2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 5, 1996 Netanyahu Arafat talk peace N ATION/WORLD EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip (AP) - With his arm twisted, Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday shook the hand of ',asser Arafat, a man he once con- demned as a murderer. Then the Israeli -lard-liner and the former guerrilla "alked peace. b The historic meeting at the Israel- ,aza border - arranged after months f U.S. pressure and Palestinian threats helped clear the air of animosity that F thickened after Netanyahu's Likud Party came to power in May. - It also signaled to the Palestinians ,:that the other half of a deeply divided irael has finally accepted them, and ...especially Arafat, as peace partners. But it yielded few concrete results. At a news conference after the hour- long meeting, Netanyahu said he was prepared to negotiate a final peace agreement and, in his most generous moment, added he hoped to "improve the prosperity and economic conditions of the Palestinian population." Arafat said the meeting set the stage for progress in restarting the peace process, which has been frozen since Israel's election. "The path was cleared for us to nego- tiate on all levels and in all aspects,' he said. Netanyahu and Arafat arrived sepa- rately yesterday evening at the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza. Inside the meeting room, a grim- faced Netanyahu buttoned his jacket and reached across a table to briefly rr, FBI reassigns 500 anti-terrorist agents WASH INGTON - The FBI will reassign at least 500 agents to contend with the heightened threat of domestic and international terrorism, senior federal law- enforcement officials said yesterday. The decision to shift the special agents to the counter-terrorism program from other duties followed several incidents this summer that have stretched the capacities of the existing program, the officials said. These include the June 25 bombing Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. airmen, the suspicious explosion of Trans Wote Airlines Flight 800 on July 17 and the July 27 bombing at Atlanta's Centennial Park. Reflecting on these events, FBI Director Louis Freeh said in congressional tes- timony last month, "I think the country and the American people have been expe- riencing an increasing war against them by terrorists and terrorist-supported activ- ities." The number of agents assigned to the counter-terrorism program is classified The FBI divides its investigative resources into seven programs including civil rights, organized crime and counter-terrorism. The total number of FBI agents has increased by nearly 10 percent since 1994 and is expected to reach 10,662 when the federal fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. Tht figure is expected to increase even further next year because Congress is now c sidering a number of bills that would further boost FBI strength in several areas. Main iih& d AP PHOTO Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat shake hands before their meeting at the Isreal-Gaza boarder yesterday. grasp the hand of Arafat, dressed in his usual black-and-white checkered head- dress and olive military-style outfit. Israeli TV stations played the footage of the handshake over and over, some- times in slow motion. Should I be thinking about Grad school? A k Law School Business School r 4 Even as the leaders spoke, aides bick- ered about the height of the podiums set up for the news conference, with the Palestinians charging Netanyahu's was taller and insisting it be changed. The two men stood side-by-side dur- ing the joint 15-minute news confer- ence -- and the usually polished Netanyahu appeared stiff and uncom- fortable. The meeting did not address key out- standing issues, such as Israel's desire to change the terms of its promised pullout from Hebron and the Palestinians' demand that Israel ease the six-month closure of their territo- ries. The sides had earlier agreed on a vague statement declaring a liaison committee would start meeting today to oversee implementation of agreements already signed, including on Hebron. Netanyahu drew harsh attacks from hard-line Israeli politicians for meeting with Arafat. They accused him of breaking campaign promises and buck- ling under U.S. pressure. "It's a grave mistake," veteran Likud lawmaker Uzi Landau said. Former Premier Shimon Peres, archi- tect of the Israel-PLO accords, said the summit was an "enormous moral victo- ry" for his policies. Outside the meeting site, Israeli peace activists waved a sign saying, "It's about time." Israeli elder statesman Abba Eban, said Netanyahu had no choice but to honor existing agreements, terming the summit "a shotgun wedding." Still, the encounter was the first recognition of Arafat by an Israeli pre- mier from the Likud Party, which long opposed Israel-PLO peacemaking. As late as February, Netanyahu had said he would not hold talks with Arafat. But as the May elections approached, he softened his position, saying he would only meet Arafat if it was vital for Israel's security. Netanyahu said later yesterday that the meeting became possible after he received assurances the Palestinians would cease what he considered viola- tions of the peace accords. Ethcs probe looms over Gingrich WASHINGTON - Two years after the first ethics complaint was filed against him, a House ethics committee investigation still looms over House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) amid signs the matter may not be resolved before Congress heads home for the fall campaigns later this month. House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-Texas) said yesterday that Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) the ethics committee's chairman, had asked to meet with him to discuss whether the panel could meet after Congress adjourns. "It is my understanding that the com- mittee can meet after adjournment, Armey said at his weekly briefing for reporters. "We want to make sure that parliamentary rulings are complete and reliable." Because all members of the 10-mem- ber panel, which is equally divided between Republicans and Democrats, are candidates for re-election Nov. 5, it is unlikely they would meet during October, putting off a resolution of the investigation until after the elections. Diet study reveals healthier habits After decades of gradual diet improvement, upscale white Americans are finally eating nearly as well as poor blacks did 30 years ago. That's the paradoxical conclusion of a new study that tracks changesvin American eating habits, based on gov- ernment surveys. Judged by current nutritional guidelines, the study found that in 1965, blacks of low socioeco- nomic status had the most healthful diets, while whites of high socioed nomic status had the least healthful ones - mainly because of their high fat consumption. By 1991, the quality-of the diet had improved for all population groups in the study, but poor blacks were still the group most likely to eat a healthful diet. However, only 20 per- cent of relatively affluent whites were close to recommended dietary goals in 1991, up fourfold from 4.7 percent i Graduate School ' hedfO~ta/ tickets 1~~ I nh Or Medical School t hr HE t c ''; 4. ' .. + %;... Lam9 1 & ," o WhereiAhere do i s g n e l g t d o e l i a l rzza ? Tough questions for your first year... KAPLAN 1-800- KAP-TEST Poachers slaughter elephants in Congo BRAZZAVILLE, . Congo - Authorities found some 200 slaugh- tered elephants whose tusks had been sheared off in what they said yesterday was the worst ever case of poaching in the central African country. "Never in all my years as a forester have I seen such a massacre," said Dr. Oko Rufin Antoine of the min- istry of water and forests. "The hor- rible spectacle was enough to give you a heart attack." The poachers used rifles to kill the elephants, many of the either preg- nant females or infants, and then cut off their ivory tusks, leaving behind tons of rotting meat, he said. The site of the killing, a large salt marsh some 500 miles north of the capital, Brazzaville, is a popular watering hole for animal herds, despite decades of heavy poaching in the region, Oko said. He said the government had recently placed the marsh under pro- tection of the National Park of Odzala, Congo's largest game park. The commercial sale of ivory is banned in Congo as in most Afridan countries. Farrakhan meets Castro, tours Cuba MEXICO CITY - Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan praised Fidel Castro yesterday, saying his talks with the Cuban leader were wide-ranging and "wonderful." The black leader met briefly v Castro after arriving Tuesday i Havana, the last stop on a trip that has taken Farrakhan to Libya, Iran and Iraq. "It was a wonderful conversation, we touched on many subjects, but the fun- damental one was social relations," the Cuban government news agency Prensa Latina quoted him as saying. Farrakhan was to return to the United States on today, but reports indicate he left yes- terday. - Compiled from Daily wire services. The Micnigan Daily (ISSN U45.967) is publisneo Monay tnrougn rday ounng the tall ana winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September. via U.S. mail are. $85, Winter term (January through April) is $95. yearlong (September through April) is $165. On-campus sti! scriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of the Associated Press and the Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 313): News 76-DAILY; Arts 763-0379; Sports 747-3336; Opinion 764-0552; Circulation 764-0558; Classified advertising 764-0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 764-0550. E-mail letters to the editor to daily.letters@umich.edu. World Wide Web: http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/. 1 iih(1J lWiI ITT e- 1m I U W .....-Lrjk.E-.p.,I-uiI IL 16.vgwvrawtsi alfvr.; nulloIIC {OIIA"IlC(sy multuf III VIIICF NEWS Amy Klein, Managing Editor EDITORS: Tim O'Connell, Megan Shimpf, Michelle Lee Thompson, Josh White. STAFF: Janet Adamy. Brian Campbell, Anita Chick, Jodi S. Cohen. Melanie Cohen, Jeff Cox, Jeff Eldridge, Jennifer Harvey, Stephanie Jo-4(ein, Laurie Mayk Heather Miller. Rajal Pitroda. 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