. Conley and Capt. Hitchcock will be handing out
more information and answering questions on Marine Corps
Officer Programs at the EECS Bldg. Atrium on North Campus
from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. on January 18, 1995. If you are
interested please come by, or call 1-800-892-7318. Semper Fi!
The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
is now taking applications for
Student Program Hosts
positions for the King/Chivez/Parks
College Day Spring Visitation Program
Student Program Hosts' responsibilities include
supervising and developing work schedules for
teams of student leaders who will work with students
from middle schools visiting the University during
KCP College Day Spring Visitation Program.
Applications and job descriptions can be obtained at
The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
1042 Fleming Building, first floor.
For additional information contact
Felton Rogers at 936-1055
The Young Women's Health Project II
The Young Women's Health Project
University of Michigan Medical Center
FEMALE VOLUINFERS NEEDED lw
The Young Women's Health Project is conducting an ongoing,
federally-funded study of nutrition and its impact on menstrual
function. Subjects are needed who have experienced
or are regularly engaged in any of the following behaviors:
" binge eating
. intense dieting or fasting
* vomiting or other types of purging
If you are interested, and you are a sophomore woman,
you may be eligible to participate.
For further information, please contact Eva Rosenwald,
Project Coordinator at 936-4867.
All subjects will be paid for their participation in this project.
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