2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 9, 2004
*I
NATION/WORLD
Palestinians may seek unified Israel
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's prime
minister will bypass conservatives in
his party by not seeking approval from
Likud's hawkish central committee for
his plan to dismantle some settlements
and impose a border on Palestinians, a
newspaper reported yesterday.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed
Qureia warned yesterday that if Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon persists with his
unilateral plan, Palestinians might
abandon their goal of a separate state
and push for a binational Jewish-Arab
state in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza
instead.
Qureia told The Associated Press
--that such moves would make the drive
,for a Palestinian state a "meaningless
slogan," and "if the situation continues
as it is now we will go for the one-state
solution." Such a state would soon
have an Arab majority.
Troops shot and killed a senior
leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigades in the West Bank town of
Jenin, according to army officials and
militants. Troops also killed a man in
the southern Gaza Strip, hospital
sources said.
Sharon has said previously that he
would pursue his "disengagement
plan" if peace talks do not bear fruit in
the coming months.
However, many Likud officials con-
sider dismantling any of the roughly
150 Jewish settlements in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip and withdrawal
from any land there as anathema to
their dream of a Greater Israel.
Israel captured the West Bank and
Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war. More
than 230,000 Jewish settlers live in the
territories, home to 3.5 million Pales-
tinians.
Sharon has largely ignored party
officials, and the Maariv newspaper
yesterday quoted him as saying he will
not bring his new plan to the central
committee for approval.
In talks with his aides, Sharon said
that "when it will be relevant, I will
bring the proposals to the Cabinet for
approval," the newspaper reported.
Sharon pointed out that the late
Prime Minister Menachem Begin only
brought the peace deal with Egypt to
the party after he had already signed it,
the newspaper said.
Sharon outlined his plan last
month, saying that if there is no
movement in efforts to end the more
than three years of violence with the
Palestinians, he would implement his
plan to separate the two peoples.
Sharon emphasized that the Pales-
tinians would get more land under a
negotiated agreement.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed
Qureia has been trying unsuccessfully
for weeks to get Palestinian militants
to agree to end attacks against Israel,
hoping to leverage that accord into a
cease-fire deal with Israel that could
lead to new peace moves.
Egypt has joined the effort, sending
envoys to the West Bank and Gaza to
NEWS N BRIEF.,
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
Pakistan searches for al-Qaida fu'itives
Pakistani troops backed by helicopters launched an offensive yesterday to cap-
ture suspected al-Qaida fugitives hiding in the mountains along the Afghan bor-
der, believed to be a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden.
The operations follow a bloody series of attacks this week in Afghanistan sus-
pected of being carried out by Taliban and possibly al-Qaida fighters, amid new
calls by bin Laden in his latest taped message for Muslims to attack U.S. forces
and their allies.
Gen. Shaukat Sultan, spokesman for Pakistan's army, would not say whether
the operation under way in Wana, just across the border from Afghanistan's Pakti-
ka province, was launched to capture bin Laden or any other al-Qaida leader.
"I will not make any comment about it," Sultan said. "This operation is part of
our campaign in the war on terror. So far, no foreigner has been arrested but we
are questioning some local tribesmen."
The U.S. military in Afghanistan declined to comment whether the Saudi-born
bin Laden might be in the area targeted by the Pakistani operation but noted U.S.
troops had not stepped up operations on the Afghan side of the border.
In Washington, Secretary of State Con Powell said he was pleased the Pak-
istanii army "began operations this morning that relate to that challenge" of com-
bating terrorism.
NEW YORK
6
0
Protecting a nation
Bush plans to set up
moon colony, send
Amencans to Mars
WASHINGTON (AP) - President
Bush will announce plans next week to
send Americans to Mars and establish
a permanent human presence on the
moon, senior administration officials
said last night.
Bush won't propose sending Ameri-
cans to Mars anytime soon; rather, he
envisions preparing for the mission
more than a decade from now, one
official said.
In addition to proposing the first trip
to the moon since December 1972, the
president wants to build a permanent
space station there.
Three senior officials said Bush
wants to aggressively reinvigorate the
space program, which has been demor-
alized by a series of setbacks, includ-
ing the space-shuttle disaster last
February that killed seven astronauts.
The officials, speaking on condi-
tion of anonymity, said Bush's
announcement would come in the
middle of next week.
Bush has been expected to propose a
bold new space mission in an effort to
rally Americans around a unifying
theme as he campaigns for re-election.
Many insiders had speculated he
might set forth goals at the 100th
anniversary of the Wright brothers'
famed flight last month in North Car-
olina. Instead, he said only that Ameri-
ca would continue to lead the world in
aviation.
Earlier, White House spokesman
Scott McClellan told reporters travel-
ing with Bush in Florida that the presi-
dent would make an announcement
about space next week, but he declined
to give details.
It's possible Bush could make the
announcement in his State of the
Union address later this month,
painfully close to the anniversaries of
both the Challenger and Columbia
tragedies.
It was the Columbia tragedy that
helped force a discussion of where
NASA should venture beyond the
space shuttle and international space
station. The panel that investigated the
Columbia accident called for a clearly
defined long-term mission - a nation-
al vision for space that has gone miss-
ing for three decades.
House Science Committee spokes-
woman Heidi Tringe said lawmakers
on the panel "haven't been briefed on
the specifics" of the plan but expected
an announcement.
Retailers report holiday sales finish strong
Consumers who frustrated retailers through the early part of December gave
many storeowners a respectable holiday season after all, coming through at the
last minute with a spending spree right before and after Christmas. Even strug-
gling department stores ended up with solid results.
December sales figures issued yesterday by the nation's biggest retailers showed
that procrastinators and post-Christmas shoppers helped companies including
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., J.C. Penney Co. Inc. and Target Corp. offset a slow start to
the season.
Still, the end-of-the-season sales surge didn't benefit all retailers; Gap Inc. and
Kohl's Corp. were among those dissatisfied with their results. And some retailers
got their sales with heavy markdowns that eroded their profits. Wal-Mart warned
yesterday that fourth-quarter earnings may fall at the low end of projections.
Upscale stores such as Neiman Marcus Group and Nordstrom Inc. were star per-
formers, posting sales results that far exceeded expectations. And December turned
out to be a pleasant surprise for May Department Stores Co., Federated Department
Stores Inc. and many mall-based apparel stores including Limited Brands.
A medical worker stands behind a door in the isolation ward
yesterday at Guangzhou No. 8 People's Hospital where another
suspected SARS case was reported.
WA$H INGTON
Think tank: Iraq was
not imminent threat
Iraq posed no imminent threat to the
United States and there was no solid
evidence that President Saddam Hus-
sein was cooperating with the al-Qaida
terror network, a private liberal think
tank maintained yesterday.
The administration systematically
misrepresented a weapons threat from
Iraq, and U.S. strategy should be
revised to eliminate the policy of unilat-
eral preventive war, said Jessica Math-
ews, Joseph Cirincione and George
Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace.
"It is unlikely that Iraq could have
destroyed, hidden or sent out of the
country the hundreds of tons of chemi-
cal and biological weapons, dozens of
Scud missiles and facilities engaged in
the ongoing production of chemical and
biological weapons that officials
claimed were present without the Unit-
ed States detecting some sign of this
activity," the report said.
GUANGZHOI, China
Chinese officials kill
SARS-bearing pests
SARS-wary southern China mobilized
a mass cleanup effort yesterday, sweep-
ing streets, slaughtering more civets and
targeting the "four dangers" - rats,
roaches, flies and mosquitoes - in its
attack on creatures it suspects of carrying
the virus.
The push toward a more pristine
Guang4png province came the same
day the country's first SARS patient
of the season was released from the
hospital- and, minutes later, a wait-
ress in the provincial capital of
Guangzhou was pegged as the second
suspected case.
LONDON
Low-tar cigarettes
may car equal risk
Low-tar cigarettes do not carry a
lower risk of lung cancer, according
to the first study comparing lung
cancer deaths among smokers of
ultra-light, mild and medium fil-
tered cigarettes.
The finding, published this week in
the British Medical Journal, proves
what experts long suspected.
Previous research has found smokers
of "lighter" cigarettes compensate by
taking deeper drags, holding the smoke
longer and smoking more cigarettes.
Scientists suspected they would proba-
bly be just as vulnerable to lung cancer
and other diseases as those who smoke
harsher varieties.
-Compiled from Daily wire reports
U.S. helicopter crash in Iraq kills nine soldiers
0
FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -A Black
Hawk medivac helicopter, clearly
.marked with a red cross, crashed yes-
terday after a witness said it was hit by
a rocket, killing all nine U.S. soldiers
aboard. In Baghdad, a C-5 transport
plane with 63 passengers and crew
limped safely back to the airport after
being struck by fire from insurgents.
About 80 Iraqi prisoners, mean-
while, were released from Baghdad's
Abu Ghraib prison, but they were not
the detainees that U.S. authorities had
- promised would be freed under a spe-
cial amnesty.
The military said a U.S. soldier died
Wednesday of injuries suffered when a
mortar attack wounded 30 other troops
and a civilian west of Baghdad.
The deaths brought to at least 495
the number of Americans killed in Iraq
from hostile and non-hostile causes
since the start of the war in March,
according to the U.S. Central Com-
mand and the Department of Defense.
The Black Hawk went down about
four miles south of Fallujah, a strong-
hold of the anti-American insurgency,
the 82nd Airborne Division said.
The military said the cause of the
crash was not known, but a witness,
Mohammed Ahmed al-Jamali, said he
heard the distinctive whoosh of a rocket
and saw the helicopter, which was clear-
ly marked with red crosses signifying its
medical mission, struck in the tail.
The 27-year-old farmer who lives
close to the crash site said he rushed to
the scene but found everyone dead.
The helicopter was a medical evacu-
ation aircraft but it was unclear if it
was carrying patients, a military offi-
cial said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Another witness, student Waleed
Kurdi, 23, said he heard "a loud explo-
sion and I saw the fire in the air" as the
chopper exploded in two before it hit
the ground.
Twice before, American helicopters
have gone down near Fallujah, a city
35 miles west of Baghdad.
A OH-58 Kiowa observation helicop-
ter went down Jan. 2, killing one soldier.
Military officials said it almost certainly
was shot down. And on Nov. 2, a Chi-
nook helicopter was shot down near the
city, killing 16 American soldiers and
injuring 26. The military believes a SA-
7 shoulder-fired missile hit one of the
-chopper's rear-mounted engines.
In yesterday's close call at Baghdad
International Airport, a transport plane
carrying 63 people declared an in-
flight emergency because of "exces-
sive" vibrations in the No. 4 engine
and landed safely shortly after takeoff,
the Air Force said.
The Air Force later issued a brief
statement saying initial information
indicated the engine exploded as a
result of "hostile action from the
ground." The statement said no injuries
were reported.
In November, a shoulder-fired mis-
sile struck a DHL cargo plane at the
airport, forcing it to make an emer-
gency landing at the airport with its
wing aflame. All three crew members
were unhurt.
1.maeso { the: Le..u
Showcase your artistic talent as part of the 75th
anniversary of the Michigan League. Artwork should be
your own creative interpretation of the Michigan League
(i.e., building, architectural ornamentation,
events/happenings at the League, etc.)
Ist Place: $ 400
2nd Place: $200
3rd Place: $100
LCompetition Rules
+ Competition is open to all current U of M students.
* Creative art expressions can be anj of the following:
painting, drawing, sketching, printmaking, photography,
digital photographij, digital image, mixed media
collage and fibers, all artwork with a maximum
dimension of 24" b1.330" will be accepted. All works
should be readij for exhibition with proper frames.
+ Must register to officiallij enter the competition bij
filling out a form at:
wW.umich.edu/Aeague/program.html
+ Deadline to enter the competition is Fridaij,
f Februarij 20 at 5pm.
T N l fl 1. _ a - a i e. K.. ~. L-
once again we join Our intrepid
heroe figting the good fight
by land, sea, air, and
because he has to be'
Little cusi i
NOT Fere
ahia and TetSuO
priimoa
edionsemnat
saVing you
pcng onm
WWWMICHIGANDAILY.COM
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