10A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 16, 1998 NATION/WORLD Rep. calls for restoring ties to Iran Marching toward peace 7= w Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON In the most sweeping initiative toward Tehran by a U.S. official since Iran's 1979 rev- olution, a ranking congressional Democrat called Tuesday for the White House and Congress to take far-reaching steps to end containment of Iran and open the way to restoring diplomatic ties. By proposing strong steps to hasten the thaw in relations, Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) former chair and now senior Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, issued a direct challenge to his peers in Congress, which has usurped control of U.S.- Iran policy in recent years. His position may also give the White House more room to maneuver on the con- troversial issue. "Confrontation has benefited neither country. Why continue to follow a policy that for 20 years hasn't worked?" Hamilton said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. "Our policy is not isolating Iran. It's isolating the United States." Among his proposals, Hamilton urged a compro- mise on Iran's nuclear capability that would enable Tehran to develop reactors for civilian purposes - under international safeguards and potentially with U.S. help - much like the 1994 pact crafted with North Korea. He envisions U.S.-Iran talks, held under auspices of the United Nations or the International Atomic Energy Agency, which would help guard against Iran's development of nuclear weapons. The White House also should signal to Iran that official talk on this and other issues would lead to eas- ing of an executive order banning U.S. trade with Iran, Hamilton said, starting with licensing U.S. companies to talk to Tehran in preparation for the lifting of sanc- tions. Diplomatic moves should include sending the first U.S. diplomat since the 1979-81 U.S. Embassy takeover to Tehran to initiate and coordinate American-Iranian exchange programs, Hamilton said. He hopes to nudge congressional debate on the issue in a new direction and to provide support for a White House trying to forge a new relationship with Iran despite wariness on Capitol Hill. "I felt it was an opportune time to do it - both due to developments in Iran and the U.S. reaction," Hamilton said in an interview. "I want us to take advantage of it, and I know a lot of people in the administration are now thinking about Iran." Despite White House calls for a government-to- government dialogue, Hamilton said Washington has been unwilling to take steps to facilitate such commu- nication. "We need to begin a policy of engagement," he told the Council on Foreign Relations. Belfast resident Jim Carlin reads a copy of the Northern Ireland peace agreement yesterday, which will be distributed to all homes in the country. Evidence of political ilings opens trial The Washington Post GEORGE, South Africa - The polit- ically charged trial of former president Pieter W. Botha on contempt charges opened yesterday with evidence aired for the first time in a South African court that the apartheid-era leader authorized assassination as part of his governme 3 campaign to preserve white rule. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission revealed a litany of statements lifted from mintes of the apartheid-era State Security Council, which Botha headed, that out- lined a comprehensive state policy to "eliminate" or "neutralize" opponents o the white-minority government. Though Botha's lawyer objected to attempts to affix meaning to those terms, Paul Zyl, the executive secretary of the tr commission and the first witness in the case, said high-level security officials have given statements to the commis- sion that the words used by their politi- cal bosses were direct orders to kill. The State Security Council minutes Formed the basis of the subpoenas that he truth commission issued to Botha list year in an effort to get him to acount for his government's po Tousands of blacks and other opj nens of apartheid were jailed, mur- dere or killed in riots and clashes wit polic during the unrest that swep SouthAfrica in the 1970s and 1980s. ButBotha, who has called the truth seeking process a "witchhunt" and "circus, refused to obey the subpoenas though 1 did submit a 1,700-page doc ument aiswering a series of writte questionsrom the commission. For obeying th; subpoenas, the commiss filed charg~s of contempt against Botha Attempts t cut a deal to avert the tria forced a deay of Tuesday's schedule opening, butaltimately failed. Botha, wh was prime minister an then presidentfrom 1978 until 1989, i. the only apartleid-era head of state t stand trial. Thoigh in poor health sine suffering a strole in 1989 and seated i court on a special cushion because of hip replacementlast year, he has J up to the name cnferred upon him - "Great Crocodile' - because of hi. combative style cf leadership durin the days of wite-minority rule Yesterday, with onl, a half-dozen sup porters in the courtroom and with hi once-powerful Afrikaner people n out of power, he sounded like a ma making a quixotic last stand. "Even if they destroy me, they c not destroy my soul and my con tions," he declared as he chatted wit reporters during a break. The Botha trial assumed a politica focus yesterday as the prosecution le van Zyl in a line of questioning th cut to the core of whether Botha i accountable for the brutal repressio that gripped South Africa in th 1980s. MILE Continued from Page 1A Ann Arbor City Councilmem Elisabeth Daley (D-5th Ward) s the kind of action the city had ini4 ated - which includes advising per ticipants about safety risks -~ more effective at this point than To the city to try and ban the event. - "When there is a large crow whether people are naked or no can be a very dangerous situatiar Daley said. Director of University Housin William Zeller said a great deal p emphasis is being placed on makin the Naked Mile an overall safte m m 0