Page 4-Thursday, May 27,982-The Michiga Daily
Britain poises
for attack on
Falkand capital
By The Associated Press
Britain declared yesterday that
despite the loss of two more ships and 24
men-its heaviest toll in a single day-
ground forces were poised to break out
of the beachhead on the Falklands and
attack the capital of Stanley.
Argentina said it pounded the
beachhead near San Carlos and downed
a British jet that rocketed an Argentine
ship. It also said an undetermined
number of Harrier jets sank on one of
the British ships Tuesday, which
Britain denied.
BRITISH commandos and
paratroops landed Friday 50 miles from
Stanley to establish the beachhead in
the first major assault to recapture the
Falklands.
Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II
scheduled a visit to Argentina June 11-
12 as a followup to his tour of Britain
beginning Friday, and the U.N.
Security Council passed a resolution
giving Secretary General Javier Perez
de Cuellar seven days to work out a
truce. Perez de Cuellar said it was a
"very difficult mission."
Argentine Foreign Minister Nicanor
Costa Mendez said in New York before
the vote that although his government
did not endorse the resolution outright,
"the war is beginning to be so cruel and
the numbers of lives lost so high that I
think public opinion will push gover-
nments and will push the United
Nations to peace."
THE ARGENTINE Joint Chiefs of
Staff said army units and the army air
corps were attacking British forces
near San Carlos in an effort to "control
the enemy and limit his deployment."
Intermittent rain was reported in the
area, where winter has set in.
The Joint Chiefs also said the coast
guard vessel Rio Iguazu had been at-
tacked by two Sea Harriers in the
Falklands area and one Harier had
been downed by anti-aircraft fire.
Argentine forces suffered one dead and
two wounded, the Joint Chiefs said.
There was no immediate reaction.
from Britain, but Defense Secretary
John Nott told Parliament that the
British destroyer Coventry was sunk
with 20 men dead and the requisitioned
container ship Atlantic Conveyor was
abandoned with four dead after a mass
Argentine air attack off the Falklands
Tuesday.
"DESPITE THESE grievous losses,
neither our resolve nor our confidence
is weakened," Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher said, and Nott
declared that British forces who landed
Friday in San Carlos "are poised to
begin their thrust" on Stanley, 50 miles
to the east. He told the House of Com-
mons 20 sailors were killed and about 20
wounded when the Coventry was hit by
several bombs as the warship stood off
the northern tip of the Falklands on
radar picket duty. The remaining 240
officers and crew were rescued, he
said.
He said four seamen were killed and
a small number wounded when two
Exocet missiles from two French-built
Super Etendard fighter-bombers hit the
Atlantic Conveyor, steaming toward
Falkland Sound to unload equipment
and supplies at San Carlos. The
remainder of the vessel's 170 crew was
rescued when the vessel was aban-
doned, Nott said.
A high Defense Ministry source said
See BRITAIN, Page 9
In Brief
Compiled from Associated Press and
United Press International reports
Hinckicy boyeotts trial
WASHINGTON - After weeks of cringing under testimony designed to por-
tray him as insane, suicidal and childishly in love, John Hinckley, boycotted
his own trial yesterday as a psychiatrist testified teen-age actress Jodie
Foster represented a "mother figure' to the defendant.
The psychiatrist said Hinckley perceived Foster as a figure who would
protect and love him and that President Reagan was an obstacle "denying
him access" to her.
The psychiatrist, Dr. Thomas Goldman, said the reason for Hinckley's ab-
sence from the courtroom was not stated officially, but two sources said
Hinckley was not ill andsimply did not want to be in court.
The sources, who asked that their names not be used, said Hinckley was so
upset yesterday morning that he did not even want to get dressed. There
was no indication whether Hinckley had advance knowledge of what Gold-
man, a defense witness, would say on the witness stand.
In the courtroom, a TV camera was pointed at the witness chair, occupied
for the third day by Goldman.
Soviets, French to cooperate
in space mission
MOSCOW - Soviet space officials yesterday said a three-man crew of
French and Russian cosmonauts will be launched into orbit next month in
the first East-West mission since 1975.
French Air Force Lot. Col. Jean-loup Chretien will be co-pilot of the flight
aboard a Soyuz transport capsule June 24. The Russian mission commander
is Vladimir Dzhanibekov and the flight engineer is Alexander Ivanchevkov.
French spokesman said they were surprised by the early announcement of
the flight date. Normal Soviet practice is to keep all manned space missions
secret until the cosmonauts are safely in orbit.
The French-Soviet crew will link up in orbit with the Salyut 7 laboratory, a
semi-permanent station about200 miles above the Earth.
Two other Soviet cosmonauts are already in orbit aboard Salyut 7. They
were launched May 13 to prepare the space laboratory for the French-Soviet
mssion and will remain in space until Chretien and his comrades arrive.
Congress vetoes used car rules
WASHINGTON - Congress used its first legislative veto against the Fed-
eral Trade Commission yesterday to kill rules one member said would have
protected used car buyers from the "four-wheel-drive lemons' of the world.
The rules proposed by the FTC would require dealers to disclose to
prospective buyers the major mechanical defects of which they have
knowledge, and also require them to state the extent of any outstanding
warranties.
Consumer groups said in advance of the vote they would ask a federal
court to overturn the decision on constitutional grounds. In addition, the
legality of the legislative veto device has been challenged in a case now
before the Supreme Court.
State drunk driver bill debated
LANSING- The Senate debated yesterday a three-bill package suppor-
ters said would "begin tightening the noose" around drinking drivers by
mandating jail terms and bigger fines.
The legislation was placed in position for a final vote, expected later this
week. Current state penalties for drunk driving are not commensurate with
the crime, said Sen. Stephen Monsma, the Grand Rapids Democrat who has
been a key force behind the bills.
"It's estimated that of every 500drunk drivers on the road, only one will be
apprehended," Monsma said. "If you drive drunk, you have very little chan-
ce of getting caught."
Monsma said 1,000 Michigan residents die each year and 25,000 suffer in-
juries in traffic accidents involving drunken drivers.
. Under the bill, Michigan's current law would be toughened to require
suspension of a convicted drunken driver's license even for a first offense.
S&L authority must be
expanded, regulators warn
WASHINGTON- Short-term financial aid for the nation's struggling
savings institutions must be coupled with expanded operating authority for
it to do anything more than delay the industry's ultimate liquidation, federal
regulators warned yesterday.
Richard Pratt, chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, said the
capital infusion programs that Congress is considering for the industry
"simply buy time."
"We are facing the collapse of a major portion of the financial industry,
and any program that simply buys time and does not address the fundamen-
tal issues is bound to ultimately fail," Pratt told the Senate Banking Com-
mittee.
The institutions must be given authority to accept "demand" deposits-
meaning they may be withdrawn at any time-from commercial as well as
individual customers, Comptroller of the Currency Todd Conover said.
Conover also asked that they be allowed to invest more heavily in commer-
cial and agricultural loans, and to provide unlimited consumer credit.
Britain tops $1 billion
i alk land expenses
LONDON (AP)- With four warships
and a requisitioned freighter lost to
Argentine forces, the tab for Britain's
Falkland Islands expedition has risen
to an estimated $1.25 billion,
economists and naval sources said
yesterday.
That figure is expected to rise shar-
ply as the British task force continues
trying to recapture the Falklands,
seized by Argentina on April 2. For now
economists believe Britain, slowly
recuperating from severe recession,
can absorb the price of a long war.
THE $1.25 billion reflects the original
costs of the ships and aircraft Britain
has lost, along with what has been spent
on fuel, ship requisitions and charters,
and missiles and other equipment.
If the two destroyers, two frigates,
and 14,946-ton container ship Atlantic
Conveyor were replaced at today's
prices, the bill in the 54-day-old conflict
would top $1.8 billion, said a senior
Royal Navy officer who asked not to be
identified.
That's what British officials
originally estimated the entire
operation would cost.
IF BRITAIN wins back the islands,
London may have to spend large sums
for a sizeable military force to prevent
further Argentine efforts to retake the
remote chain.
In an ironic twist, British Trade
Secretary Lord Cocklefield disclosed
that the government will have to pay
William and Glyn's Bank the equivalent
of $6.84 million as compensation for
money owed by Argentina for two
missile destroyers built in Britain and
sold to the South American nation.
Economist Michael Osborne, who
recently surveyed defense costs, said
Britain can afford the war "for a long
period" if necessary.
TREASURY officials said Britain's
costs are cushioned by a contingency
reserve of the equivalent of $4.3 billion,
as well as a $3.6 billion overestimate on
last year's government borrowing
requirements.
The National Institute of Economic
and Social Research said Tuesday that
"the economic repercussions of the
Falklands crisis have been small so
far," but it cautioned that the high rate
of spending could affect international
confidence in Britain's economy.