2A - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 21, 2001 NATION/WORLD 4 Arafat tries to maintain relations TEL AVIV, Israel - When an Israeli mother of three was killed yesterday in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank, U.S. Consul Ronald Schlicher, the Jerusalem'based diplomat who maintains U.S. con- tacts with Palestinian leaders, quickly called Yasser Arafat to ask what he was going to do about it. Arafat, desperately trying to remain in the Bush administration's good graces, said his Palestinian Authority's security services would hunt down and arrest the perpetrators, U.S. sources said. The incident reflected Washington's determination to keep alive the tenuous calls for a truce issued Tuesday by Arafat and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel. It also was the latest example of serial U.S. efforts to pressure Arafat and Sharon to get new peace talks underway in hopes of making it easier for Arab governments to join President Bush's cam- paign against terrorism. But the killing yesterday morning of Sarit Amrani, 25, near the West Bank settlement of Tekoa consti- tuted a severe challenge to the U.S. goal. Sharon called for a security meeting late yesterday night to discuss whether to maintain his restriction on offen- sive Israeli military actions. He and his spokesmen made it clear that, in their view, Arafat has not kept his word to end violence. "I am very sorry that the Palestinian Authority is not keeping its commitments," Sharon said early in the day. After nightfall, the Israeli army reported numerous shooting incidents, hand-grenade attacks on Israeli outposts in the Gaza Strip and the detonation of a roadside bomb as a military vehicle passed. For the time being, the United States was reserv- ing judgment. "If the shooting was an aberration, then it will fade away. If not, it means Arafat is not serious, and a negative scenario is in play: a higher level of violence," said a Western diplomat. Since the Sept. 11 suicide attacks on New York and Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell has intervened numerous times to persuade Arafat and Sharon to stop the clashes that have raged here for almost a year. He has made 19 telephone calls spread among Arafat, Sharon and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to promote negotiations. Powell's goa is to end the violence and get talks started on security cooperation, the end of Israeli blockades on Palestinian towns and, eventually, Israeli withdrawals from still-occupied parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. So far, Arafat has expressed eagerness to sign onto the U.S. campaign against terrorism, albeit for his own interests, a diplomat here said. The Palestinian leader wants to avoid being seen by the United States as on the "wrong side" of the terrorist divide, inviting a heavy assault from Sharon in the name of fighting a global scourge. Arafat has indicated he will rein in Islamic militant groups that have initiated terrorist assaults inside Israel. But from the U.S. point of view, that is not enough. Diplomats are pressuring himalso to curb military attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers by Fatah, the main component of Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization. Members of two Palestinian Authority forces in Bethlehem, Force 17 and the Preventive Security Unit, said they have been ordered to prevent firings on Israeli targets, but that persuasion was their main method. They are supposed to make arrests only as a last resort. This soft approach seems to suggest Arafat fears repercussions of cracking down hard. Many Pales- tinians considered the attacks on Washington and New York as, at least, a due lesson in the kind of suf- fering that has long afflicted Palestinians. "Terrorism ERS increases n the Society deficit [ION actor spending n n Arbor SO WASHINGTON (AP) - A poten- ancisco SO tial $100 billion price tag for Ameri- n Arbor So ca's response to terrorism plus a limp Detroit so economy hobbled further by last week's attacks could revive federal deficits next year for the first time es it all! since 1997. as Sheets, The return of federal red ink would n appears end a string of four straight annual sur- th major pluses and mark a stunning turnaround critically from May, when the Congressional f choral Budget Office envisioned a 2002 sur- cert Choir plus of $304 billion. The nonpartisan ; and our CBO downgraded its projection to ill appear with the $176 billion last month to account for Scholars. the costs of President Bush's tax cut and an economy that was already on about becoming weaker. The abrupt bud- ehearsals getary reversal has been accompanied Language by an equally dramatic transformation Monday of the capital's politics. 30 p.m. The partisan duel over leaving Social Security surpluses alone that dominated Washington until the Sept. I11 hijack- ings and crashes has Peen silenced. hedu Replacing it is a consensus between tion.html Democrats and Republicans that improving national security and taking other steps is far more important. "We're dealing with a national emergency, and we're going to spend and do what it takes to deal with it in the most effective way," House Minor- ity Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) said yesterday. "We're going to do what we need to do." "For the most part, that's suspended, at least for now," House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) said of lawmakers' concerns about spending down the surplus. He said a re-emer- gence of deficits, however, would be a problem for many legislators. Underlining the economy's dire situ- ation, Federal Reserve Chairman /Jan Greenspan told lawmakers yestei day that the Sept. 11 assaults had dealt a major blow to the nation's businesses, consumers and financial markets. 4, SFAA bans all flights close to stadiums WASHINGTON (AP) - The gov- ernment has banned all aircraft from flying within 3 miles of major profes- sional and college sporting events and any other large open air gathering. The Federal Aviation Administra- tion's notice to pilots became effective at noon yesterday, said spokeswoman Laura Brown. The "no-fly zone" extends up to an altitude of 3,000 feet. The notice applies to all types of air- craft including small planes, blimps, balloons and gliders, she said. "We issued this to cover every- thing," Brown said. "It's a blanket order so that it would include a state fair, a high school football game" The alternative was issuing an array of specific restrictions, she said. The first major outdoor sporting event in New York since the attacks will be Friday night when the Atlanta Braves play the Mets at Shea Stadium, which is across Flushing Bay from LaGuardia Air- NEWS IN BRIEF HEADLINES FRM ROUND THE WORLD ms . NEW YORK Stocks plummet for third day this week Wall Street hastened its retreat from the economic damage of last week's terrorist attacks, sending stocks tumbling yesterday in their third steep decline in four days. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 382 points, bringing its loss so far this week to 1,229 points - nearly 13 percent - and putting the blue chip index in line for its biggest one-week point drop. "It's rollercoastering down," said Matt Brown, head of equity management at Wilmington Trust. The market's anxiety surged yesterday as Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress the terrorist attacks have hurt the economy in a num- ber of ways, including a drop in consumer spending and travel and last week's four-day shutdown of the stock market. While the Fed chairman also said, "I am confident that we will recover and prosper as we have in the past," the Dow still fell sharply -- down 382.92, or 4.4 percent, to 8,376.21. And, unless the blue chips rally substantially Friday, they are likely to have their biggest one-week point drop, eclipsing the 821.21 they fell in the week ending March 16. As of now, the Dow's percentage loss for the week is its ninth largest. The Dow-also closed below 8,400 for the first time since October 1998. MOSCOW Russia permits its citizens to own property More than eight decades after the Bolsheviks banned private property, Russia's , parliament voted yesterday to permit Russians to buy, own and sell land. Although the new law applies only to urban and industrial land - about 2 per- cent of the country - the law is a watershed for Russia. Foreign and domestic investors have long listed the ban on land ownership as one of the most odious ideological and bureaucratic barriers to economic devel- opment still lingering 10 years after the Soviet collapse. The new law, for the most part, treats foreigners and Russians alike. Economist Otto Latsis compared the symbolism of the vote to "the storming of the Bastille." "It shows that the resistance of the left-wing (pro-Communist) forces has been overpowered and broken, and a resolute step has been made toward introducing private ownership on all types of lands in Russia," Latsis said. The new land code was approved by a 250-137 vote in the lower house of par- liament, the State Duma. It still needs to pass the upper house and be signed into law by President Vladimir V. Putin, but those are considered formalities. WASHINGTON Microsoft, Justice to continue talks Microsoft and the Justice Department told the new judge in their antitrust case yesterday that they want to stick with private settlement talks and do not need a mediator. Analysts said a settlement could be important to the flagging econ- omy. The computer industry has continued its decline despite the imminent release of a major update to Microsoft's flag- ship Windows operating system. Like the stock market overall, Microsoft's stock dropped yesterday afternoon, to $51.35 per share, a decline of $2.52. The jointly filed status report was the first substantive discussion by the soft- ware giant and the government with U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Microsoft and the Justice Department "will continue to seek settlement of this matter through private discussions, which are ongoing and should contin- ue," the report said. ASTANA Kazakstan Papal visit prompts tightened security Across a broad square from the turquoise, yurt-shaped altar where Pope John Paul II is to celebrate Mass on Sun- day, Kazak police prepared wide-ranging security measures for one of the most sensitive state visits this young capital has ever seen. In addition to President Nursultan Nazarbayev's presidential guard and the pontiff's own bodyguards, the Kazak Interior Ministry will deploy 3,342 offi- cers afld 600 student volunteers to keep order, Deputy Interior Minister Ivan Otto said yesterday. All transit traffic through Astana will be banned, except for buses carrying worshippers and offi- cial vehicles. The ministry has posted notices on radio, television and posters around the city asking for cooperation dur- ing the pope's four-day visit that begins Saturday, especially during the Mass Sunday. WASHINGTON Overpayments for Medicare studied Medicare paid $1.9 billion more than necessary for 24 popular pre- scription drugs last year, according to congressional auditors. The overpayments are the result of rules put in place by Congress at the urging of drug companies, according to the inspector general of the Depart- ment of Health and Human Services, which oversees the government's health insurance program for senior citizens. The system "allows the price to be set arbitrarily by drug manufacturers, not the marketplace," George F Grob said in testimony prepared for delivery today. Two House subcommittees planned a joint hearing to investigate why Medicare pays so much more than other agencies, such as the Depart- ments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. - Compiled from Daily wire reports. 6 6 frifi' y-4j The Michigan Daily {ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. 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