NATION/WORLD The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 22, 1998 - 5 Iran appeals to U.N. or tks The Wiashington Post UNITED NATIONS --Iranian President Mohammad Khatemi, whose country stands on the brink of war with Afghanistan's dominant Taliban movement, appealed to the United Nations yesterday to bring all the feuding Afghan factions into negotiations to permit "the tyran- nized and destitute Afghan people to freely determine their own destiny." With 200,000 Iranian troops massed on the Afghan frontier, Khatemi spoke to the annual opening of the I.T.N. General Assembly as for- eign ministers or their deputies from eight countries, including the United States, met on the sidelines here to seek ways of preventing the Afghan civil war from escalating into cross- border conflict with Iran. The meeting ended in agreement to ask I akhdar Brahimi, UN. Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy, to go back to Afghanistan to seek ways of stimulating a dialogue and to call on the ialiban to permit an international inves- 4igation of the killing of Iranian diplo- Hurricane Georges pounds Caribbean AP PHOTO Iranian President Mohammad Khatami shakes hands with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, right, at the United Nations yesterday. Khatami said his country wants good relations with the outside world. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) A menacing hurricane Georges cut a swath through the northeast C(aribbean yesterday, packing winds as high as 130 mph and churning up 20-foot seas. Thousands took shelter from the storm in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The hurricane toppled power lines, mangled trees and blew away roofs in St. Kitts, Antigua and other islands early yesterday. No injuries were reported by late afternoon, but officials said they feared for the worst if Georges strikes any densely populated areas. "This hurricane has the characteris- tics of being the strongest that we have confronted in Puerto Rico in decades;' warned Gov. Pedro Rossello. "Our peo- ple have very difficult days to come." At 5 p.m.. Georges' center was esti- mated near 18.0 north latitude and 65.6 west longitude, 40 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, after passing St. Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, where all power was knocked out. Maximum sustained winds had increased to 115 mph by 5:30 p.m. with gusts as high as 130 mph, upgrading Georges to a category 3 hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Moving west-northwest at 16 mph, the storm packed hurricane-force winds up to 85 miles from the eye, mostly to the northeast. 'The Ilurricane C'enter warned the storm winds while diminished from a monstrous 150 mph recorded Sunday remained "extremely dangerous;' and director Jerry Jarrell said there were indications Georges was intensi- fying. Advance teams from the U.S. l'ederal Emergency Management Agency, the FBI and the American Red Cross arrived in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Both territories declared states of emergency and called up National Guard troops. The first strong winds were felt around 3 p.m. in the San Juan area, where almost half of Puerto Rico's 3.8 million people live. Rossello banned liquor sales and ordered more than 330 shelters opened. Banks and schools closed, airlines canceled flights to and from the U.S. mainland, and ferry service was suspended. People were ordered o1ff the beaches. More than 9,700 people left their homes for shelters in San Juan, Arecibo, Mayaguez and other cities. With up to 15 inches of rain expected in Puerto Rico's mountains, the threat of mudslides drove many mountain residents to shelters in San Juan. "The roof of my house is made of wood and cardboard, and I'd rather be here before it goes flying," said Miguel Mercado Romero. In St. Croix, raging winds bent palm trees to one-third of their height, shook parked cars and destroyed part of the boardwalk. Gov. Roy Schneider, speak- ing on WVWI-AM radio, said a 50-foot sailboat had been driven aground. In St. Thomas, also part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, winds were at about 75 mph and increasing. mats and punish those responsible. The desire for Afghan stability and animosity toward the Taliban, which seeks to impose an extremist Muslim theology on Afghanistan, has posed something of a uniting issue for the US. and Iranian governments after 19 years of mutual hostility. Yesterday's meeting provided the setting for one of the highest-level contacts between officials of both countries since rela- tions were severed after the !979 Islamic revolution. theological differences that Iran claims have led to the Taliban killing and kidnapping Iranian citi- zens. The United States has opposed the Taliban's alleged involvement in drug trafficking, human rights violations and, most importantly, support of terrorism including the harboring of Osama bin Laden, the Saudi multimillion- aire whom the United States blames for masterminding the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Washington launched cruise missile attacks last month against a Bin Laden base in Afghanistan. But while there has been consid- erable speculation that the election of Khatemi, a moderate among the Shiite clerics who control Iran, might present an opportunity for improving relations, U.S. officials stressed that yesterday's events were concerned with Afghanistan and were not connected to any efforts to promote a Washington- Iran and the Taliban have serious Tanzania. In retaliation, Tehran dialogue. Clinton seeks to define global scope of terrorism U.Nn Continued from Page 1 Rather than focus on specific actions to com- bat terrorism, Clinton sought in his 1.N. speech to define the global scope of the prob- 1em and dispel the idea that it is caused by an inevitable clash of cultures and a Western dis- regard for poorer nations. "It is a grave misconception to see terrorism hs only, or even mostly, an American problem," Clinton said. "Indeed, it is a clear and present danger to tolerant and open societies and inno- cent people everywhere." Ile listed terrorist incidents around the world over the past decade, including killings in Northern Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Sri Lanka and Argentina, as well as the bombings last month at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 12 Americans. "Some people believe that terrorism's princi- pal fault lines center on what they see as an inevitable clash of civilizations," he said. "It is an issue that deserves a lot of debate in this great hall. Specifically, they believe there is an inevitable clash between Western civilizations and Western values and Islamic civilizations and values. I believe this view is terribly wrong. Clinton sought to picture the U Jnited States as a friend, rather than a foe, of Islam. le said Islam is one of the fastest growing faiths in the United States, where there already are 1,200 mosques. "'here is no inherent clash between Islam and America," he said. Feds look 1nto Ford floor mats WASHING ION (AP) - A federal safety agency is investigating whether drivers floor mats on some late model Ford F-150 pickup trucks can creep up on the gas pedal, potentially leading to motorist s losing control of pickups. lorty-nine consumers complained the mats slid out of position on some of the popular pickups from model years 1997 and 1998, the National IHighway Trafi Safety Administration said in a monthly report on its auto investiga- tions released yesterday. There are an estimated I million of the- best-selling pickups on the road. However, Ford spokesperson Karen Shtfughnessy said only about 15 per- cent ofthose pickups have the mats. TJhere were no reported crashes or injuries, the report said. "Were aware of the investigation and were cooperating with NI HTSA$, said Shaughnessy lord Motor Co. officials told the agency that their floor mats are made so there is enough clearance between the mat and the gas pedal. Ford also said floor mats that are not produced by the company are often bought by con- suxners and 11 of the complaints involve those mats Ford documents given to the agency show company concern that mechanics at dealerships or consumers may not be properly installing the mats, the report said. * Ford made a design change in July 1997 to minimize the likelihood the floor mat could interfere with the pedal and Ford issued two service bulletins to mechanics to emphasize proper floor mat installation, the report said. COME TO A DAILY MASS MEETING TOMORROW AT 7:30 P.M. IN THE STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BUILDING AT 420 MAYNARD ST. ; , ....o..e..S.........................................s....... Preparingfor a career in academe? 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