------- Index of Articles

NUCLEAR
Raytheon Receives $14 Million Contract
Russian, U.S. Experts to Meet Over Iran Arms Sales
Troubled World Awaits Untried U.S. President
Green groups attack Jabiluka mine plan
Czech President Falls Ill
Ukraine's Chernobyl Plant Shut Down
Chernobyl Reactor Shut Down, Possibly Forever
Chernobyl nuclear power station closes down reactor
GTS Duratek Announces Contract Worth Up to $25 Million in Total Fee's
States

MILITARY
Carnival at River Kwai draws criticism
The EU rapid reaction force
European military idea attacked
Cambodia Seeks Arrest of U.S. Guerrilla Leader
Teens Using Less Marijuana, More Ecstasy
U.S. HIGH COURT TO RULE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA
Marijuana use down among teens, ecstasy use up
Use of Ecstasy among teens up
Survey Finds Higher Use of Ecstasy by Teenagers
Court accepts medical-marijuana issue
International raid nets 2,876 arrests
Fox criticizes America for fostering drug trade
Indian Kashmir Chief Says Truce Can Be Extended
Three bombs injure dozens in Pakistan
U.S. Urges Russia to Fulfill Arms Commitments
Swiss Stand by the Army, Rejecting Spending Cuts
Swiss reject attempt to cut back army
Charges expected soon in Cole bombing
States

OTHER
Udalls inherit environmental mantle
Mississippi
Demand World Bank Assume Responsibility For Sardar Sarovar Project
Argentina and the I.M.F.
Dollar for Salvador
NEW JERSEY
N.J. papers: More minorities searched
Former Japanese Naval Officer Admits to Spying for Russia
Spy Trial to Start for Five Accused of Aiding Cuba

ACTIVISTS
Copwatch Update
The Demonstrators: Labor Unions Take to Florida Streets, Rallying for Gore
American Indian victims celebrate


-------- NUCLEAR

Raytheon Receives $14 Million Contract For Jointly Funded U.S./UK Ordnance Effort

Excite News
November 27, 2000
http://news.excite.com/news/pr/001127/az-raytheon-contract

TUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTNA) RTNB) has been awarded a $14 million contract for the Programmable Integrated Ordnance Suite Phase II (PIOS II). The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD) are jointly funding the effort.

"In the past, there have been two traditional ways of improving the chances of destroying a target - getting closer, so that your punch has more effect, or having a bigger punch," said Terry Adams, United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Procurement Agency project manager. "PIOS is a concept designed with eyes to look at the target, then deliver a more intelligently placed punch using an aimable warhead. This is exciting technology with applications across a wide spectrum of missiles and is not being developed for a specific system."

The contract will include an advanced concept technology demonstration for missile applications. The overall intent of this demonstration is to provide a feasible means to increase the lethality of missile systems as targets become more agile and less vulnerable.

"PIOS's adaptive response ordnance will improve missile effectiveness significantly against a diverse target set that includes cruise missiles and unmanned combat air vehicles," said Don Cunard, program manager of the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate, Eglin AFB, Fla. "The technologies we're pursuing support the evolution toward multi-role missile capable of air and surface target defeat."

"A unique feature of PIOS is its joint 50/50 funding by the United States and the United Kingdom. International cooperation is one means of funding research and development where common interests are involved," said Scott Johnston, Raytheon's PIOS program manager.

Raytheon has selected subcontractors representing a complete set of skills in each country. Alliant Techsystems in the U.S., with Thomson-Thorn Missile Electronics and BAE Systems subsidiaries Avionics Limited and Royal Ordnance Defence in the UK make up the subcontractor team. Also included as part of the Integrated Product Team program structure are members of the UK Defence Evaluation Research Agency and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.

This 49-month program was developed using Raytheon's Integrated Product Development System (IPDS). Acquisition reform initiatives in the U.S. and similar smart procurement in the UK allowed the U.S. Air Force and UK MoD to actively participate early in the IPDS process, mitigating much of the risk inherent with multiple customers and an international environment.

Raytheon Company, based in Lexington, Mass., is a global technology leader that provides products and services in the areas of commercial and defense electronics, and business and special mission aircraft. Raytheon has operations throughout the United States and serves customers in more than 70 countries.

Contact: Sara Hammond 520.794.7810

---

Russian, U.S. Experts to Meet Over Iran Arms Sales

New York Times
November 27, 2000
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-arms-ru.html

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian and U.S. experts will meet next week to discuss Moscow's plans to resume conventional arms sales to Iran and dump an accord restricting such shipments, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright agreed the officials would discuss ``concerns over arms sales, including to Iran,'' the ministry said in a statement faxed to Reuters.

The venue and timing of the expert-level meeting were not given. Ivanov and Albright met at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe conference in Vienna that began on Monday.

News of the expert-level meeting follows comments last week by Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov that Russia would soon start talks with Tehran on resuming sales of conventional weapons to Iran.

The United States has warned it may impose economic sanctions on Russia if Moscow pulls out of a 1995 agreement curbing sales of conventional weapons to the Islamic republic.

The Foreign Ministry said Russia could seek to assuage U.S. concerns via the so-called Wassenaar Arrangement, a 1996 accord covering export controls on conventional arms and dual-use (civilian and military) equipment and technology.

Defense industry analysts say Iran is particularly interested in building Russian fighter jets and battle tanks under license.

Russian ties with Iran are a sensitive issue in the United States, which has sought to isolate Tehran because of its alleged support for terrorism.

Washington has cut off funding to a number of Russian institutes it suspects of providing Iran with missile technology, and has urged Moscow to pull out of the Bushehr nuclear power station project in Iran.

---

Troubled World Awaits Untried U.S. President

Reuters
November 27, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-electio.html
http://news.excite.com/news/r/001127/06/election-world

LONDON (Reuters) - George W. Bush, declared the winner of the Florida election, claimed victory in the disputed presidential race Monday and appealed to his rival Al Gore to drop his legal challenges.

But if Bush does take up the office, with the Middle East in turmoil and jitters in Asia and Latin America, he is going to have to learn fast how to handle international crises.

The Republican's inexperience in foreign affairs led many foreign governments privately to prefer his Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore.

Assuming his election is confirmed, Bush is likely to be tested early in his term by Israeli-Palestinian violence and eroding sanctions against Iraq, experts say.

Other problems that may demand urgent attention include tension between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan and potentially explosive political instability in Latin America.

He faces opportunities, but also problems, in nuclear arms control with Russia and China -- the latter potentially complicated by strong Republican support for Taiwan.

Bush exposed his unfamiliarity with world affairs early in the campaign when he was unable to name several foreign leaders in an impromptu television quiz last November.

But he reassured voters and U.S. allies by surrounding himself with seasoned advisers from his father's 1988-92 administration such as vice president-elect Dick Cheney, a former defense secretary, ex-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

In Europe, some officials were troubled by Bush's support during the campaign for forging ahead with an ambitious anti-missile shield and withdrawing U.S. troops from NATO peacekeeping forces in the Balkans. But others are convinced he will act differently when faced with the realities of office.

``We know Bush's advisers from the old days. They were all engaged in German unification. We've had no bad experiences with them,'' Karsten Voigt, the German government's coordinator of relations with Washington, told Reuters.

FIRST TEST IN MIDDLE EAST

Analysts said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will probably be the first test of Bush's crisis management skills, although U.S. officials hope outgoing President Clinton may be able to revive peace talks before leaving office on January 20.

While Bush's instinct may be to take a more hands-off approach than Clinton's personal diplomatic activism, events may rapidly force him to get involved in the volatile region.

``If the Middle East gets really hot, he won't have the luxury of conducting a policy review. The president may be impelled by the pace of events to make policy on the hoof,'' said Terence Taylor, assistant director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

U.S. foes such as Iraqi President Saddam Hussein were likely to probe the new administration before Bush found his feet, and could provoke a military response, Taylor said.

While the Republicans have vowed to pursue a tougher policy to isolate Saddam, international backing for decade-old U.N. economic sanctions against Iraq is fading fast. Most Arab states want the embargo lifted swiftly.

Iraq is trying to regain control over its oil revenues by pumping crude to Syria in apparent defiance of the sanctions and trying to force importers to pay a surcharge outside the U.N.'s oil-for-food program.

LATIN AMERICAN CHALLENGES

Latin America is the one area where the Spanish-speaking Bush has some experience. He will need it to cope with growing political and economic instability, experts say.

Colombia's U.S.-backed army is engaged in an intensifying war against Marxist guerrillas and drug barons that could suck Washington deeper into financial and military aid.

In Peru, a potential power vacuum looms following the ousting of President Alberto Fujimori over alleged corruption and election-rigging.

Venezuela's left-wing populist President Hugo Chavez has defiantly befriended U.S. foes in Cuba, Libya and Iraq and is seen by some U.S. conservatives as a potential second Fidel Castro. What to do about the controversial U.S. economic embargo on Castro's Cuba is another challenge to Bush, who may owe his wafer-thin election to Cuban Americans in Florida.

In Europe and Asia, Bush inherits an improved strategic environment with some lingering problems. The fall of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and the cautious opening of North Korea to the West have removed two potential flashpoints.

But the next president will still face challenges managing relations with a sullen, declining Russia, a prickly, rising China, assertive West European allies and East European states impatient to join NATO.

Strategic analysts believe Bush has an opportunity to make his mark with arms control agreements with a weakened Russia.

Russian officials have hinted that President Vladimir Putin may be ready to modify the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty to allow a limited U.S. National Missile Defense in return for an agreement on deep cuts in strategic nuclear weapons, which Russia's cash-strapped military desperately needs to make.

But Putin could easily be alienated if Bush makes good on declared support for bringing the Baltic states -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- into NATO, analysts say.

Bush's determination to develop an anti-missile shield, and his support for Taiwan, could create tension with China.

But a more urgent worry could be the uneasy balance between South Asian nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, who went to the brink of war over Kashmir last year.

Clinton boosted relations with India but failed to rekindle a dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad during a trip earlier this year to the region, where he warned that Kashmir was one of the most dangerous places on earth.

-------- australia

Green groups attack Jabiluka mine plan

Australian Broadcasting News
This Bulletin: Tue, 28 Nov 2000 7:19 AEDT
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/weekly/newsnat-28nov2000-19.htm

A coalition of environment groups has told the World Heritage Committee that the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory should be stopped.

The Australian Conservation Foundation and the Territory Environment Centre have presented a joint report to the committee, calling for Kakadu to be listed as "in-danger".

The centre's Mark Wakeham says the park is one of the most biodiverse environments in Australia, containing 21 mangrove species as well as native mammals, birds and plants.

He says it should be protected against the threats of uranium mining.

"It's clear that the committee, given that it's been looking at this issue for three years now, has very strong concerns about the impacts of Jabiluka on Kakadu, but it's become a political issue, the natural and cultural advisory bodies have all said Kakadu should be listed as in-danger," he said.

-------- czech republic

Czech President Falls Ill

Associated Press
November 27, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Czech-Havel.html

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- Czech President Vaclav Havel is suffering from a viral disease and his official schedule has been canceled, his spokesman said Monday.

Medical tests show the 64-year-old president is developing pneumonia, Havel's spokesman Ladislav Spacek said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. He said the president was being treated with antibiotics at his residence in Lany, outside Prague.

Havel's work schedule for the rest of the week has been canceled. But doctors gave him permission to appoint on Wednesday the new governor and deputy governor of the Czech National Bank.

On Tuesday, Havel was to meet his Austrian counterpart, Thomas Klestil, to discuss a disputed nuclear power plant at Temelin.

Havel, a former chain-smoker, had a third of his lung and a cancerous tumor removed in 1996. He suffers from chronic bronchitis and has been struggling with lung problems since.

-------- ukraine

Ukraine's Chernobyl Plant Shut Down

Associated Press
November 27, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Ukraine-Chernobyl.html
http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,500283918-500447274-502908396-0,00.html

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant was shut down early Monday after an ice-covered power line broke and caused a sharp drop of electricity, officials said.

Reactor No. 3, the plant's only working reactor, was closed down by its automatic safety system and workers plan to restart it on Saturday, a plant spokesman said.

There were no malfunctions in the reactor and no radiation leaks were reported.

Ukraine has said it will permanently close the nuclear power plant -- site of the world's worst nuclear disaster -- on Dec. 15. Ukraine promised to shut Chernobyl down after years of pressure from European governments and environmentalists.

The plant's reactor No. 4 exploded and caught fire on April 26, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe in a disaster believed to have eventually killed thousands of people.

Chernobyl's No. 2 reactor was shut down after a fire in 1991, and reactor No. 1 was halted in 1996.

The remaining reactor has been the focus of disputes between international groups concerned over safety and energy-strapped Ukraine, which fears losing the electricity the reactor provides.

It has been shut down frequently by automatic safety systems over the past year due to various malfunctions.

Also on Monday, the No. 2 reactor at Ukraine's Yuzhna power plant was shut down due to a malfunction, the State Energoatom nuclear company said in a statement.

Currently, nine of 14 nuclear reactors are working at Ukraine's five atomic power plants, producing about 40 percent of country's electricity.

---

Chernobyl Reactor Shut Down, Possibly Forever

Reuters
November 27, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/ukraine-chernobyl.html

CHERNOBYL, Ukraine, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Power line failures forced the shutdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power station on Monday, raising doubts over whether engineers would restart it less than three weeks before its final closure.

A top atomic energy official in the Ukrainian capital Kiev said he was not sure there was any point in firing up the plant, site of the world's worst civil nuclear disaster in 1986.

But Chernobyl's chief engineer -- rattled at the prospect of the loss of 9,000 jobs -- told Reuters the station would be ready to go back on stream within days.

A cold snap brought havoc to Ukraine's creaking national power grid, and millions were left without electricity when power lines failed across the country.

A reactor at the South Ukraine power station was also forced out of action after technicians found a leak in a steam generator, officials said.

There was no increase in radiation around either plant.

Chernobyl chief engineer Yuri Neretin said a sudden fall in demand from the national grid early on Monday caused the safety system of the plant's last functioning reactor to shut it down.

``If there's nowhere for our electricity to go, the reactor automatically shuts itself down,'' he said in an interview in an office inside the plant, surrounded by flashing displays and phones. This was because the reactor could not adapt quickly to sudden changes in demand, he said.

SAFETY SYSTEMW WORKED PROPERLY

``Reactor number three stopped without any faults or remarks. The safety systems did their job,'' he said. ``The reactor was not affected by the emergency.''

Chernobyl, which provides around five percent of Ukraine's electricity, is due to close on December 15. Western donors have pledged money to build replacement reactors elsewhere.

``I hope that on December 2 we will be able to start the reactor,'' Neretin said. ``This is necessary -- every day we produce electricity worth 1.5 million hryvnias ($280,000). So it makes economical sense (to restart it for a few weeks).''

In Kiev, the acting director of Ukraine's atomic energy regulator, Vadim Hryshchenko, said there was a plan to restart the reactor, but he questioned the purpose of such a move.

``It's a completely reasonable question -- is it worth our while restarting the reactor if it will only work for a few days before being turned off forever?'' he told Reuters by telephone.

Neretin made clear how unpopular closing the plant is in Chernobyl and the nearby town of Slavutych, home to 30,000 people whose jobs depend on the nuclear plant.

``The mood among the staff is very tense,'' he said. ``If there's no work left, where is everyone meant to go?''

He said hundreds of millions of dollars the West had spent upgrading reactor number three meant it could serve safely until 2011. He also questioned whether Ukraine, already susceptible to frequent power cuts, could get by without Chernobyl.

SNOW, ICE AND WIND CUT POWER

The power lines which failed link Chernobyl with the western Vynnytsa and Khmelnitsky regions, where the Emergencies Ministry said heavy wind, snow and ice had severed electricity supplies to nearly half of all homes.

Temperatures in Ukraine plummeted to minus 14 Celsius (seven degrees Fahrenheit) overnight.

A spokesman for South Ukraine nuclear power station, Anatoly Nenko, said by telephone that engineers had shut down the third of three reactors at that plant.

``They shut the reactor down at 9:20 a.m. (0720 GMT) after a leak from a steam generator got worse,'' he said. ``But no increase in radiation was measured at the plant or around it.''

The reactors there are of the VVER-1,000 type, considered safer by Western experts than the RMBK reactors at Chernobyl.

Chernobyl's number four reactor exploded in April 1986, killing at least 30 people immediately and sending a radioactive cloud over Ukraine and much of Europe. Thousands are thought to have died since then of radiation-related illnesses.

---

Chernobyl nuclear power station closes down reactor

Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Mon, 27 Nov 2000
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/weekly/newsnat-27nov2000-77.htm

The last functioning reactor at Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power station has been shut down because of an electricity malfunction.

A duty engineer at the plant says the fault will take approximately five days to repair.

No rise in radiation levels was initially reported.

Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma earlier this month confirmed that the ill-fated power plant will be shut down on December 15.

The plant suffered the world's worst civilian nuclear accident in 1986.

-------- u.s. nuc facilities

-------- ohio

GTS Duratek Announces Contract Worth Up to $25 Million in Total Fee's

Excite News
November 27, 2000
http://news.excite.com/news/bw/001127/md-gts-duratek

COLUMBIA, Md. (BUSINESS WIRE) - GTS Duratek, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRTK) today announced that it is a member of a team led by a subsidiary of the Fluor Corporation that has been awarded a major new contract with the Department of Energy to complete the Fernald Environmental Management Project.

As a member of the Fluor Fernald, Inc. project team, GTS Duratek will provide management and technical expertise in dispositioning the wastes at Fernald. This work is valued at up to $25 million in total fee over a period of ten years.

"We are proud to be a member of the Fluor Fernald team and look forward to helping the team reduce the cost of final treatment and disposal of Fernald wastes, safely and ahead of schedule," said GTS Duratek's President and CEO, Robert Prince. "The Fluor Fernald team is incentivized to meet or beat cost and schedule targets while maintaining safety and compliance. We like this kind of incentive contract because it is a win-win for both the American taxpayer and corporate shareholders."

Fluor, the prime contractor at Fernald since 1992, was recently awarded a new 10-year contract to complete remediation and closure of the former uranium processing facility near Cincinnati, Ohio.

In seeking this new contract, Fluor added GTS Duratek's subsidiary, Federal Services, as an integrated team member to cut the cost of dispositioning Fernald's radioactive, hazardous and mixed waste and nuclear materials.

GTS Duratek implements technologies and provides services, which protect people from radiation and the environment from radioactive material.

GTS Duratek has included in its periodic filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2000 pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, certain cautionary statements which are intended to identify certain important factors that could cause GTS Duratek's actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements of GTS Duratek made by or on behalf of GTS Duratek.

Reference is made to such statements for a complete discussion of those factors.

Contact: GTS Duratek, Inc. Diane R. Brown, Investor Relations, 410/312-5100 Robert F. Shawver, Exec. V.P., 410/312-5100.

-------- vermont

USA Today
11/27/00
States
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm

Vermont Montpelier - The Public Service Board will begin planning for a new round of hearings on the proposed sale of he Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. The hearings were triggered earlier this month when AmerGen Energy Co. of Philadelphia boosted its offer for Vermont's lone reactor from less than $12 million to about $61 million.

-------- MILITARY

Carnival at River Kwai draws criticism

USA Today
11/27/00
http://usatoday.com/news/world/nwsmon05.htm

KANCHANABURI, Thailand (AP) - Hundreds of revelers whooped it up Monday at the Bridge on the River Kwai in a garish carnival that some veterans said commercializes a World War II atrocity - the Thai-Myanmar ''Death Railway.''

More than 100,000 Asians and 13,000 Allied prisoners of war from Australia, Britain, the United States, New Zealand and the Netherlands died building the bridge and the 260-mile railway under the yoke of the Japanese Army.

At the carnival, which commemorates the start of the Allied bombing campaign against the bridge in November 1944, Thais and foreign tourists enjoyed rides, discos and rock concerts.

''In Japan, the war is not even discussed, but here at the River Kwai it's a big party with dancing girls,'' said Yugo Saso, 27, a visiting Japanese actor.

The noisy two-week festival got under way Sunday after a somber memorial ceremony in the rain attended by Western diplomats, veterans and Thai officials at a nearby war cemetery in Kanchanaburi, 80 miles west of Bangkok.

Tim Moffat, 41, of Kansas, a school teacher in Kanchanaburi, said he was appalled by a replica bamboo hospital with 50 wooden crosses nearby, built to give festival-goers a feeling of wartime.

Kanchanaburi has built a prosperous tourism industry out of its war history, thanks largely to the success of the 1957 Academy Award winning film, ''The Bridge on the River Kwai.''

Pong-anan Sunpanich, the Tourism Authority of Thailand director in Kanchanaburi, defended a glitzy sound-and-light show depicting the U.S. air-raid that finally knocked out the bridge in June 1945. The show's plot includes a fictional love triangle, pitting a Japanese officer against an Allied POW for the affections of a Thai beauty queen.

The story helps express the ''pain and anguish'' of those who were forced to labor building the bridge, Pong-anan said.

But Japanese war veteran Takashi Nagase, 83, who has made more than 100 missions of atonement to the River Kwai after serving as a military police interpreter during the war, said he was ashamed.

''For the Thais it's just a carnival,'' he told The Associated Press. ''But we Japanese feel a deep sense of shame at how sensitive issues are so rudely portrayed in the light and sound show.''

---

The EU rapid reaction force

Washington Times
November 27, 2000
http://208.246.212.80/op-ed/ed-house-20001127201944.htm

The European Union took its first steps last week toward putting on a military uniform last week by pledging 100,000 troops, 400 combat aircraft and 100 ships to a new European peacekeeping force. By allowing the 15-member body to act as peacekeepers in their own backyard, the union could relieve some of the financial and military burden from the United States, which carries the bulk of those responsibilities.

Good intentions, however, are not enough. In 1999, the United States outspent all of the top EU member nations in defense expenditures. All the EU countries put together only spend 60 percent of what the United States provides for defense. And this, at a time when the Pentagon needs an additional $100 billion a year to carry out its assigned missions, according to retiring Air Force Secretary F. Whitten Peters. Projected defense spending in NATO for the United States for the next three years will remain at around 3.2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), while expenditures from all of Western Europe are projected to dip below 2 percent of GDP by 2003.

This decrease in their defense spending will make it difficult for the EU member states to fund a new peacekeeping initiative on the scale they are envisioning. Though the EU force would use NATO troops, it will need to come up with communication systems, intelligence and transportation. A 60,000-member contingent will need to have the capability by 2003 to deploy within a 60-day period and be sustained for up to one year - a task now militarily impossible for any of the member states.

The union's military initiative poses other challenges as well. Yet to be answered are questions concerning the division of labor between NATO and the EU. Two separate headquarters for the European and NATO forces would be ill-advised if they are sharing the same troops, as would double-tasking that manpower with separate missions. The European nations must also determine whether their troops would train together, and which chain of command they will follow.

Still, this is an opportunity that the United States ought to seize to define its relationship with Europe as well as its role as the leading nation in NATO. It must remain actively engaged in providing logistical assistance, including the transport and communication systems the Europeans lack. The United States should also actively engage the Europeans in the discussions as NATO and the EU define their interdependent identities. By accepting that the Europeans could provide their own manpower for humanitarian missions and regional conflicts, the United States would empower, rather than disengage from an ally.

---

European military idea attacked

Washington Times
November 27, 2000
By David Cracknell LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
http://208.246.212.80/world/default-2000112722537.htm

LONDON - Britain's most senior army officer, Gen. Sir Charles Guthrie, has warned of the "risk" that dangerous conflicts in Europe could become wars unless the United States and NATO have links with a new European army.

The comments by the chief of the Defense Staff undermine Prime Minister Tony Blair's claim that the military wholeheartedly supports the European Rapid Reaction Force, which was designed for operations in which the United States and NATO choose not to become involved.

Gen. Guthrie also said it would be "easier" to bolster European defense within NATO than to create a separate European force.

His private comments to members of Parliament 12 days ago echo private concerns among senior U.S. officers that Europe will be a more dangerous place unless - as promised by Mr. Blair -NATO is included in the formation of the force from the outset.

Gen. Guthrie was asked by Conservative Party legislator Julian Lewis whether there was a danger of conflicts in Europe escalating into full-scale war if there was not American involvement from the outset.

"If it trickled forward, there could be a risk of that," he replied, although he said he would expect the United States to be involved "quite quickly" if a crisis were escalating.

Gen. Guthrie's briefing in the House of Commons was supposed to remain confidential, but Mr. Lewis said Saturday he was breaking his silence because of the general's public insistence last week that the new policy of European defense cooperation would "make NATO stronger, not weaker."

Grumbling about the new rapid reaction force also can be heard within the ranks of Britain's armed forces, several of whose members agreed to be interviewed on the grounds of confidentiality.

"This is a wild move, and I would suggest that little military thought has been given to it," said a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. "Are we going to be allocated an increased budget to fund training and exercises for the new Euro-army? I doubt it."

A senior army officer working at the Ministry of Defense welcomed greater European military cooperation, but only within NATO.

"If we fall in with the French and Germans, we could ruin our relationship with the United States. They supported us during the Falklands, the Gulf and Kosovo. They have the strategic airlift that we don't," the officer said.

"We have spent years developing our amphibious doctrine with the U.S. The Germans do not have any amphibious troops and no amphibious ships."

The commanding officer of a front-line infantry battalion said: "I am more than happy to work with European soldiers, but their politicians are a different matter. The question remains as to whether they have the guts to see this through and rise above the political pressures in their own countries.

"The whole thing could start to fragment before the first tank has rolled, the first paratrooper has dropped or the first barrage has been fired. That would be a complete waste of time."

-------- cambodia

Cambodia Seeks Arrest of U.S. Guerrilla Leader

November 27, 2000
By REUTERS

PHNOM PENH, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Cambodia issued an arrest warrant on Monday for Chhun Yasith, a U.S. citizen who leads the anti-communist group that sparked last week's bloody shootout in Phnom Penh that left eight dead.

``After receiving a complaint from military and municipal police, the court charged (Chhun Yasith) and his accomplices with forming an illegal armed group to provoke terrorism in Cambodia and then the court issued arrest warrants,'' Nou Chantha, an investigating judge at Phnom Penh's military court, told Reuters.

The military court also has requested that foreign affairs minister Hor Namhong assist in apprehending Chhun Yasith.

``We request that the minister of foreign affairs take measures to arrest Chhun Yasith, whom military prosecutors have charged with forming the illegal Cambodian Freedom Fighters armed group to oust the Royal Government of Cambodia,'' said a letter to the minister obtained by Reuters on Monday.

Hor Namhong told reporters he had not yet seen the letter but would act once it was passed on to him.

``We will send a request to the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh and also to the Cambodian embassy in Washington, and we will send it immediately when we get the arrest warrant,'' Hor Namhong said.

Last Friday's fighting was the worst Cambodia has seen since the July 1997 overthrow of then-First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

CHHUN YASITH CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY

Chhun Yasith, a Cambodian-American, has claimed responsibility for the incident in a statement issued in Bangkok.

In the statement, written in broken English and obtained by Reuters on Monday, Chhun Yasith claims to have ``taken control'' of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior and other government offices for more than two hours.

He said the early morning raid was designed to test the strength of the Cambodian government and stop a state visit by Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong.

Luong, who had been scheduled to visit Cambodia on Monday, unexpectedly cancelled the trip, though Cambodian officials said it was because of health reasons.

The bloody pre-dawn shootout lasted for about an hour after a gang flying a Cambodian Freedom Fighters flag attacked a police station near the railway station in Phnom Penh and then moved toward the Council of Ministers and Ministry of Defence offices about 800 metres (yards) away.

Police shot dead eight men, including one civilian who was caught in the crossfire. At least seven police and military officials and more than a dozen civilians were injured.

Since Friday, police have arrested more than 60 suspects.

Phnom Penh military police chief Chhin Chan Por told reporters 20 men would be freed by Tuesday morning after being debriefed by officials. He also said police expected to arrest as many as 50 additional suspects.

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday called on the United States to assist in the arrest and possible extradition of the leader of an anti-communist group operating out of the United States, though he did not mention the Cambodian Freedom Fighters by name.

The U.S. State Department said on Sunday it was aware of Hun Sen's statements but could not confirm that a U.S. citizen was involved in the Phnom Penh attack.

-------- drug war

Survey: Teens Using Less Marijuana, More Ecstasy

jointogether.org
11/27/00
http://www.jointogether.org/sa/default.jtml?O=265208

A newly released survey says that U.S. teens are smoking less marijuana, but are more likely to use ecstasy, Reuters reported Nov. 27.

According to the Partnership for a Drug Free America (PDFA) survey, use of the illicit synthetic drug ecstasy has doubled since 1995. The report found that 10 percent of the young people surveyed reported trying ecstasy at least once, up from 7 percent last year and 5 percent five years ago.

http://www.drugfreeamerica.org

Overall, the nationwide survey of 7,290 teens aged 12 to 18 found that illicit drug use remained stable between 1999 and 2000 and declined significantly from 1997.

In particular, the survey showed a decline in marijuana use among teens. Forty percent of the teens surveyed this year said they tried marijuana at least once, a drop from 44 percent in 1997. In addition, the survey found that 33 percent of those surveyed this year had used marijuana during the past year, down from 36 percent three years ago. There also was a drop in the number of teens who had used the drug in the past month, from 24 percent in 1997 to 21 percent this year.

"The shifts we're seeing with marijuana -- which by and large represents the bulk of illicit drug use among kids -- suggest good things for the future," said Richard Bonnette, president and chief executive of the PDFA. But Bonnette added that the increase in the use of ecstasy "demands our attention."

---

Morrock News, Monday, Nov. 27, 2000
THE MORROCK NEWS DIGEST
Fast, free and independent http://morrock.com

U.S. HIGH COURT TO RULE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to tackle the growing dispute over the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The high court said it will hear a case filed against the federal government by a California cannabis club that provides pot to patients under a 1996 voter initiative. The court will hear arguments in the case next year, and a ruling is due before the court recesses in June.

TEENS GIVING UP POT IN FAVOR OF ECSTASY: The use of marijuana by U.S. teens is dropping, but there's a surge in teen use of the synthetic drug Ecstasy, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America said Monday in releasing results of a nationwide survey. Forty percent of teens said they'd tried marijuana at least once -- the rate was 44 percent in 1997. But 10 percent said they'd tried Ecstasy at least once, up from 7 percent in 1999 and 5 percent five years ago. Survey results: www.drugfreeamerica.org.

---

Marijuana use down among teens, ecstasy use up

CNN
November 27, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/11/27/drug.survey.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- Teen-age marijuana use has dropped for a third straight year, but a jump in the use of the "club drug" ecstasy raised new concerns for parents, according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's annual report.

The nonprofit group's 13th survey, being released Monday, questioned 7,290 students in seventh through 12th grades nationwide. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

Use of ecstasy, a favorite at dance clubs and all-night raves, has doubled among teens since 1995, the survey found. One in 10 teens has experimented with the drug, it said.

The report found the number of teens who have tried ecstasy at least once had increased from 7 percent to 10 percent over the past year. In contrast, the 40 percent of teens saying they had tried marijuana was down from 41 percent last year.

It was the third consecutive drop-off in teen marijuana use since 1997, when 44 percent of teens said they had used the drug at least once.

"We appear to be turning a very important corner," said Richard D. Bonnette, the partnership's president and chief executive officer. "But as we turn one corner, troubling developments are coming at us from other directions -- specifically with ecstasy."

The survey found that more teens were turned off than on by marijuana. Fifty-four percent felt smoking pot would make them behave foolishly, up from 51 percent in 1997. Fewer believe most people will try marijuana: 36 percent now, compared with 41 percent in 1997. And just 21 percent said they had used marijuana in the past month, down from 24 percent in 1997.

Those numbers are significant because they address attitude changes since the partnership, along with the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, started a national anti-drug ad campaign in July 1998.

"This study confirms the trends we've seen over the last three years -- a steady decline in the number of teen using drugs," said Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "This is very good news."

The study found that the number of teens seeing anti-drug advertising on a daily basis has jumped significantly -- from 32 percent in 1998 to 49 percent this year.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, launched in 1987, is a coalition of communications industry professionals aimed at reducing the demand for illegal drugs.

---

Use of Ecstasy among teens up

USA Today
11/27/00
By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
http://usatoday.com/life/health/addiction/lhadd049.htm

While marijuana continues to lose its cachet among teens, Ecstasy is growing ever more hip, says a survey of teenage drug use released today . The percentage of teens who admit to using Ecstasy has doubled since 1995, the survey of 7,290 teens in grades 7-12 by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America indicates. Ecstasy, nicknamed "E," "X" and the "love drug," is a stimulant popular at raves and dance clubs. Users feel euphoric and are highly sensitive to touch.

"The drug problem is constantly moving and evolving," says Steve Dnistrian, executive vice president of the partnership. "This Ecstasy spike, frankly, is very troubling and took us by surprise."

Overall, drug use among teens remained stable from 1999 to 2000, the survey says. Of about 23.6 million teens in the USA, about 11.3 million have tried an illegal drug at least once, and about 9.2 million have used one in the past year, the survey says.

The drug most widely used by teens continues to be marijuana. The survey says 33% of teens have used marijuana in the past year, down from 36% in 1999. But teens increasingly are turning to harder drugs, such as Ecstasy, inhalants and amphetamines, for a high.

In 1995, 5% of teens surveyed said they had tried Ecstasy, or methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, at least once. This year, 10% of teens report trying it - about equal to the number of teens who tried cocaine.

Inhalant use also grew.

In 1999, 11% of teens said they inhaled a substance to get high. This year, 13% report inhalant use.

The study's overall finding "confirms the trends we've seen for the last three years - a steady decline in the number of American teens abusing drugs," White House drug policy director Barry McCaffrey said in a statement. "But we have serious challenges remaining, as the partnership findings on the increase in the use of the drug Ecstasy demonstrates."

The partnership, which designs media campaigns and commercials to discourage teens from using drugs, will use the study to determine how to best approach youth, Dnistrian says.

"We're talking about a dangerous narcotic here," Dnistrian says. "Some teenagers die because of taking this drug or by getting into dangerous situations after taking it."

Many teens perceive Ecstasy as low risk, Dnistrian says. Teens are more likely to experiment with drugs that they see as less dangerous, he says.

Scientists have only recently begun to document the long-term effects of Ecstasy use, so anti-drug messages must take a different approach, he says.

Federal law enforcement agencies have seen dramatic increases in the amount of Ecstasy flowing into the USA. The U.S. Customs Service seized record amounts of Ecstasy - 9.3 million tablets - in the budget year that ended Sept. 30. Last year, Customs confiscated 3.5 million tablets.

Wednesday, Drug Enforcement Administration, Customs and FBI agents shut down an Ecstasy distribution network that operated in four U.S. cities and four European countries. Agents say they have linked 3,127 pounds of Ecstasy tablets to the syndicate, which shipped the drugs from the Netherlands and Paris to Los Angeles and other cities.

---

Survey Finds Higher Use of Ecstasy by Teenagers

New York Times
November 27, 2000
National News Briefs
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/27/national/27NATI.html

Marijuana use among teenagers has dropped for a third straight year, but an increase in the use of the drug Ecstasy has raised new concerns, according to a report released yesterday by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

In its 13th survey, the partnership, a nonprofit group, questioned 7,290 students in 7th through 12th grades nationwide. The margin of error is plus or minus one and a half percentage points.

Use of Ecstasy, a favorite at dance clubs and all-night parties, has doubled among teenagers since 1995, the survey found. The report found that the number of teenagers who had tried Ecstasy at least once had increased to 10 percent from 7 percent over the last year. In contrast, the 40 percent of teenagers saying they had tried marijuana was down from 41 percent last year.

It was the third consecutive decrease in teenage marijuana use since 1997, when 44 percent said they had used the drug at least once.

"This study confirms the trends we've seen over the last three years - a steady decline in the number of teens using drugs," said Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, formed in 1987, is a coalition of communications industry professionals aimed at reducing the demand for illegal drugs.

---

Court accepts medical-marijuana issue

USA Today
11/27/00- Updated 10:19 AM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncsmon01.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court took on a medical-marijuana dispute Monday, agreeing to decide whether ''medical necessity'' is a defense to the federal law that makes marijuana distribution a crime.

The justices said they will hear the Clinton administration's effort to stop a California group from providing the drug to seriously ill patients for pain relief.

Congress has decided that marijuana has ''no currently accepted medical use,'' Justice Department lawyers told the justices. A lower court decision allowing the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to distribute the drug ''threatens the government's ability to enforce the federal drug laws,'' government lawyers added.

In August, the Supreme Court put the lower court ruling on hold and barred the California club from distributing marijuana while the government pursued its appeal.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer did not participate in the case. His brother, Charles, a federal trial judge in San Francisco, previously barred distribution of marijuana only to have his decision reversed by a federal appeals court.

Eight states in addition to California have medical-marijuana laws in place or approved by voters: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Washington state, Nevada and Colorado.

California's law, passed by the voters in 1996, authorizes the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes upon a doctor's recommendation.

The Oakland group said its goal is ''to provide seriously ill patients with safe access to necessary medicine so that these individuals do not have to resort to the streets.''

But the federal Controlled Substances Act includes marijuana among the drugs whose manufacture and distribution are illegal.

In January 1998, the federal government filed a lawsuit against the Oakland club, asking a judge to ban it from providing marijuana.

Judge Charles Breyer ruled for the government. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, saying the government had not disproved the club's evidence that the drug was ''the only effective treatment for a large group of seriously ill individuals.''

Last May, Breyer ruled the Oakland club could provide marijuana to patients who needed it. The government appealed that ruling to the 9th Circuit, which has not yet ruled.

In the appeal acted on Monday, Justice Department lawyers said the Supreme Court could grant review now because the 9th Circuit court was not expected to change its decision.

That ruling threatens the government's ability to enforce the anti-drug law, Justice Department lawyers said. They said more than two dozen organizations were distributing marijuana for medical purposes in California, Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, all in the 9th Circuit.

The Oakland club's lawyers said ''the voters of California have spoken'' in approving the medical-marijuana measure. Congress has not explicitly barred a medical necessity defense against the federal anti-drug law, the lawyers added.

The case is U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, 00-151.

---

International raid nets 2,876 arrests

Washington Times
November 27, 2000
By Jeremy McDermott LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
http://208.246.212.80/world/default-20001127215749.htm

MEDELLIN, Colombia - U.S.-led agents have arrested thousands of people and seized tons of drugs in the world's biggest anti-narcotics operation - a venture that involved hide-outs in snake-infested bunkers and powerboat chases worthy of James Bond.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) coordinated the drug bust, named Operation Liberator, which took place across the Caribbean this month. Officials from Britain and 30 other countries were involved.

Powerboats, modified helicopters, highly trained sniffer dogs, trackers and spy aircraft were used to trap suspects. Cocaine laboratories were smashed and heroin-poppy fields were burned.

Some agents had tracked their quarry for months along mountain goat trails in Venezuela and Colombia and on tracks across the desert near the U.S.-Mexican border.

Other agents hid in caves where tons of cocaine had been bagged and made ready for loading onto ships. Some posed as buyers, setting up meetings in restaurants with suspected dealers or parachuted into jungle encampments located with the help of satellites.

One trail ended in a speedboat chase complete with volleys of bullets similar to the opening sequence of the latest Bond film, this time with the Orinoco delta as a backdrop rather than London's Docklands. The agents finally forced the two boats laden with cocaine onto an island, although the crews escaped.

More than 39,000 searches were carried out in three weeks of raids unprecedented both in scale and the extent of cooperation among countries.

Michael Vigil, the Caribbean director of the DEA, said 2,876 persons were arrested, more than 20 tons of cocaine seized and $42 million in other assets confiscated.

Agents also dismantled 94 drug factories, seized 82,170 Ecstasy tablets and burned 9 square miles of poppy, coca and marijuana fields.

Some of those arrested were kingpins of the drug world, such as Martires Paulino Castro, who is accused of running a network from St. Martin in the West Indies to New York, and shipping two tons of Colombian cocaine to New York every month.

Named after Simon Bolivar, the champion of Latin American freedom, Operation Liberator was the fourth and most extensive in a two-year program of raids. A raid two months ago led to the capture of Ivan De La Vega, thought to be the leader of the biggest cocaine-trafficking operation in Colombia, along with $910 million worth of cocaine, much of which was destined for Scotland.

Among the goods seized in the operation were a selection of speedboats used by smugglers, known as "go-fasts," painted blue to make them difficult to spot at sea.

At the naval base of the historic Colombian city of Cartagena, Capt. Jose Gabriel Escobar, the commander of the Atlantic coast guard, which took part in the operation, pointed out an impounded go-fast moored alongside the naval workshop.

"This baby would not stop," he said. "We have no boats fast enough to catch her. It took four Special Forces men abseiling from a helicopter to capture her. She was carrying half a ton of coke."

Capt. Escobar said it is almost impossible to catch the go-fasts.

"The drug traffickers usually scuttle the boats once the load has been delivered," he said.

"What's a boat worth less than $70,000 when you are making more than $20 million pure profit for even a small load?"

Although a senior British Customs official said Operation Liberator had landed "a crippling blow" on the narcotics industry, the business is so large and decentralized that the raids may have had only limited effect: The street price of drugs in New York remains unchanged.

The seizure of 20 tons of cocaine is not even a dent in supply compared with the estimated 700 tons of cocaine leaving Colombia every year.

Even so, the operation has been heralded as beginning a new era in international cooperation.

"This operation succeeded because of the relaxation of sovereignty issues that many times in the past had acted as a barrier to law-enforcement operations," said Mr. Vigil.

---

Fox criticizes America for fostering drug trade

Washington Times
November 27, 2000
By Niko Price ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://208.246.212.80/world/default-2000112722115.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Mexico-Fox.html

SAN CRISTOBAL, Mexico - Days before his inauguration as president, Vicente Fox said America should deal with its drug habit and pledged to join the United States and Canada in what he called "NAFTA-plus."

In an interview with the Associated Press before he takes office on Friday, Mr. Fox said the United States has been too quick to write off Mexico as a corrupt haven for drug smugglers - and too reluctant to look in the mirror.

"The United States year after year blames us. Why?" Mr. Fox asked. "Who lets the drugs into the United States? Who is doing gigantic business in the United States, then sends down millions of dollars that corrupt Mexican police officers and government officials?"

Mr. Fox said the two countries need to "sit down . . . and work this out together."

Mr. Fox has promised strong measures against drug corruption, but his comments indicate he will continue - or increase - Mexico's long-standing complaint that the supply of drugs would not exist without demand in the United States.

He also said that despite a tepid reaction from both George W. Bush and Al Gore, he was confident that he would persuade his northern neighbors to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement and eventually to open their borders entirely to Mexican goods -and maybe even workers - along the lines of the European Union.

"I am proposing a 'NAFTA-plus,' " he said. "I'm proposing that 20, 30 years down the road we form a North American common market in which we become partners, the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"I will continue to insist on this, and I know I will win the battle," Mr. Fox said. "I am going to persuade Bush or Gore, whoever it is. And I am going to persuade the American people."

Mr. Fox's election on July 2 was a historic change for Mexico, ending 71 years of rule by a single party. On Friday, the country enters a new era as Mr. Fox takes office - and takes on dire problems including crippling poverty, widespread corruption and rampant crime.

A farmer and former Coca-Cola executive, Mr. Fox pledged to treat the country as a chief executive officer would a money-losing company, and to build "a government that costs less and does more."

Over the weekend, he took his final breather before the presidency, retreating to his hometown of San Cristobal, a farming village 210 miles northwest of Mexico City.

Mr. Fox milked a cow, tended to horses in the stables and played tennis, and joined his children in an out-of-tune number with a mariachi band. He sat for interviews Saturday with the Associated Press and CNN in his mother's living room, amid porcelain figurines of horses and black-and-white wedding photos of family members.

Chatting with his children and posing for photographers, Mr. Fox seemed extremely relaxed given what he's facing.

"It's just like in school," Mr. Fox said. "When it's time for exams, the people who have studied go in calmly, with the confidence that everything will go well. . . . I am going to be the best president this country has ever had."

Mr. Fox said he was aware of the huge - probably unrealistic - expectations Mexicans have for him, but claimed he wasn't worried about them. On the contrary.

"I would never throw cold water on that enthusiasm, on that hope," he said. "I dare say that this is Mexico's revolution of hope."

But he cautioned that most of the changes he envisions will take much longer than his six-year term.

-------- india/pakistan

Indian Kashmir Chief Says Truce Can Be Extended

Reuters
November 27, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/kashmir-ceasefire.html

SRINAGAR, India, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Indian security forces will stop all combat operations against guerrillas in Kashmir from midnight on Monday in a first step to try to end more than a decade of violence that has left thousands dead.

There will be no search and destroy operations across Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir as part of the unilateral ceasefire to run throughout the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, officials said.

The head of Jammu and Kashmir state also said the ceasefire could be extended if the Ramadan truce was successful.

An army official said in New Delhi all units had been asked to suspend offensive operations against militants from midnight.

But he said forces were on guard along the military control line that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

``Anyone who sneaks in will be dealt with, and there will be retaliation if there is any firing,'' he said.

India rules about 45 percent of Kashmir, Pakistan controls just over a third and China the rest.

A revolt against New Delhi's rule broke out on the Indian side of Kashmir in 1990 and more than 30,000 people have died in 11 years of violence.

Pakistan denies aiding the rebels.

Frontline guerrilla groups based in Pakistan have rejected Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's unprecedented decision to hold the fire during Ramadan, and have stepped up attacks in recent days.

Security forces killed two guerrillas trying to sneak across the border in the Hiranagar sector of Jammu region on Sunday night, police said.

A landmine explosion in Baramulla in north Kashmir killed one civilian on Sunday.

LEADER URGES SUPPORT

Separatist guerrillas on Monday attacked a police camp outside Srinagar, the state's summer capital but there were no casualties.

A prominent Kashmiri leader urged militant groups and politicians on both sides of the divided territory to respond positively to the ceasefire offer by India.

``We are supporting the ceasefire offer and emphasise talks between India, Pakistan and groups on both sides of Kashmir,'' Sardar Abdul Qayum, former president and prime minister of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, said.

India says it cannot talk to Pakistan unless it stops arming and training separatists. Pakistan says it provides only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people's struggle for self-determination.

Kashmiris, including local militants, wanted an end to the bloodshed, the state's police chief said.

``It is my conviction today that people's desire for peace is getting stronger by the day ... and when the people's mind is made up, everybody has to fall in line,'' Gurbachan Jagat said.

Jagat, who is moving to Delhi to head the paramilitary border Security Force, said he believed that local militants were also looking for a way out of life by the gun.

---

Three bombs injure dozens in Pakistan

USA Today
11/27/00
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/nwsmon02.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Pakistan-Explosions.html

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - Three bombs exploded in eastern Punjab province Monday, killing a 4-year-old child and injuring at least 24 other people, police said.

Two bombs went off within minutes of each other at a bus stop in the Badamibagh neighborhood of Lahore, the Punjab provincial capital. Fourteen people were hurt, they said.

The third bomb ripped through a crowded market in Muridke, some 18 miles northwest of Lahore, killing one person and injuring 10 others.

A 4-year-old boy lost both legs in the explosion and later died, doctors said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the series of explosions.

Police suspect the bombs in Lahore were hidden in luggage that had been abandoned. Fire and smoke billowed from burning vehicles, witnesses said.

''People were running and screaming. I don't know who knocked me down but someone ran into me. My legs were on fire,'' said Mohammed Ashraf, who, like many of the victims, suffered burn injuries.

In Muridke, the bomb was apparently hidden beneath a horse-drawn cart in the middle of a bazaar selling secondhand clothing and household goods, said Jan Mohammed, 40.

Mohammed, who suffered burns to his face and legs, said he was knocked unconscious and awoke in a Lahore hospital. ''I don't remember anything after hearing a loud noise,'' he said.

Muridke is also the headquarters of one of the larger Kashmiri militant groups, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

Police said there was no immediate connection between the explosion and the militant group, but an investigation was underway.

There have been a series of bomb explosions in major cities throughout Pakistan in recent months, causing dozens of casualties.

Pakistan routinely blames the explosions, particularly in eastern Punjab province, on uneasy neighbor India. In turn, India accuses Pakistan of fomenting violence on its territory, specifically its violence-wracked Jammu-Kashmir state.

Both countries deny the charges.

-------- russia

U.S. Urges Russia to Fulfill Arms Commitments

New York Times
November 27, 2000
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/osce.html

VIENNA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The United States called on Russia on Monday to fulfil pledges it made a year ago to allow an international mission into Chechnya, withdraw troops from Moldova and Georgia and implement cuts in conventional forces.

Speaking at a meeting in Vienna of foreign ministers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said it was tragic that key issues still remained unresolved.

OSCE heads of government meeting in Istanbul last November called for a political settlement in Chechnya with international help. Despite Russia's pledges, an OSCE ``Assistance Group'' has still not returned to the troubled region.

``The OSCE can play a valuable role on the ground in Chechnya,'' Albright told the 55-nation security and human rights watchdog. ``I call upon the Russian government to agree to an early date for the group's return.''

Other western foreign ministers echoed Albright's remarks,

Germany's Joschka Fischer saying: ``In Istanbul a year ago we agreed that a political solution was essential, and with the help of the OSCE. What we agreed at that time needs to be translated into practice.''

Diplomats said Russia, which regards Chechnya as an internal affair, was adopting a tough stance at the OSCE meeting which could prevent agreement on a final declaration. It was insisting on softer wording on Chechnya and demanding new language on fighting terrorism.

At last year's Istanbul summit, leaders adopted a landmark charter proclaiming that conflicts in one state are the legitimate concern of all.

They also signed a major new arms control treaty for Europe, updating limits on armed forces and heavy equipment set in the dying days of the Cold War in 1990.

Albright said the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) arms control treaty had been made possible in part because of important commitments undertaken by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and reaffirmed by President Vladimir Putin.

``But these agreements were reached almost a year ago,'' she said. ``I call upon the Russian Federation to end the stalemate on withdrawal from Moldova by beginning to remove arms and equipment in accordance with the Istanbul timeline.

``Likewise, the United States looks for continued progress on Russian withdrawal from Georgia, including completion of the first phase of equipment withdrawal by year's end, and the closure of specific military bases by the middle of next year.''

``Finally, we call upon Russia to reduce equipment levels in the CFE flank region in accordance with President Putin's assurances. This is imperative if we are to achieve our shared goal of bringing the adapted CFE Treaty into force.''

IVANOV REJECTS LECTURING

Russia withdrew its forces in humiliation after the first Chechen conflict in 1994-96, but sent its troops back in just over a year ago, pledging to crush separatists.

It has established nominal control over the region but its troops regularly fall prey to ambushes. At least 2,500 Russian servicemen have died in the campaign. The number of casualties among rebels and civilians is unknown.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov did not directly respond to Albright's comments in his opening address, but expressed concern about a trend among western OSCE countries to do little more than lecture eastern European countries.

``A trend has appeared...to reduce the OSCE to considering only humanitarian and human rights issues and solely and exclusively in the eastern part of the euro-Atlantic area,'' Ivanov said.

``History has shown that any attempts to impose certain patterns on any state from outside are doomed to failure.''

Diplomats said Russia wanted more emphasis on other areas of OSCE activity, such as security and economic cooperation. ``Historically they view it as a security organisation which provides stability,'' a western diplomat said.

The OSCE groups the United States, Canada and all European countries. The two-day gathering of OSCE foreign ministers was expected to be dominated by Yugoslavia.

Yugoslavia's new President Vojislav Kostunica attended Monday's opening session and signed several key OSCE documents, marking his country's readmission to the organisation eight years after it was suspended because of the Bosnia conflict.

Ministers were due to agree a final declaration on a range of political issues and sign accords on the control of small arms and light weapons, protecting children from armed conflict and trafficking in human beings.

-------- switzerland

Swiss Stand by the Army, Rejecting Spending Cuts

New York Times
November 27, 2000
By ELIZABETH OLSON
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/27/world/27SWIS.html

GENEVA, Nov. 26 - Swiss voters strongly backed the country's citizen army today, rebuffing a proposal to cut military spending and divert the money to social causes.

They voted almost 2 to 1 to keep the country's military system intact. The results mirrored the last vote on the issue in 1989, as the cold war was ending, when two-thirds of voters rejected the more radical step of abolishing the army altogether.

The initiative proposed cutting the $3 billion military budget by one- third on the ground that the country's traditional neutrality does not require large reserve forces and costly, sophisticated weaponry.

The cost-cutters urged spending the money on promoting international peace and providing aid to the needy. The government, which has set in motion its own plan to trim back the army, vigorously campaigned against the proposal.

The defeated measure is part of a wider debate on the vast size of the Swiss Army - 360,000 militia soldiers in a country of only seven million - and its role since Communism crumbled in nearby nations. Clinging to neutrality, Switzerland has declined to join NATO, but has taken part in its so-called Partnership for Peace exercises in Eastern Europe.

The wars in the Balkans brought the region's instability to Switzerland's doorstep with two large waves of refugees from Bosnia and Kosovo.

Adolf Ogi, the federal defense minister and the current president, contends that military cutbacks now are dangerous and undermine Switzerland's future military readiness. "The truth is that many conflict areas today are closer than our vacation destinations," he said.

---

Swiss reject attempt to cut back army

Washington Times
November 27, 2000
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://208.246.212.80/world/worldscene-20001127212526.htm

GENEVA - Swiss voters pledged resounding support to their citizen army yesterday, throwing out a left-of-center attempt to slash military spending in the neutral Alpine nation.

"The people want an army, a real army," said President Adolf Ogi, who also is the country's defense minister. "The people don't want half measures, either with the army or national security policy."

Some 1.1 million voters, or 62 percent, rejected the proposal to cut military spending and use the funds for social programs. Only 722,797 persons, or nearly 38 percent, voted in favor.

-------- u.s.

Charges expected soon in Cole bombing

Washington Times
November 27, 2000
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://208.246.212.80/world/worldscene-20001127212526.htm

ADEN, Yemen - Yemeni investigators are ready to charge at least two persons in the terrorist attack on the USS Cole, a source said yesterday, six weeks after an explosion tore through the warship as it sat in Aden's harbor and killed 17 U.S. sailors.

Charges are expected to be filed as soon as this week against the two suspects, the source said. They could be sentenced to death if convicted.

In addition to those killed, 39 sailors were injured Oct. 12, when two suicide bombers steered a small boat laden with explosives alongside the Cole and detonated it while the destroyer was refueling. U.S. and Yemeni officials have said the attack appeared to be a carefully planned, well-financed operation, and the bomb materials were expertly prepared.

---

USA Today
11/27/00
States
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm

Alabama

Huntsville - The taped voice of a World War II veteran tells how he buried the pilot of his crashed B-24 bomber. The emotional recollection is an example of what the Veterans Memorial Museum will share with visitors when it opens next spring in Huntsville's John Hunt Park. Museum planners are collecting such recordings along with war memorabilia.

D.C.

The business district near the Washington Navy Yard is beginning to benefit from a $47 million re-investment. The federal government is moving 5,000 workers to the military base under the Barracks Row-Main Street project. Street and sidewalk resurfacing and new lighting fixtures aim to attract small retailers and restaurateurs to the five-block strip on the Anacostia River.

-------- OTHER

-------- environment

Udalls inherit environmental mantle

Washington Times
November 27, 2000
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://208.246.212.80/national/nobyline-20001127222749.htm

When Rep. Bruce F. Vento died last month, environmentalists lost a key ally, and they fretted about who in the House would carry on his legacy of conservation.

The answer may come from the same family that produced Mr. Vento's environmental mentor.

A generation ago, when Mr. Vento was a freshman Democrat from Minnesota, he followed the lead of Rep. Morris K. "Mo" Udall, chairman of the House Interior Committee. Mr. Vento went on to become a leader in his own right, shepherding hundreds of environmental protection measures through the House.

Now that Mr. Vento is gone, some in the environmental community are looking to Mr. Udall's son and nephew, both of whom have strong environmentalist backgrounds and won second terms this month, to carry on Mr. Vento's work.

"There is a generational connection from Mo to the next generation of Udalls, and in a way Bruce is kind of the link between the two," Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said.

Mo Udall, an Arizona Democrat who served from 1961-91 and ran unsuccessfully for president in 1976, was a forceful voice on environmental issues, helping to protect millions of acres of wilderness from development. He died in 1998.

"He was the one House member who Bruce has consistently quoted," said Larry Romans, Mr. Vento's longtime chief of staff. "He was someone that Bruce loved and respected. He felt very good when Mo's son and nephew were elected and went out of his way to work with them on the Resources Committee because he felt they would carry on the tradition."

Mr. Udall's son Mark, Colorado Democrat, and nephew Tom, New Mexico Democrat, served with Mr. Vento on the Resources Committee's subcommittee on national parks and public lands. Tom Udall is the son of Stewart Udall, who was a congressman before he became President Kennedy's interior secretary in 1961.

"The Udall cousins are the ones that we'll be looking to," said Bill Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society. "Neither has the experience or the time in Congress that Bruce had, but both are extraordinary leaders, and, in the short time they've been in Congress, they've demonstrated a real interest in conservation."

David Conrad, a water resources specialist with the National Wildlife Federation, said that, while the Udalls "have run on their family's heritage of dedication to the nation's public land," it will be a while before either matches Mr. Vento's level of activity.

The Udall cousins agreed it will take time for them to have the same kind of influence as Mr. Vento.

"In my office, I have a pair of size-15 Nikes that belonged to my dad," said Mark Udall, 50, who wears size 11. "It's probably impossible to fill my father's shoes, and the same thing applies to Bruce. I'm a junior member of the House, so it will take a number of us to pick up and shoulder the load that Bruce was carrying."

Mark Udall said Mr. Vento taught him "to stand your ground, to disagree on the issues without being disagreeable."

"Bruce got very passionate, but it never became personal. He also marshaled his facts very well," Mark Udall said.

Mr. Vento's environmental priorities included money for national parks, banning oil drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and preserving tropical rain forests. He also took an interest in homeless issues.

It isn't just the family tradition that makes the Udalls good candidates to carry on Mr. Vento's work, Mr. Babbitt said. Both also share Mr. Vento's personal connection to the environment - Mr. Vento was a science teacher who spent lots of time in parks.

Mark Udall directed the Colorado Outward Bound School before being elected to Congress, while Tom Udall worked on several environmental organizations in New Mexico.

Since they've joined Congress, Mark Udall has focused on growth and urban sprawl, wilderness protection and reducing the threat of forest fires. Tom Udall worked to win passage this year for the Conservation and Restoration Act and funding for preserving the 95,000-acre Baca Ranch, and has opposed the Snake River dams in the Northwest.

Tom Udall, 52, recalled working with Mr. Vento on the Conservation and Restoration Act, which sets aside federal money to buy public lands to create new urban parks, protect wildlife and restore eroded beaches.

"It's probably the last big national piece of legislation that he really put his heart into," Tom Udall said. "In that process, I saw how good he was at defusing conflicts and helping people reach consensus."

---

USA Today
11/27/00
States
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm

Mississippi

Biloxi - Environmentalists are criticizing local governments for hiring a Washington, D.C., law firm to look out for development interests while the federal government completes a study on coastal wetlands protection. The conclusion of the study, which could take two or more years, is expected to be a watershed for the Coast's environment and development, which have frequently been at odds since the start of a boom ushered in by legalized gambling.

-------- imf / world bank

Demand World Bank Assume Responsibility For Sardar Sarovar Project

Ravi Khanna <oneworld@igc.org>
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 19:47:51 -0800
Reply-to: oneworld@igc.org

Demand World Bank Assume Responsibility For Sardar Sarovar Project
Susanne Wong, International Rivers Network ~ Nov. 25

URGENT! Sign-on Letter to World Bank on Sardar Sarovar Endorsements Needed by Friday - December 1, 2000!

We urge you to endorse the letter below demanding that the World Bank assume responsibility for its role in the destructive Sardar Sarovar Project in India. This project will displace at least 320,000 people and destroy the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands more. On October 18, the Indian Supreme Court authorized renewed construction on the project despite the fact that there is no land available for resettlement and no resettlement plans or comprehensive environmental impact assessments have been completed.

Although the World Bank withdrew from the project in 1993, the Bank is still legally obligated to make sure the Indian government complies with the conditions of the original loan agreements. These conditions require that a proper resettlement plan and environmental impact assessment are carried out. The Bank approved the project in 1985 despite glaring violations of its own guidelines and dispersed $280 million before cancelling its loan.

Please send your endorsement

BY FRIDAY, DEC. 1

to swong@irn.org. We encourage you to circulate this letter to your friends and colleagues for their endorsement.

Best wishes, Susanne Wong International Rivers Network

Letter Calling On World Bank To Assume Responsibility For Sardar Sarovar Project

November 20, 2000 Mr. James Wolfensohn, President The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433

Subject: World Bank's Responsibility for Sardar Sarovar Project

Dear Mr. Wolfensohn,

We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to point out the continuing plight of people affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) and to call on the Bank to assume its responsibility to the people of the Narmada valley. The World Bank has failed to ensure that the Indian government has met its obligations under its loan agreement for SSP. Therefore, we demand that the Bank suspend all further disbursements and approvals for new loans for the Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra state governments until the Bank has ensured that the conditions of the loan have been met. As a first step, we urge the Bank to initiate consultations with the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement), as promised in your meeting with people from the Narmada Valley in Delhi on November 13. As you are aware, the Indian Supreme Court recently authorized continued construction of SSP despite major unresolved issues on resettlement, the environment and the project's costs and benefits.

The Government of India is still legally obligated to meet the terms and conditions in its loan and credit agreements with the Bank on SSP despite the Bank's withdrawal from the project in 1993 (refer to Memo from Ibrahim F.I. Shihata to D.J. Wood, March 30, 1993). These obligations were reiterated in India Country Director Edwin R. Lim's November 19, 1999 letter to Both Ends and International Rivers Network where he stated that "the Bank has in the past and will continue to urge the Government of India to meet its obligations regarding the people affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project." The problems that plagued the project before the cancellation of the Bank's loan remain unresolved. The Bank approved its $450 million loan for the project in 1985 despite glaring violations of its own guidelines concerning resettlement and the environment. According to the Bank-sponsored Morse Report, "In 1985, when the credit and loan agreement were signed, no basis for designing, implementing, and assessing resettlement and rehabilitation was in place." The Bank approved the loan without knowing how many people would be displaced or consulting affected people. Even to this day, no credible resettlement plan exists and no survey has been completed for villages affected by the reservoir's backwaters.

To make matters worse, government officials, including the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, have stated that there is no land available for resettlement in Madhya Pradesh or Maharashtra. Villages that have been resettled have been scattered among different resettlement sites in blatant violation of the 1979 Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award and the Bank's loan and credit agreements.

The rights of people affected by the project for reasons other than submergence continue to be violated and ignored by project authorities. People who will lose land or livelihood due to the project's irrigation canal, compensatory afforestation, wildlife sanctuary, construction colony and other dam-related infrastructure are not currently entitled to rehabilitation. People affected by the construction colony have yet to be resettled even though the need to resettle them was recognized in the Bank's 1985 Staff Appraisal Report. Canal-affected people have not received proper compensation packages as stipulated in Bank conditions issued after the Morse report was published.

Furthermore, no environmental impact assessment has ever been produced for SSP. The Bank approved its credit and loan for SSP despite the lack of a comprehensive environmental assessment and the fact that the environmental clearance required under Indian law had not been granted.

Further construction of the Sardar Sarovar Project will have grave consequences. The Bank has already accepted its responsibility to ensure that its loan agreements are complied with. We call on the World Bank to turn its words into action and ensure that the Government of India meets its obligations to the people affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project. The Bank should begin this process by immediately initiating consultations with the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Until these conditions have been met, the Bank should suspend all further disbursements and approvals of new loans for Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Sincerely,
NAME, GROUP, COUNTRY
END

Read more on the Sardar Sarovar Project by visiting http://www.1worldcommunication.org

Ravi Khanna, Director 1world communication P. O. Box 2476 Amherst, MA 01004 Phone: 413-323-7629 Cell: 413-530-9640 Fax: 413-530-9640 E-mail: oneworld@igc.org Web-site: http://www.1worldcommunication.org Signup to join 1world list. Get updates and participate in discussions. Send a blank e-mail to: 1worldcommunication-subscribe@topica.com

---

Argentina and the I.M.F.

New York Times
November 27, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/27/opinion/L27ARG.html

To the Editor:

Paul Krugman, in his Nov. 22 column, "Shadow of Debt," rightly cites Argentina's currency board as the source of the country's economic malaise. Tying the peso to the strong American dollar, the board imported the Federal Reserve's dollar deflation and now has sky-high unemployment and interest rates.

The currency board did end Argentina's hyperinflation when the price of gold was stable at roughly $350 an ounce, between 1985 and 1997 - but as gold has fallen, the peso and Argentina's economy have deflated. In response, the International Monetary Fund gave Argentina a loan but required it to raise taxes, putting the country deeper into the ditch. Now the I.M.F. is back with another loan and more austerity.

Mr. Krugman notes that fans of the currency board say it is the "next best thing" to a gold standard. Indeed, Argentina would be much better off if it dissolved the board, rolled back the tax increases and pegged the peso to gold. It would soon have the strongest economy in Latin America, instead of being a crippled ward of the I.M.F.

JUDE WANNISKI
Morristown, N.J., Nov. 22, 2000
The writer is an economist.

---

Dollar for Salvador

Washington Times
November 27, 2000
Embassy Row
James Morrison
News and dispatches from the diplomatic corridor.

The International Monetary Fund is pleased that El Salvador has joined Panama and Ecuador in adopting the U.S. dollar as its legal currency.

The move is part of El Salvador's plan to strengthen its economy, President Francisco Flores said last week when he announced the move.

IMF Managing Director Horst Kohlet said the plan, "if accompanied by the proposed fiscal measures, would build on El Salvador's solid track record of economic reforms and promote rapid economic growth."

-------- police

New York Times
November 27, 2000
Metro Briefs
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/27/nyregion/27MBRF.html

NEW JERSEY

TRENTON: PROFILING REPORT RELEASE More than 90,000 pages of New Jersey state police records dealing with racial profiling will be released today, the state attorney general's office said. The documents will be made available for the public to read and photocopy in an office in the state justice complex, said Roger Shatzkin, a spokesman for the attorney general, John J. Farmer Jr. They will also be sold as a set of 17 CD-ROM's for $1,000, Mr. Shatzkin said. Andy Newman (NYT)

---

N.J. papers: More minorities searched

USA Today
11/27/00- Updated 03:38 PM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/ndsmon06.htm

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Nearly 100,000 pages of documents made public Monday show that New Jersey state troopers stopped overwhelmingly disproportionate numbers of minorities in searches for drugs, the state's attorney general says.

However, no evidence has been found that New Jersey worked to hide evidence that troopers searched minority motorists based solely on the color of their skin, he said.

The records were made available Monday at a reading room in the state's Hughes Justice Complex. New Jersey is committed to ending racial profiling, Gov. Christie Whitman said in a statement Monday.

''While racial profiling did not begin in this state or under this administration, history will show that the end of racial profiling in American did indeed begin in New Jersey and under this administration,'' Whitman said.

The documents were expected to show that for more than a decade state leaders knew about the large numbers of minorities being searched and tried to balance that knowledge against legal drug-busting strategies - some of which received the blessing of the White House.

''Seven out of every 10 minority drivers (whose cars were searched) ... there was nothing there. From a social policy point of view, that's a disaster,'' Attorney General John J. Farmer Jr. told The Associated Press on Sunday. ''Did we do enough soon enough? The answer is no or we wouldn't be here today.''

In an April 1999 report, former Attorney General Peter Verniero admitted minorities were targeted. That came a year after gunshots from two troopers wounded three minority men during a traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike and sparked a furor over racial profiling.

But according to the new documents, Verniero and his predecessors were aware for more than 10 years that minority drivers on the turnpike were being stopped and searched more than whites.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said police can use race as a factor in motor vehicle stops, Farmer said. The Justice Department included race in profiles of traffickers said to be using the turnpike as a drug pipeline, he said.

''What you'll see is an agency and a department struggling with these uncertainties,'' he said. ''There was no overarching conspiracy to cover this up. There was an attempt to understand it. There was an attempt to put it into context.

''My hope is by getting all of this out, the people will understand, will see the whole picture,'' he said.

The attorney general announced in September his decision to release the records after months of fighting in court to block their release.

Defense attorneys claimed the records would prove biased troopers tainted hundreds of arrests.

Farmer said at the time he wanted to make the files available ''outside the context of litigation.''

State police memos from 1990 will show that former Attorney General Robert Del Tufo and then state police superintendent Col. Justin Dintino saw reports showing overwhelming numbers of minorities were targeted, Farmer said.

An order to the troopers from Dintino demanded a halt to that, another record being made public shows, Farmer said.

''They were tremendously ahead of their time,'' Farmer said. After an internal investigation, four troopers were indicted and 20 others were fired, he said.

This month, federal prosecutors agreed to pursue possible criminal charges against the two troopers involved in the 1998 turnpike shooting.

That followed dismissal of charges against the troopers by a state judge, whose ruling accused prosecutors of misconduct and a former state attorney general of bowing to political pressure.

-------- spying

Former Japanese Naval Officer Admits to Spying for Russia

Reuters
November 27, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/crime-japan-spy.html

TOKYO, Nov. 27 - A former Japanese naval officer admitted in court on Monday that he had sold defense secrets to a Russian military attache in Japan's most sensational espionage case in two decades.

The trial opened just a day before Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev is due in Tokyo for a regular visit.

``(The charges) are all true. I apologise for putting Japan's national security in jeopardy,'' public broadcaster NHK quoted Shigehiro Hagisaki, a 38-year-old former lieutenant-commander in the Maritime Self-Defence Force, or navy, as telling a court hearing.

``I passed defence secrets out of a selfish ambition to emerge as a distinguished Russian expert,'' Kyodo news agency quoted him as telling the Tokyo District Court.

In Japan's biggest spy scandal in 20 years, Hagisaki was arrested in September for allegedly giving classified information to a military attache at the Russian embassy.

It was the most high-profile case since a military attache at the Soviet Embassy in Japan obtained copies of a military monthly bulletin and official telegrams related to the Foreign Ministry through a Japanese major-general in 1980.

Hagisaki has been charged with violating the Self-Defence Forces Law, which prohibits members from divulging classified security information.

The case has caused sensation, splashed across front pages and receiving saturation television and radio coverage.

PILES OF DOCUMENTS

Sources involved in the investigation have said police found a pile of military documents in Hagisaki's home and some were even related to U.S. navy operations in the Far East.

In addition to receiving money, Hagisaki was wined and dined at swanky Tokyo restaurants by Russian military attache Captain Victor Bogatenkov.

In the year since September last year, Hagisaki met the Russian diplomat more than 10 times, and from around March, received about 100,000 yen ($899.6) each time in exchange for internal documents, Kyodo quoted investigators as saying.

Domestic media have speculated that Hagisaki may have been motivated to sell the military secrets because he needed money to pay the medical bills for his terminally ill son.

Hagisaki also reportedly received information in return on the Russian military and was told by Bogatenkov that the intelligence was valuable. In fact it had all been disclosed.

The Russian diplomat returned to Moscow on September 9, one day after Higasaki's arrest, claiming diplomatic immunity and refusing to answer police questions.

In September, the Defence Agency said it was considering revising the law covering military espioinage because it is currently among the most lenient in the world.

Under current law, those convicted of leaking confidential military information face a maximum of just one year in prison or fines of up to 30,000 yen ($269.9). The United States, France, Russia and China have a maximum penalty of death for espionage.

Hagisaki was given a dishonourable discharge in October and 51 other Defence Agency and military officials received disciplinary punishments, such as pay cuts.

The Tokyo District Court hearing began a day before Russian Defence Minister Sergeyev arrives in Tokyo for a three-day visit.

A decades-old territorial dispute lies between Japan and Russia and has prevented the two sides from signing of a peace treaty to put a formal end to World War Two.

The two countries have set a self-imposed target of clinching a peace treaty by the end of 2000, but that deadline now seems almost impossible to meet.

---

Spy Trial to Start for Five Accused of Aiding Cuba

New York Times
November 27, 2000
National News Briefs
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/27/national/27NATI.html

MIAMI, Nov. 26 (AP) - Jury selection begins on Monday in the case of five people accused of spying for the Cuban government by trying to infiltrate exile groups and the United States military.

The five are Miami-area residents arrested in South Florida in 1998.

In all, 14 people were accused of plotting to infiltrate Miami exile groups and gather intelligence from military installations. Five pleaded guilty and received sentences of up to seven years. Four are fugitives believed to be in Cuba.

One of the five on trial, Gerardo Hernández, is also charged with conspiring to commit murder for allegedly giving the Cuban authorities the flight plan of two planes of Brothers to the Rescue, an exile group that patrols the sea between Florida and Cuba looking for refugees. The planes were shot down by Cuban warplanes on Feb. 24, 1996, and four men died.

The judge has ordered lawyers on both sides not to talk about the case. But in court records, prosecutors say the crimes the defendants are charged with were "hardly acts of short-lived or spontaneous vigilantism to thwart terrorism."

-------- activists

Copwatch Update - Date Change!

Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 01:53:43 -0500
From: Monica Gutierrez <monicl@bellatlantic.net>

Greetings All -

I know there's currently much happening on various activist fronts, so I want to make sure y'all don 't forget about the DC Copwatch pre-meeting planning session this week. Due to another event many of us want to attend, we've changed the day/time of our meeting to Thursday, November 30 - 5:30PM at 1640 Hobart St, NW. Please come out and help us plan for the big meeting in December. We need your input/ideas/energy...

See you Thursday... ~ Monica Gutierrez

---

The Demonstrators: Labor Unions Take to Florida Streets, Rallying for Gore

New York Times
November 27, 2000
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/27/politics/27PROT.html

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Nov. 26 - Finally, Al Gore's friends showed up.

After ceding the rallying and protesting to the Republicans for more than two weeks, the vice president's organized labor base gathered its troops today, filling the State Capitol plaza here with more than 200 cheering, chanting demonstrators, signaling a shift in the public relations battle over the presidential race.

Since the recounting began, Republicans have dominated the rallies on the streets, with their placards and slogans. And their protests, occasionally unruly, as in Miami last week, have been important to the Republican strategy of portraying the manual recounts as scenes of confusion and chaos. The Democrats had chosen to portray the Florida recounts as calm, methodical civic rituals.

That changed today, as the recounts wound down for the 5 p.m. deadline. Organized labor turned out its street soldiers for simultaneous protests this afternoon in Miami, West Palm Beach and here, in the Capitol plaza.

Marilyn P. Lenard, Florida's A.F.L.-C.I.O. president, who called the protests, said she had grown weary of turning on the television and seeing only all those "Sore-Loserman" placards. Sure, she said, she had considered something dignified and quiet, like the silent vigil her group had organized on the night of the Florida Supreme Court's decision last week. But that just got drowned out by the noisemakers from the other side.

"The Bush people were yelling and screaming and chanting," Ms. Lenard said hoarsely, popping a throat lozenge into her mouth. "We decided we needed to get out and express ourselves."

And express themselves they did.

"Help me, Daddy Bush," Paul Vasquez, Florida field director for the A.F.L.-C.I.O., shouted through a bullhorn.

"I need you, Daddy," someone yelped back. "Oh, Daddy!"

A Gore campaign spokesman, Doug Hattaway, said the protesters were independent of the campaign and the party. "We're happy they're here," he said simply.

They also maintained that the stream of former and present Democratic lawmakers who are descending on Florida - Harold E. Ford Jr., George J. Mitchell, Charles E. Rangel - also did so without any prompting. A Democratic party spokeswoman, Jenny Backus, said two fellow Florida Democrats, Senator-elect Bill Nelson and Senator Bob Graham, had called today volunteering to put together a news conference in Tallahassee this afternoon.

"There is entering into this so much shrillness, so much excessive partisanship," Mr. Nelson said. Ms. Backus had to repeatedly shut the door to the senate conference room to keep out the noise from outside.

By the time the motley stream of teamsters and bakers and farm workers marched up to the Capitol plaza at midday, supporters of Gov. George W. Bush of Texas were already there in force.

"They just don't know how to count," snarled Peggy Park, 62, a Republican who made the three-hour drive this morning from Clermont. "They're very illiterate."

Of course, no pageantry in front of the Capitol today would be complete without odes to and attacks on Katherine Harris, the Florida secretary of state.

"Recuse Yourself Katherine Harris," one placard proclaimed.

"Katherine Harris - Ignore Court, Certify 1st Count," another advised.

The loud garble of competing chants were barely distinguishable.

"No more Bush," one seemed to be saying.

"No more Gore," went the other.

It sometimes seemed as though competing protesters were screaming, "No more Gush."

For all those Naderites who had said there was no real difference between Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush, this seemed to be their moment.

Shortly after 7 p.m. came the day's climax, as Ms. Harris read the results of the Florida vote in the cabinet meeting room in the basement of the Capitol. The instant she announced Mr. Gore's vote total - 537 fewer than Mr. Bush - hundreds of Bush loyalists who crowded by the door of the room exploded in cheers and wild applause. Ms. Harris hesitated for a moment, looking to the rear of the room as if taken aback.

Outside, their counterparts erupted in hoots, waving American flags.

The Democrats slowly spilled out of the plaza. The lawyers would take over again in the morning, with their contests.

---

American Indian victims celebrate

USA Today
11/27/00- Updated 03:36 PM ET
http://usatoday.com/news/ndsmon04.htm

DENVER (AP) - Kahyo Magpie climbed atop a statue of a Civil War soldier at the end of the four-day Sand Creek Massacre Healing Run, claiming a symbolic victory.

''It's a good day to die,'' shouted about 100 Cheyenne descendants of massacre survivors in their native tongue as some pounded drums.

They had reason to celebrate the end of the second annual 187-mile run.

On Nov. 7, President Clinton signed a bill creating the Sand Creek National Historic Site.

To American Indians, Sand Creek was the My Lai of the 19th century. But most Americans have never heard of it.

On Nov. 29, 1864, a cavalry unit led by Col. John M. Chivington launched an unprovoked raid on a sleeping Indian village, killing more than 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho, mostly women, children and elderly men.

The private parts of some of the victims were paraded through Denver, whose panicky residents had feared the Confederate army was inciting Indians to attack settlers.

Congress condemned the attack a year later and promised reparations, but none came.

Twelve years of war followed on the plains, culminating in Custer's defeat at Little Big Horn.

Last summer, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., a descendent of massacre victims, introduced a bill to create the site.

It will be the first national historic site commemorating one of the half-dozen massacres that occurred during settlement of the West.

Participants in the run, which began where the killings occurred, gathered on the steps of the Capitol Sunday, singing tribal songs, praying and listening to speeches by their elders.

Chief Lee Lone Bear said the attack is as fresh in the minds of his people as Pearl Harbor is to World War II veterans.

''Indian people grow up in the stories of their parents and their grandparents. To the Cheyenne people the Sand Creek Massacre is as if it happened to their grandparents.

Those people who were murdered were their grandparents.''

''We started our spiritual run so people will never forget, and so we can have healing for all races,'' said Lone Bear, a descendant of two chiefs killed at Sand Creek.

Bill Dawson, the rancher on whose land much of the massacre occurred, joined in the celebration. ''I'm sad because I raised a family on that land, but it is good that the National Park Service is going to take it over so people can learn what happened there.''

David Halaas, Colorado state historian, said a memorial will also go up next year next to the Civil War statue. Some had wanted to remove Chivington's name and a reference to Sand Creek from the existing memorial.

''You cannot erase history,'' Halaas said. ''We will put up a marker next to it that tells the truth about Sand Creek.''

------- Onelist (submissions from subscribers)