The Michigan Daily
Vol. XC, No. 29-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Wednesday, June 18, 1980 Ten Cents Twelve Pages
Hostage issue stalled
A GUARD STANDS watch yesterday in Tehran at a wall of the U.S. Embassy, which is decorated with a
mural depicting the American hostages held by the Iranian militants. A Tehran newspaper reported yester-
day Iran's parliament is unlikely to consider the hostage issue until mid-September.
More than 15 killed
in S. African-clashes'
Decision on
captives'fate
may be made
in September
From AP and UPI
Iran's newly elected Parliament is unlikely to con-
sider what to do about the American hostages until
mid-September and the issue eventually may be put
to the Iranian people in a referendum, aTehran
newspaper said yesterday.
The newspaper Donyaye Iran interviewed a num-
ber of members of Parliament, who said they expec-
ted to be occupied with routine business until the
middle of September.
"IF PARLIAMENT cannot make a unanimous
decision on the hostage issue, a referendum should be
held and the nation should vote on whether they want
the hostages freed or tried as spies," the newspaper
said.
Parliament is dominated by the Islamic
Republican Party, many of whose members have
called for the hostages to be put on trial. The
Americans were taken captive Nov. 4 when militants
stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
The militants have demanded the return of deposed
shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his wealth as the
price for release of the hostages.
MEANWHILE, IN Alexandria, Egypt, President
Anwar Sadat said yesterday the shah is running a
high fever because of the conflicting cancer treat-
ments he has received, but is making "good
progress."
Sadat said an American doctor, whom he would not
identify, visited the shah two days ago and said he
was satisfied with his treatment.
Hojatoleslam Moosavi Khovieniha, a spokesman
for the militants who is also a member of Parliament,
was quoted by another Tehran newspaper, Enghlab
Islami, as saying: "Taking over the spies nest (the
U.S. Embassy) for a while was uniting all of.us. Now it
seems to be dividing us."
HOWEVER, HE indicated no change in the
militants' position on the issue, which has created a
split between President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr and
militant members of the governing Revolutionary
Council and Parliament. Bani-Sadr asked that
responsibility be turned over to Parliament but Iran's
revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,
rejected such a move.
The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards,
Abu Sharif, wrote a letter of resignation to Bani-Sadr,
the Iranian news agency Pars reported. However, a
spokesman for Bani-Sadr said the president had not
yet accepted the resignation and refused to say
whether he was likely to do so.
The resignation came one day after Khomeini sent
a message to 3,000 Revolutionary Guards who mar-
ched to the U.S. Embassy in Tehran - where some of
the 53 American hostages have been held for the past
227 days - saying there might be traitors among the
guards corps. Khomeini called on the guards to find
traitors within their corps and hand them over to the
Revolutionary courts.
The Revolutionary Guards have been criticized for
not cooperating with the armed forces and not
obeying the orders of the courts.
From AP and UPI
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-More than 15
people were killed and at least 50 wounded in clashes
with police last night during riots and looting in Cape
Town's mixed-race districts, the South African Press
Association reported.
Pretoria police Capt. Quentin Papenfus said earlier
there were an undetermined number of persons killed
in the Cape Town clashes.
The news agency, which initially reported at least
eight killed and 58 wounded, said later that an official
source put the deaths at more than15. The agency
added that all official channels to information about
the death toll were closed to the press on police in-
structions.
THE MIXED RACE people of South Africa legally
are classified as a distinct race apart from the white
and black populations.
Pretoria police Capt. Quentin Papenfus said earlier
there were an undetermined number of persons killed
in the Cape Town clashes.
Brig. J. F. Roussouw, commissioner of police in the
western Cape area, told reporters "criminal
elements" had started "looting and setting fire to
property belonging to their own people."
THE VIOLENCE CAME a day after the fourth an-
niversary of the bloody 1976 Soweto riots that set off
confrontations across this white ruled country in
which hundreds were killed.
SAPA said crows in a section known as Cape Flats
stoned cars, looted and burned shops, and blocked
roads with flaming tires.
One witness said blazes appeared "all over the cor-
doned-off area." The news agency-said cars were set
ablaze and traffic lights in the area were out of order.
RIOTERS ATTACKED CARS traveling to and
from Cape Town's D. F. Malan airport, and some
roads in the area were blocked off by police, SAPA
reported. It said some cars arrived at the airport with
injured passengers, and people at the airport plan-
ning to-return to Cape Town waited for police escorts.
The agency identified one of the injured as I. Julius,
30, and said he suffered head injuries. It quoted Julius
as saying he was driving to his job with two com-
panions and as their car approached burning tires on
the highway two youths rushed out from nearby
bushes -and threw rocks at the car, with one brick-
sized stone smashing through the windshield.