Page 4-Thursday, June 3, 1982-The Michigan Daily
Both sides said
to break-rules
in Falkiands
LONDON (AP)- Accounts by British
journalists on the Falklands sparked
allegations yesterday of possible
breaches by both Argentina and Britain
of internationally accepted rules' of
war.
The reports allege that Argentine
soldiers fired on British paratroopers
sfterrraising the white flag of surrender
and thst the British forced Argentine
prisoners to clear minefields in
violation of the Geneva Convention.
IN ADDITION, Argentina was said to
have stockpiled the skin-searing
chemical, napalm, on the Falkands- a
report denied by the Argentine Joint
Chiefs of Staff.
Argentine press reports have
criticized Britain's use of delayed-
reaction cluster bombs. Neither
napalm nor cluster bombs are banned
by conventions but they have been cited
as particularly terrible weapons.
Robert Fox of the British Broad-
casting Corp. reported that four Argen-
tine prisoners were killed when an
ammunition dump, which he said was
booby-trapped by Argentines, blew up
while they were clearing it at Goose
Green, the settlement recaptured by
British paratroopers Friday.
THE DEFENSE Ministry confirmed
that an explosives accident occurred
Tuesday at Goose Green and said that
there was an undetermined number of
casualties among both British and
Argentine troops. It did not say how the
accident happened.
Dispatches by British correspondents
with the Royal Navy task force are sub-
ject to review by a military censor. But
a ministry spokesman said they were
inspected only for sensitive information
on troop operations, and not for ac-
curacy. .
Reports of Argentine prisoners being
forced to do life-threatening work were
the first from the task force with any
hint of possible misconduct by British
soldiers.
"IF WE ARE actually ordering the
prisoners to lift minefields, I fear we
are in breach" of the Geneva Conven-
tion, said retired British Army Col.
Captured Argentines
...reportedly doing
dangerous work
Gerald Draper, who was a military
prosecutor at the Nazi war crimestrial
after World War II.
Under such headlnes as "Hero Paras
Braved Napalm Bombs," British
newspapers gave prominent display to
the alleged discovery of 9,000 gallons of
napalm, a jellylike chemical mixture
used in flamethrowers and bombs.
British war correspondents said 89
tanks containing napalm were found
among Argentine equipment captured
at Goose Green.
-kMichael Nicholson of Britain's In-
dependent Television News quoted
unidentified British commanders as
saying two napalm bombs were drop-
ped on advancing paratroopers but
failed to detonate.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
said in a television interview that the
reports made her "recoil."
"It is just one more thing that makes
one realize. . . we have to fight for all
the good things we uphold," she said.
In Brief
Compiled from Associated Press and
United Press international reports
Reagan arrives in Europe
PARIS- President Reagan arrived inFrance on a rainy midnight yester-
day, launching an ambitious foreign journey designed to shore up the North
Atlantic Alliance, win public support for his arms control proposals and
stem complaints about U.S. interest rates.
During the 10-day, 10,689-mile trip, Reagan will confer with Pope John
Paul II and Italian leaders in Rome and with Queen Elizabeth II and Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher in Britain. Before returning to Washington, he
will attend a summit of the leaflers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
nations in Bonn and visit the Berlin Wall.
The journey, Reagan's fourth out of the country during his 16 months in of-
fice, was seen as offering the president a chance to defend his economic
program and explain his efforts to persuade the Soviet Union to join in arms
reduction talks by first building up U.S. defenses.
Hinckley chooses not to testify
WASHINGTON- John Hinckley turned down a chance to testify in his own
behalf yesterday as the prosecution began presenting evidence designed to
show his attack on President Reagan was not the product of a psychotic im-
pulse he couldn't control.
"I have no intention now of taking the stand," Hinckley told U.S. District
Judge Barrington Parker. "I have just been advised by counsel that I have
no intention of taking the stand."
The judge pressed the point.
"Well, is that your desire? Are you following advice of your counsel? Are-
you considering the advice of your counsel or are-you independently making
a judgment."
Said Hinckley: "I believe both."
Had he testified, Hinckley would have been subject to intensive cross-
examination and the defense clearly did not want that.
Chief defense lawyer Vincent Fuller was told by the judge in a bench con-
ference earlier in the day to tell the jury Hinckley would not testify.
Chinese officials to release
American accused of spying
WASHINGTON- Chinese authorities have agreed to release an American
woman accused of spying but will ask her to leave China within 48 hours, the
State Department said yesterday.
Lisa Wichser, 28, a graduate student from the University of Denver, has
been held by Chinese officials since Friday.
In Peking, Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.) said he hoped Wichser would be
on a U.S-bound flight by tomorrow. She is to be released today at 6 p.m.,
Peking time.
Baker, who was in Peking for talks on other matters, said "I am confident
the case can be satisfactorily resolved."
He declined to discuss allegations that she stole state secrets, which in
China could be any material not publicly announced. "My objective was to
try to help get this girl out," he said.
Gasoline prices increase
NEW YORK- Some of the nation's major oil companies raised wholesale
gasoline prices as much as 2 cents a gallon yesterday in what analysts said
could be the first in a round of price hikes.
The higher prices, which consumers were expected to see soon at the
pump, came as gas supplies in the United States were dropping to unusually
low levels for late spring. As summer nears, demand for gasoline is expected
to be strong enough to let oil companies raise prices more in coming weeks,
analysts said.
Warren Shimmerlik, who follows the U.S. oil industry for Merrill Lynch &
Co., said he expects retail gasoline prices to rise "a few cents" a gallon over
the next several weeks as refiners try to increase profit margins.
The increases are part of a continuing trend of higher wholesale and retail
prices throughout the country. The Lundberg Survey Inc., which tracks
retail gasoline prices, said the national average retail price for all grades of
gasoline as of May 21 was $1.21 a gallon. That was up more than 2.5 cents
from early May and nearly 3.5 cents higher than mid-April.
"My guess is we'll continue to have further increases," said Sanford
Margoshes, an oil analyst at Bache Halsey Stuart Shields, Inc., an invest-
ment firm. "But the most dramatic increases already have occurred."
United Press International sold
United Press International has been sold by the E.W. Scripps Company to
Media News Corp., the press service announced yesterday.
Media News Corp., a new company formed by a group of newspaper,
cable, and television station owners, said it would begin an immediate
program to accelerate UPI's changeover to satellite delivery of its news
report, and to improve and aggressively market UPI services worldwide.
The UPI announcement said the privately held Media News Corp. does not
plan to make staff changes in the service. It also said the name of the service
would remain the same.
{
British tighten ring around
capitad as peace efforts fail
(continuedfromPage 1)
with Perez de Cuellar in New York:
"What we were seeking and have
sought all along is Argentine with-
drawal."
Argentina also sent Costa Mendez to
Havana, where his Cuban counterpart
Isidoro Malmierca Peoli told a meeting
of non-aligned nations that Fidel
Castro's government would "give
whatever aid is necessary to Argentina
in this decisive moment."
In the U.N. peace talks that collapsed
earlier the British agreed tentatively to
a mutual withdrawal of forces followed
by negotiations on the Argentine claim
to sovereigtyovetthe islands.
But after the British landing last
week, Thatcher said her government's
objective was "to retake the Falklands.
They are British sovereign territory,
and we wish to restore British ad-
ministration."
CORRESPONDENTS with the British
forces reported the capture Tuesday of
1,535-foot Mount Kent 12 miles west of
Stanley, and the strategically vital Two
Sisters ridge three miles closer to the
town.
Britain's Defense Ministry said two
Harrier jeta had been lost to Argentine
fire in the "last few days" but the pilots
- were rescued. It -said more Harriers.
had arrived in the war zone.