Voice of America, 99-10-15

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From: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>

CONTENTS

[01] BOSNIA / SREBRENICA (L-ONLY) BY LAURIE KASSMAN (SREBRENICA)

[02] U-N - BALKANS ENVIRONMENT (L - ONLY) BY MAX RUSTON (UNITED NATIONS)

[03] SERBIAN JOURNALIST HONORED BY MIKE O'SULLIVAN (LOS ANGELES)

[04] BRITAIN / FRANCE BEEF (S-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (TAMPERE, FINLAND)

[05] BRITAIN / PAKISTAN (S-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (TAMPERE, FINLAND)

[06] E-U SUMMIT (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (TAMPERE, FINLAND)

[07] E-U SUMMIT - TRADE (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (TAMPERE, FINLAND)

[08] N-Y ECON WRAP (S & L) BY BRECK ARDERY (NEW YORK)

[09] FRIDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

[01] BOSNIA / SREBRENICA (L-ONLY) BY LAURIE KASSMAN (SREBRENICA)

INTRO: United States Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Tom Miller visited the devastated town of Srebrenica, in the Serb-governed half of the country (Thursday). It is first such visit by a U-S Ambassador in Bosnia since the war ended in 1995. He met with town officials just a few days after a Muslim member of the town council was attacked by two masked men inside the council building. V-O-A Correspondent Laurie Kassman reports from Srebrenica.

TEXT: Ambassador Miller says the Srebrenica council has assured him an investigation is underway into the beating of the Muslim council member. He says the message the attack tried to send is that it is not safe to return to Srebrenica.

[02] U-N - BALKANS ENVIRONMENT (L - ONLY) BY MAX RUSTON (UNITED NATIONS)

INTRO: A United Nations report released today (Friday) is calling for urgent action to deal with several environmental catastrophes in Serbia. The report says the problems should be viewed as humanitarian emergencies and receive immediate international attention. More from our U-N correspondent Max Ruston.

TEXT: The report from the U-N Environment Program follows five months of research in the Balkans in an attempt to determine whether the Kosovo conflict caused an environmental catastrophe in the region. According to the report, the conflict did not cause an environmental catastrophe. But the report does identify four so-called "hot spots" in Serbia where pollution poses a serious threat to human health. It says much of the pollution pre-dates the Kosovo conflict and resulted from long-term deficiencies in Serbia's treatment of hazardous waste. The report is controversial because it asks the international community to re-examine its informal embargo on assistance to Serbia. It says the four environmental "hot spots" should receive the same attention as emergency humanitarian problems and be treated as exceptions to international punitive measures. The report was prepared by Finland's former Environment Minister Pekka Haavisto.

[03] SERBIAN JOURNALIST HONORED BY MIKE O'SULLIVAN (LOS ANGELES)

INTRO: A dissident Serbian journalist has been honored in the United States for his independent reporting. Veran Matic ('vehr-ahn 'mah-tich), the founder of radio station B-92 in Belgrade, was also honored in for his work on behalf of Yugoslav children (both events 10/14). V-O-A's Mike O'Sullivan has more from Los Angeles.

TEXT: In April of this year, Yugoslav officials took over the popular independent station, B-92, replacing its staff. Many reporters joined their founding editor, Veran Matic, in running an Internet site. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, international broadcasters - including V-O-A, the B-B-C, and Radio Free Europe - broadcast news from the site back to Serbia. The original station, called B-92, is now run by the Yugoslav government, but a new station - Called B-2-92 is back on the airwaves in Belgrade. Its programs are heard on a network of local stations that cover 60 percent of Yugoslav territory. In Los Angeles to receive the awards, the journalist spoke of his difficult role as a critic of the Milosevic government in wartime. Along with most of the Yugoslav opposition, he opposed the NATO bombing. Mr. Matic says he also opposes continued sanctions by Western governments, saying those measures undermine the opposition.

[04] BRITAIN / FRANCE BEEF (S-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (TAMPERE, FINLAND)

INTRO: Britain is using a European Summit meeting in Finland (today/Friday) to press its case that France should accept British beef exports approved by the European Commission. V-O-A correspondent Ron Pemstein reports from Tampere, Finland, on the trade conflict within the European Union.

TEXT: British beef exports have been approved by the European Commission following the scare of mad cow disease, but that is not good enough for France. The French say they want scientific proof that British beef is safe. British Prime Minister Tony Blair used the summit meeting here to plead with French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, but he received no satisfaction.

[05] BRITAIN / PAKISTAN (S-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (TAMPERE, FINLAND)

INTRO: Britain is suspending its aid to Pakistan in response to the state of emergency declared by the country's military leaders. V-O-A's Ron Pemstein reports from today's (Friday's) European summit meeting in Tampere, Finland.

TEXT: Britain is historically the largest aid donor to Pakistan in the European Union. Foreign Secretary Robin Cook says all British aid to Pakistan is being suspended except for projects funded through non-governmental organizations. In addition, Mr. Cook expects Pakistan to be suspended from the British Commonwealth on Monday.

[06] E-U SUMMIT (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (TAMPERE, FINLAND)

INTRO: European leaders meeting in Finland appear ready to agree on some practical measures to fight organized crime as they wrap up a two-day summit on asylum and refugee affairs. V-O-A correspondent Ron Pemstein reports from Tampere, Finland, on the first day of discussions.

TEXT: The European leaders appear ready to crack down on illegal immigrants and organized crime as they recognize their open borders are leading to dissatisfaction at home. Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lippanen says the right-wing movements in Austria and other European Union members are gaining strength from their lack of common action.

[07] E-U SUMMIT - TRADE (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (TAMPERE, FINLAND)

INTRO: The president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, has suggested to European leaders that he meet President Clinton before the World Trade Organization summit that begins in Seattle (Washington) next month. V-O-A correspondent Ron Pemstein reports from the European summit meeting in Tampere, Finland, that the high-level meeting is designed to address existing trade disputes.

TEXT: From bananas to hormone-treated beef to genetically modified organisms, the United States and Europe have trade differences to work out. That's why Romano Prodi has asked European leaders to agree on a unified position so he can meet President Clinton on October 27th in Washington. Mr. Prodi's spokesman, Ricky Levi, describes the purpose of the meeting.

[08] N-Y ECON WRAP (S & L) BY BRECK ARDERY (NEW YORK)

INTRO: Stock prices in the United States were down sharply today (Friday), reflecting new worries about inflation and a warning from the head of the U-S central bank. V-O-A Business Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from New York.

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10- thousand-19, down 267 points, or two-and-one-half percent. For the week, the Industrial Average lost 630 points or almost six percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 index closed Friday at 12-hundred-47, down 36 points. The NASDAQ index lost more than two and one- half percent. Traders were nervous, some say even scared, after the latest U-S wholesale price index jumped at its fastest pace in nine years. Analysts say comments from Alan Greenspan also hurt stocks. In a speech, Mr. Greenspan, head of the U-S central bank, warned that stock market risks should not be underestimated.

[09] FRIDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: The U-S Senate's rejection of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has caused a tidal wave of reaction in the editorial pages of the nation's press. The editorials are almost overwhelmingly negative, but several papers are pleased that what they feel was an unverifiable agreement was defeated. Other topics include more response to the military coup in Pakistan, general praise for President Clinton's new ban on roads and other protection for the national forests, demands for more information on the Waco, Texas, cult incident and a somewhat belated assessment of China's 50th birthday under Communism. Now, here is ________ with a closer look, including some excerpts, in today's Editorial Digest.

TEXT: Foolish, perverse, reckless and dangerous, are just some of the adjectives Friday's editorial column writers are using to describe the Senate's rejection Wednesday, of the Nuclear Test Ban treaty. Other newspapers say such things as "Treaty rout deserved," "A victory for principle" and "without sufficient trust, treaty won't be possible." However the definite majority of papers are disgusted with the Senate's action, with several calling it a political vendetta against an unpopular president. Calling it a "Harmful Vote," The New York Times defends Mr. Clinton's angry news conference discussion of the vote Thursday.

VOICE: President Clinton's forceful and focused performance at yesterday's news conference must mark the beginning of a sustained White house effort to limit the damage inflicted by the Senate's reckless vote . against the .treaty. . At no time in the ludicrously compressed Senate debate was the country offered a serious alternative Republican view of how to contain the alarming development of nuclear weapons in South Asia .

TEXT: However from the same city, The New York Post espouses a very different view.

VOICE: In angrily excoriating the Republicans and their alleged "new wave of isolationism," which supposedly led to the treaty's rejection, [Mr.] Clinton failed to acknowledge that the more this treaty has been studied and evaluated, the more serious the objections that have been raised to it. In fact, there was almost no argument in **favor** [italics for emphasis] of ratification, if you consider that [Mr.] Clinton's own C-I-A said its verification depended on technology that doesn't even exist yet.

TEXT: In one of the most opinionated reactions, columnist Arthur Hoppe writing in today's San Francisco Chronicle, and admitting he is incensed, calls it "A Filthy Act of Politics," while in Boston, David Nyhan of The Boston Globe" writes:

VOICE: It was never this bad. Not during the first 99 years of the 20th century. Not till the very last year of the bloodiest, weapons-drenched, cordite- stenched, violence-saturated century has the Congress . behaved in such awkward, backward, retrograde fashion. The Republican majority's rejection of the nuclear test ban treaty marks the century's low point.

TEXT: In Georgia, however, the headline over today's lead editorial in The Augusta Chronicle reads: "Treaty rout deserved," with this follow up:

VOICE: It was congressional Democrats, egged on by the White House, that politicized the treaty - by accusing the G-O-P-led (Republican-led) Senate of being soft on nuclear proliferation for not bringing the pact up for a ratification vote. When Majority Leader Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi, obliged, proponents cried "foul" after they realized they didn't have near enough votes to win. Democrats were so eager to beat up on Republicans . they forgot to count votes!

TEXT: The Dallas Morning News calls the vote "Dangerous" and "shortsighted," while The Philadelphia Daily News calls it "spiteful and irresponsible" and exhorts "voters .. [to] remember this act of wild irresponsibility. The Detroit Free Press frets that the "G-O-P games make the world a more dangerous place" while in Pittsburgh, The Post-Gazette sees it as a "defeat of reason" which "sends a bad message." Oklahoma's Tulsa World complains that "the rejection . was without a doubt more about politics than sound foreign policy," while The Chicago Tribune describes the decision as a "reckless, partisan and ill- considered blow to arms control and . U-S leadership in the world." In Florida, The St. Petersburg Times declares the vote "shows [the] sorry state of [the] G-O-P, while in nearby Orlando, The Sentinel describes the rejection as "irresponsible." The Fort Worth [Texas] Star- Telegram worries that the "rejection . puts the United States in an awkward position," while The Trenton Times, in New Jersey asks "Where are the statesmen?," and suggests the Senate has handed President Clinton "a ringing foreign-policy defeat" and "demonstrated . it has little interest in a U-S leadership role in arms control." Back in Georgia, The Atlanta Constitution calls the "defeat of [the] test ban treaty a foolhardy partisan vendetta," but its sister daily, The Atlanta Journal, disagrees, noting that "without sufficient trust, [the] treaty won't be possible," and goes on to blame President Clinton for failing to lead effectively:

VOICE: Of the legacies of President Clinton's loss of credibility is that the level of trust necessary to make government work effectively is gone from Washington.

TEXT: Turning to the Pakistan coup, Thursday afternoon's Honolulu Star-Bulletin calls the take over in Islamabad "a step backward" and urges "the generals . to restore civilian government quickly." On the far other side of the nation, Maine's Portland Press Herald fears the coup "ratchets up fears of [a] wider, fiercer war."

VOICE: The people of Pakistan seem elated that General Pervez Musharraf deposed President Nawaz Sharif ... [but] their glee over the coup . that removed an elected leader many saw as oppressive and economically inept wasn't shared either by their nation's neighbors or the world community. . risking nuclear war wouldn't make Pakistanis very happy with their new leader .. Wiser Pakistanis should realize that, and join the worldwide campaign for the restoration of civilian rule.

TEXT: The Tulsa [Oklahoma] World suggests Pakistan's:

VOICE: "problems can't be solved with force. The India-Pakistan region continues to be a powder keg. If this coup has ignited the fuse, the United States and its allies must do all they can peacefully to snuff it quickly. Text: On domestic issues again, President Clinton is getting general praise for his ban on additional roads and trails in the nation's national forests. The St. Petersburg Times says:

VOICE: It's a wonderful plan and one he should pursue despite inevitable cries against it.

TEXT: And in San Francisco, the Chronicle calls it "a bold step" and continues, likening the philosophy of the Clinton administration on forests to that of Teddy Roosevelt:

VOICE: It certainly jibes [conforms] with the views of most Americans that conservation should get greater priority on public land.

TEXT: Turning to Northern Ireland, the Chicago Tribune laments the latest change in British Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet:

VOICE: Mo Mowlam is moving on, and the Northern Ireland peace process will be the poorer for it. [Ms.] Mowlam, the British government's secretary of state for Northern Ireland, has for almost two and one-half years been a key figure in the on-again-off- again struggle for an independent, multi-party governing assembly in that embattled British province. But this week .. Prime Minister .Blair announced [Ms.] Mowlam's transfer to a different cabinet post. . outgoing, gregarious, the very antithesis of "stuffy," [Ms.] Mowlam cajoled, bullied, charmed and shocked political leaders on both sides of the religious divide into compromise .. and, finally, accord. in her "spare" time, she underwent surgery for a brain tumor and endured months of chemotherapy.

TEXT: A bit belatedly, today's Hartford Courant takes note of China's massive 50th birthday celebration for a half-century of communism, but is not too impressed.

VOICE: Fifty years of communist rule have not brought the freedom and democracy that many Chinese thought they were getting when decades of civil war ended, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists were put to flight and Mao proclaimed, on October first, 1949, "from this time on, the Chinese people have stood up!" They have stood up, for the most part, only with the autocratic government's forbearance. Simply put, China is still a police state. . Fifty years after Mao's big moment, China is bigger, stronger, a force to be reckoned with - but still a human-rights nightmare.

TEXT: And finally, more calls for a complete investigation of the Waco, Texas, religious cult incident in which more than 70 people died after a siege by federal agents. Pennsylvania's Greensburg Tribune Review says in part: The F-B-I has unearthed another cache of evidence and records regarding the 51-day siege and fire. None of it was presented during Justice Department and congressional investigations in 1993 and 1994. The F- B-I says that some of this documentation was just overlooked and some wasn't turned over to investigators because it wasn't specifically requested. ... That hardly paints the picture of an F-B-I interested in helping the public learn the truth about Waco. In fact, it suggests a cover-up.

TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of opinion from Friday's U-S daily newspapers.
NEB/AG/JP 15-Oct-1999 11:28 AM EDT (15-Oct-1999 1528 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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