Aiken Standard (Newspaper) - March 18, 1998, Aiken, South Carolina A I K E N Page Two From the Associated Press Page 2A Wednesday March 18 1998 Aiken South Carolina Israel Palestinians tentatively agree to new peace talks UNITED NATIONS In a move that could rekindle Mideast peace talks Israel and the Palestinians have tentatively agreed to meet under Swiss auspices to discuss Israeli settle ments in the West Bank officials said Tuesday European and Arab UN delegates downplayed that initiative and passed a General Assembly resolution calling for a meeting with wider inter national representation a move immediately attacked by the United States which backs the Swiss proposal Israeli UN Ambas sador Dore Gold told The Associated Press that Israel considered the Swiss proposal pragmatic and was ready to go ahead Palestinian observer Nasser said his people were ready to cooperate with Switzerland but preferred a UN General Assembly resolu tion that called for a meeting of all signatory nations to the Geneva Convention which bans the usurpation of land by an occupying power Experts Saddam can not be indicted UNITED NATIONS limits on a proposed permanent international tribunal probably would block some of the United States own goals for the court includ ing a trial for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein human rights groups say Experts from more than 150 countries started a session this week to prepare for an international confer ence in Rome in June That conference will draft a treaty to establish the worlds first standing international Hussein criminal court to try cases of genocide war crimes and crimes against humanity when national courts cannot or will not do the job Cambodian prince sentenced in plot PENH Cambodia A military court found deposed Prince Norodom guilty in absentia today of conspiring with Khmer Rouge guerrillas to overthrow the gov and sentenced him to 30 years in prison has been in exile since he was oust ed in a July coup by his rival coprime minister Hun Sen The trial was both an attempt by Hun Sen to discredit his former colleague and part of a diplomatic effort to allow to return to Cambodia to contest elections July 26 But diplomats feared that an unexpected million fine leveled by the judge against dh and three codefendants could become a stum bling block to the princes return Pinochet astonished by impeachment VALPARAISO Chile Former dictator Augusto Pinochet said he has been hurt and astonished by lawmakers attempts to dump him from his new position as He said Tuesday that he expected the effort to impeach him would fail Pinochet was sworn as a senator a week ago prompting protests in several cities and reminders from his fellow senators of the mas sive violations committed during 197390 dictatorship According to official figures more than 3000 people were killed for political reasons during rule Snowfall blankets Jerusalem JERUSALEM A heavy layer of snow coated palm trees mosque domes and church spires today as Jerusalem which doesnt even own a snowplow came to a standstill Several inches of snow covered this city and many in northern Israel paralyzing public transportation closing schools and forcing can of a Cabinet meeting The citys usually bustling streets were eerily hushed as most people heeded advisories not to Lewinsky friend faces jury WASHINGTON As new details emerge about Kathleen Willey Whitewater prosecutors are turning back to Monica Lewinsky in their investigation of possible obstruction of justice and perjury involving President Clinton A friend of Ms Lewinsky Catherine Allday Davis testified nearly the entire day Tuesday before a grand jury in dent Counsel Kenneth Starrs criminal investigation of Clinton Catherine has been a close friend of since college and still considers herself to be a very close friend said her lawyer James Bensfield Ms Davis 24 the same age as Ms Lewinsky and a classmate at Lewis and Clark College in Port land Ore is the latest tance of the former White House intern to be questioned by Starrs prosecutors In the past two months Starr has summoned other people who knew Ms Lewinsky including a friend from California Neysa A Erbland 24 and White House staffer Ashley Raines Ms Lewin sky reportedly confided in both women about her alleged sexual relationship with the president A former lover of Ms Lewin skys Andy Bleiler also has pro vided prosecutors with informa tion about a relationship between Ms Lewinsky and a man she referred to only as a high White House official In addition to Ms Davis White White House diarist Ellen McCathran and her attorney Jef frey Jacobovitz leave federal court Tuesday after the staffer testified before the grand jury House diarist Ellen McCathran testified for about 30 minutes before the federal grand jury Ms McCathran organizes presiden tial papers for archival purposes and works in the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House Monica Lewinsky did not show up on the logs said her lawyer Jeffrey Jacobovitz How ever he said not every presiden tial meeting is recorded While the grand jury focused on matters pertaining to Ms Lewin sky new information came out about Mrs Willey who has been the focus of attention since her Sunday night 60 Minutes inter view on CBS in which she said Clinton made a crude sexual advance in 1993 A publisher said that Mrs Wil ley struggling financially since her husbands death was seeking a book deal for her auto biography before she went on national television A kinder gentler IRS proposed WASHINGTON Imagine an IRS where the workers are rewarded on how quickly and fairly they resolve your tax prob lems Or a tax collection agency thats reorganized so any run around burden is on the IRS and not on the customer Those are among the 200 propos als to improve IRS customer service in a report Vice Pres ident Al Gore plans to unveil today The plan the result of a 10 month study would give Inter nal Revenue Ser vice field execu tives authority to issue emergency tax refunds in hard ship cases And it envisions new technolo gy to route taxpayers telephone calls so theyll be answered faster and more accurately We must have an IRS that is on the taxpayers side providing the help they need said the report obtained by The Associated Press We know we have a long way to go But the good news is that the reform of the IRS has begun Gore Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and IRS Commis Charles Rossotti were releasing the report at the White House this afternoon The 92page report says IRS existing budget can cover many improvements but others will require new money Work on the report had already begun last fall when the Senate Finance Committee conducted riveting hearings about IRS abus es of taxpayer rights The report was prepared as part of Gores reinventing government cam The authors picked the brains of frontline IRS workers and tax payers on how to improve service at one of the governments least popular agencies House says defense funds must be matched by cuts Gore WASHINGTON House Republican leaders have decided that additional spending to pay for missions in Bosnia and the Persian Gulf must be fully paid for by cutting domestic programs That agreement came as a key Senate committee approved with conditions billion to keep troops in Bosnia past June and to maintain US troops in the Gulf on full alert The Senate Appropriations Committee also endorsed by an identical 262 vote an 18 billion package for the International Monetary Fund That legisla tion which also came with con ditions is considered essential to IMF efforts to rescue the fal tering economies of Asia In the House GOP leaders resolved that any extra spending for Bosnia and the Gulf this year must be matched with similar spending cuts so there is no effect on the budget The leadership unanimously agreed the spending would be paid for and the cuts would not come out of defense Majority Leader Dick Armey said Republicans in choosing pro grams for spending reductions are likely to target Democratic and White House priorities setting the stage for sharp clashes as Con gress tries to craft future budgets The defense urges Presi dent Clinton to pressure US allies to cover more of the costs of the Iraq effort Kennedy Mississippi files offer a treasure trove of innuendo JACKSON Miss After the disappearance of three civil rights workers during Freedom Summer local lawmen complained the states segregationist Sovereignty Commis sion of being elbowed out of the investigation by FBI agents who considered them suspects A sheriff who is for ever linked to the mur ders of the three young men even confided to commission investiga tors that he expected to be arrested The revelations were included in more than 132000 previously secret files made public Tues day under federal court order In its heyday the investigators and snitches flooded the commission with every con tidbit of fact and fiction on groups and individuals they considered communists or threats to white rule Disputed Kennedy items go on sale NEW YORK Lawyers for the children of John F Kennedy made pleas to stop the sale of memorabilia that included the late presidents journals and letters to his wife Caroline Kennedy and John F Kennedy Jr want the return of intensely personal items including two handwritten journals the cor respondence and a St Christo medal money clip Their representatives were negotiating with Maryland col lector Robert White who is putting up most of the more than 500 items being sold by Guernseys auction house Other items that were to be auctioned today included campaign trinkets photos party invitations clothes furniture and a sailboat In a statement Monday the Kennedy children asked that some of the most historically and per sonally valuable items be returned to the family and the Kennedy Library Lawyer Appeals over for ailing Ray ARLINGTON Va Convicted assassin James Earl Rays lawyer says his pursuit for a trial in the slaying of the Rev Martin Luther King is effectively over because Ray is too sick to pro ceed USA Today reported William Pepper told the paper in todays edi tions that he will not appeal a Tennessee court order disqualifying a judge who had made rulings favorable to Ray He said an appeal would tax Rays physical resources with little chance of success Ray 70 is in critical condition in the prison ward of a Nashville hospital suffering from liver disease Boy survives toss from eighth floor NEW YORK Tossed from an bal cony by a woman police said was his er a 2yearold boy suffered only a broken arm and bruises Tree limbs broke his fall and he landed in a flower bed His grandmother 55yearold Ruby Owens was arrested Tuesday on child assault and endanger ment charges and ordered to undergo psychiatric testing said police spokesman Joseph She was found wandering the streets of her Brooklyn neighborhood in her nightgown a half hour after the boy was picked up The boy was hospitalized in stable condition FBI shadowed the Freemen 18 months BILLINGS Mont The FBI monitored the Freemen well before an 81day standoff began in 1996 but agents could do little to stop the heavily armed antigovernment group from digging in at its Justus Township compound a former agent told a federal jury Tommie Canady who headed the FBI tion was the first witness in the trial of six men charged with helping federal fugitives avoid arrest during the standoff that ended June 131996 Testimony in the trial began Tuesday It was scheduled to resume today Weather SOUTH CAROLINA Weather Thursday March 19 TT mJ j 74 NC Myrtle A little sunshine Tonight Showers and thunderstorms are fore cast The low will be in the upper 50s Tomorrow Clouds and sunshine are forecast for Thursday The high will be in the lower 70s and the low will be in the middle 50s Extended Rain returns to the area Friday Scat tered rain and thunderstorms are forecast The high will be in the lower 70s and the low will be around 50s Partly sunny skies are forecast for 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