2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 18, 2002 NATION/WORLD U.S. backs away from resolution NEWS IN BRIEFj UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Facing strong oppo- sition from dozens of nations, the United States has "We believe that there and favorable conditins now to 70 ILSMd. backed down from its demand that a new U.N. reso- lution must authorize military force if Baghdad fails to cooperate with weapons inspectors, diplomats told The Associated Press yesterday. Instead, the United States is now floating a com- promise which would give inspectors a chance to test Iraq's will to cooperate on the ground. If Iraq then failed to disarm, the Bush administration would agree to return to the Security Council for further debate and possibly another resolution authorizing action. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said he believes there are now "favorable conditions" for council agreement on a resolution that will lead to the quick return of inspectors. The new compromise also drops tough wording explicitly threatening Iraq upfront, although the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a threat of consequences will be implied. The diplomats said France, which has been the main stumbling block for the United States, was studying the new offer amid a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at solving an impasse among the Security Council powers on Iraq. preserve the unity of the global community and ensure Witness gave fake story about sniper, weapon the return of international inspectors and their efficient work in Iraq." - Colin Powell U.S. Secretary of State During an open Security Council debate on Iraq, which started Wednesday and continued yesterday, more than two dozen nations - including Iraq's closest neighbors and key U.S. allies - refused to endorse the Bush administra- tion's demand for an authorization of military force if Baghdad fails to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspections. They said Iraq must be given a chance to com- pletely disarm without the imminent threat of mili- tary action. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of Britain, whose country is supporting the U.S. position, said the emphasis was on reaching a deal that all sides could accept. "We're looking for unity in the coun- cil," he said. Many U.N. members favor the two-resolution approach proposed by France and backed by Rus- sia and China. Ivanov said yesterday that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told him the new U.S. and British proposals will take Russia's opin- ion into account, and will be submitted in the next day or two. "We believe that there are favorable conditions now to preserve the unity of the global community and ensure the return of international inspectors and their efficient work in Iraq," he said. "We are looking forward to seeing this document." A witness who says he saw the Washington-area sniper fire with an assault rifle and flee in a cream-colored van gave a phony story, investigators said Thursday in a setback that casts doubt on much of what the public thought it knew about the roving killer. Prosecutors are investigating the witness, whose name wasn't released, to deter- mine whether he should be charged with filing a false statement. Fairfax County police Lt. Amy Lubas said the inaccurate account didn't match that of other witnesses to Monday night's killing of an FBI cyberterrorism analyst in a crowded Virginia parking lot outside a Home Depot. It was the only shooting so far that people actually saw. Asked if the witness intentionally misled investigators with his description of a cream-colored van and a burned-out rear taillight, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, who is heading the investigation, said simply, "Yes." Investigators were optimistic Ifter the latest attack seemed to yield the best details yet about the killer. But that gave way to anger yesterday. While Moose did not give the witness' exact description of the shooter, he chastised reporters for running reports that variously described the gunman as dark-skinned, olive-skinned, Middle Eastern or Hispanic. WASH INGTON Korea asked to surrender nuclear weapons The United States and South Korea, stung by North Korea's admission that it has a secret nuclear weapons program, are calling on Pyongyang to reverse course and abide by promises to renounce development of these armaments. President Bush characterized the announcement as "troubling, sobering news," a spokesman said yesterday. The startling disclosure, revealed Wednesday night by the White House, changed the political landscape in East Asia, setting back hopes that North Korea was on the road to becoming a more benign presence in the region. Talking to reporters who accompanied Bush on a trip to the South yesterday, spokesman Scott McClellan said yesterday that the president planned to bring up the issue in talks here next week with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. But McClellan drew a clear distinction between Pyongyang and Iraq. "Clearly, North Korea is oppressive, has starved people, but these are different regions, dif- ferent circumstances," he said. McClellan said that Bush decided to address the issue through diplomatic chan- nels. "We seek a peaceful solution," he said. 0 GOT AWEA.. FOR. A STORY? , CALL 76-DAILY. JOHN ±" CHRISTIAN bESIGNERS & CRAFTSMEN SINCE 1850 M~ichigan COLLEGE MONOGRAM RING *YEAR DATE -DEGREE EGREEK LETTERS -YOUR MONOGRAM Free Brochure 14K GOLD $450 RINGBOX.COM 1-888-646-6466 Explosion believed to be act of terror ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) - Two bombs exploded at midday yesterday in downtown Zamboanga in the violence-wracked southern Philip- pines, killing six people and injuring at least 144 others, officials said. Police also blew up five suspicious packages and were checking whether they contained bombs that failed to detonate. There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks, but a military spokesman said the initial suspect in the bombings was the Muslim guerril- la group Abu Sayyaf. The group had threatened attacks days earlier in retal- iation for an ongoing military offen- sive against it. Lt. Col. Danilo Servando also said there were similarities between yester- day's bombings and an Oct. 2 explo- sion in Zamboanga which killed four people, including an American Green Beret. Officials blamed the earlier blast on Abu Sayyaf. TNT apparently was used in both attacks. Servando said suspicion fell on an Abu Sayyaf faction headed by Khaddafy Janjalani, one of five group leaders indicted by Washington for a mass kidnapping last year that left 18 hostages dead, including a Kansas couple. "There is no solid basis to pin the blame on Janjalani's group but it's one of the groups that has been sowing ter- ror in the south," Servando said. Ten people were brought in for questioning after yesterday's explo- sions, police said. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo immediately condemned the latest terrorist strike to hit her impoverished country. National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said officials considered the Zamboanga attack "a local con- cern" that did not require a state of emergency. "The public has nothing to worry about," Golez said. The first blast occurred at 11:30 a.m. at the five-story Shop-o-Rama department store, and was followed a half-hour later by a second blast at an adjacent store. Police Chief Mario Yanga said the bombs were left at counters where shoppers leave pack- ages as they enter. Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat said the Zamboanga City Medical Center received three dead victims and 50 wounded. The usual noontime bustle of Zam- boanga's downtown area became a gory scene of scattered debris, blood and chaos. "The ground shook and pandemoni- um broke out. People bathed in blood were all screaming and running away from the smoke," said Ofelia Fernan- dez, who was across the street from the Shop-o-Rama. Television footage showed victims being hauled out of the bombed build- ings' lobbies on stretchers. A bloodied man staggered out with the help of a policeman. Firefighters poured water onto wreckage as medical workers rushed people on gurneys to waiting ambu- lances. Police cars and pickup trucks also were used to ferry victims from the area. None of the victims were believed to be foreigners. A truckload of soldiers arrived to secure the area, and military canine RAFAH, Gaza Strip Israeli forces fire on Palestinian houses Israeli tanks fired on several Pales- tinian houses yesterday after the army said soldiers building an embankment, were attacked by rockets. At least six Palestinians were killed, including two children. The army said the tanks targeted the houses because the rockets were fired from inside them. Palestinians said the army shot ran- domly into the crowded neighborhood in this southern Gaza town near the Egyptian border. The violence erupted as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon finished talks in Washington with President Bush and others about Israel-Palestin- ian violence and preparations for a U.S. attack on Iraq. During a visit to- Congress, Sharon referred to the Rafah clash. "The Israeli army is the most moral in the world and tries its best not to harm civilians," he said. VATICAN CITY Vatican rejects parts of new abuse policy The Vatican has rejected some ele- ments of the U.S. Catholic Church's new sex abuse policy and cautioned the American bishops from going ahead with them, Church sources familiar with the response said yesterday. In particular, the Vatican expressed concern over elements of the proposed policy that would violate the individual rights of accused clerics now protected under universal church law, the sources said. The response will be made public today, a day after Bishop Wilton Gre- gory, the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and other Ameri- can prelates met with Pope John Paul II to discuss the scandal that has rocked the American Church. All along, Vatican officials and U.S. church lawyers have raised objections to the proposals, arguing that they may violate the due process rights of priests. ZAMBOANGA, Philippines Plppines explosion believed act of terror Two bombs exploded at midday yes- terday in downtown Zamboanga in the violence-wracked southern Philippines, killing six people and injuring at least 144 others, officials said. Police also blew up five suspi- cious packages and were checking whether they had bombs that failed to detonate. There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks, but a mili- tary spokesman said the initial suspect in the bombings was the Muslim guerrilla group Abu Sayyaf. The group had threat- ened attacks days earlier in retaliation for an ongoing military offensive against it. Lt. Col. Danilo Servando also said there were similarities between yester- day's bombings and an Oct. 2 explosion in Zamb anga which killed four peo- ple, including an American Green Beret. Officials blamed the earlier blast on Abu Sayyaf. - Compiled from Daily wire reports. 0 Gail Bruner Aaron Goldmuntz Johanna Lichtman George Matthew Carolyn Wineland The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $105. Winter term (January through April) is $110, yearlong (September through April) is $190. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscrip- tions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 734): News 76-DAILY; Arts 763-0379; Sports 647-3336; Opinion 764-05521 Circulation 764-0558; Classified advertising 764-0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 764-0550. E-mail letters to the editor to letters@michigandaily.com. World Wide Web: www.michigandally.com. I l 1mm F~K i~~ .i' T'YTTe mII Tr flT f-a I: 169011WIMEM16 %-PlfUF JFII %P%,BIVWCII IL&y A NEWS Usa Kolvu, Managing Editor EDITORS: Lisa Hoffman, Elizabeth Kassab, Jacquelyn Nixon, Shannon Pettypiece STAFF: Jeremy Berkowitz, Tyler Boersen, Ted Borden, Soojung Chang, Kara DeBoer, Margaret Engoren, Rahwa Ghebre-Ab, Rob Goodspeed, Megan Hayes, Lauren Hodge, Carmen Johnson, Christopher Johnson, C. Price Jones, Shabina S. Khatri, Kylene Kiang, Emily Kraack, Tomislav Ladika, Andrew McCormack, Louie Meizlish, Jennifer Misthal, James Ng, Erin Saylor, Jordan Schrader, Stephanie Schonholz, Karen Schwartz, Maria Sprow, Samantha Woll, Alison Yang EDITORIAL Johanna Hanink, Editor ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Aubrey Henretty, Zac Peskowitz, Jess Piskor STAFF: Sravya Chirumamilla, Howard Chung, John Honkala, Anton Kawalsky, Garrett Lee, Joey Litman, Christopher Miller, Paul Neuman, An Paul. Laura Platt, Ben Royal, Lauren Strayer CARTOONISTSSam Butler, Jennifer Greene, Bonnie Kellman COLUMNISTS: Brenda Abdelall, Peter Cunniffe, David Enders, David Horn, Jon Schwartz, Luke Smith SPORTS Steve Jackson, Managing Editor SENIOR EDITORS: David Horn, Jeff Phillips, Naweed Sikora, Joe Smith NIGHT EDITORS: Chris Burke, Seth Klempner, Courtney Lewis, J. Brady McCollough, Kyle O'Neill, Charles Paradis STAFF: Dan Bremmer, Eric Chan, Josh Holman, Bob Hunt, Gennaro Filice, Matt Kramer, Albert Kim, Dan Rosen, Brian Schick, Brian Steere ARTS Luke Smith, Managing Editor EDITOR: Jeff Dickerson WEEKEND MAGAZINE EDITORS: Caltlin Nish, Andy Taylor-Fabe SUB-EDITORS: Ryan Blay, Christine Lasek. Neal Pais, Scott Serila, Todd Weiser STAFF: Marie Bernard, Laura Deneau, Tony Ding, Kiran Divvela, Laurence Freedman, Katie Marie Gates, Joel M. Hoard, Jenny Jeltes, John Laughlin, Rachel Lewis, Ryan Lewis, Joseph Litman, Laura LoGerfo, Jeremy Kressmann, Graham Kelly, Elizabeth Manasse, Maureen MK inney, Gina Pensiero, Rebecca Ramsey, Jason Roberts, Jim Schiff, Christian Smith, Douglas wernert, Daniel Yowell PHOTO David Katz, Editor ASSISTANT EDITOR: Danny Moloshok ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Emma Fosdick, Brendan O'Donnell, Alyssa Wood STAFF: Jason Cooper, Tony Ding, Tom Feldkamp, Patrick Jones, Kelly Lin, Sarah Paup, Frank Payne, John Pratt, Rebecca Sahn, Jonathon Triest, Ryan Weiner.Jessica Yurasek ONLINE Paul Wong, Managing Editor STAFF: Marc Allen, Soojung Chang, Chuck Goddeeris, Melanie Kebler, Timothy Najmolhoda Life-rewarding work that matters. Each year, students from the University of Michigan accept exciting and challenging internships at Guidant. Their outstanding efforts help fulfill our mission to pioneer technology that saves and improves the lives of r r' BUSINESS STAFF Jeffrey Valuck, Business Manager I DISPLAY SALES Anne Sause, Manag SPECIAL SECTIONS MANAGER: Jessica Cordero ASSOCIATE MANAGER: Jennifer Kaczmarek er Ai