Voice of America, 00-05-01

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

CONTENTS

[01] U-N / KOSOVO MISSION REPORT (L-ONLY) (CQ) BY BRECK ARDERY (UNITED NATIONS)

[02] COHEN - KOSOVO (L ONLY) BY JIM RANDLE (MUNICH)

[03] COHEN KOSOVO (L-UPDATE) BY JIM RANDLE (CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO)

[04] NATO GENERAL (L-ONITER) BY JIM RANDLE (CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO)

[05] TURKEY / ELECTION (L-ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)

[06] AUSTRIA / HAIDER (L-ONLY) BY STEFAN BOS (BUDAPEST)

[07] EUROPE / MAY DAY (L-ONLY) BY LOURDES NAVARRO (LONDON)

[08] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

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

[01] U-N / KOSOVO MISSION REPORT (L-ONLY) (CQ) BY BRECK ARDERY (UNITED NATIONS)

INTRO: The leader of the United Nations Security Council's fact-finding mission to Kosovo says tracing the fate of missing persons in the Yugoslav province should be a priority issue. V-O-A Correspondent Breck Ardery reports on comments (today/Monday) by Bangladeshi ambassador Anwaral Karim Chowdhury.

TEXT: In a closed meeting, Mr. Chowdhury briefed the full Security Council on the delegation's three-day visit to Kosovo, which ended Saturday. Later, Mr. Chowdhury expressed disappointment that the Council meeting was closed to the public during his presentation. But he went on to discuss key portions of the report in a meeting with journalists. He says the Security Council must address the issue of missing persons in Kosovo.

[02] COHEN - KOSOVO (L ONLY) BY JIM RANDLE (MUNICH)

INTRO: Defense Secretary William Cohen says the NATO led peace-keeping force in Kosovo is facing some serious challenges, but he says K-For has made progress in reducing bloodshed in the troubled Serbian province. V-O-A's Jim Randle reports Mr. Cohen spoke on the way to visit the thousands of U-S troops stationed in Kosovo.

TEXT: Recent news reports in Kosovo are a catalog of trouble: U-N police cars vandalized or burned by an angry crowd; a building used as a church by Serbs damaged by a bomb; rocks and bottles thrown at peace- keepers; and gunfire aimed at an S-4 helicopter. In an interview on a flight to Germany, Defense Secretary William Cohen admitted there is plenty of violence still in Kosovo but there is progress, he says, as well.

[03] COHEN KOSOVO (L-UPDATE) BY JIM RANDLE (CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO)

INTRO: Defense Secretary William Cohen says Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is taking advantage of unrest in Serbia's Kosovo province, where a NATO-led force has been trying to keep the peace for the past year. Despite a rash of recent ethnic violence, Mr. Cohen says the 42-thousand international troops are making progress. Correspondent Jim Randle reports from Kosovo.

TEXT: Mr. Cohen says the K-FOR peacekeeping operation faces major challenges, but has cut the number of ethnically motivated killings in Kosovo from 50 a week to five. But Mr. Cohen said Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic can skillfully turn any amount of violence into a political tool.

[04] NATO GENERAL (L-ONITER) BY JIM RANDLE (CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO)

INTRO: The U-S Army general who led NATO forces in the Kosovo conflict is turning over the reins of command to a successor in a series of elaborate ceremonies today (Tuesday) and Wednesday. V-O-A's Jim Randle reports, outgoing NATO commander Wes Clark gets warm praise from his boss -- but he is still heading home a couple of months early.

TEXT: (Four-star) General Clark is leaving his posts as commander of 109-thousand U-S troops in Europe and as leader of the combined NATO military forces sooner than is customary. That sparked press speculation that he was fired after disagreements over strategy in last year's Kosovo conflict. But Defense Secretary William Cohen says General Clark did very well, using a massive bombing campaign to force Serb troops and police out of Kosovo without losing a single pilot.

[05] TURKEY / ELECTION (L-ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)

INTRO: A government-backed candidate failed again to secure the necessary votes in order to be elected Turkey's new president in a second parliamentary vote. Amberin Zaman has this report from Ankara.

TEXT: Judge Ahmet Necdet Sezer received 314-votes, which is more than he received in the first round of balloting last Thursday. But Mr. Sezer still fell short of the 367-votes he needs in order to become Turkey's 10th president. Mr. Sezer is president of Turkey's constitutional court. He was singled out by Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and his coalition partners as a consensus candidate to replace outgoing President Suleyman Demirel, who will step down on May 16th. Mr. Sezer is widely expected to succeed in a third round of voting Friday. In the third round, he only needs to win a simple majority in the 550-member Turkish legislature. With his closest rival, parliament speaker, Yildirim Akbulut trailing with only 88-votes, Mr. Sezer's victory appears all but assured. Mr. Sezer's emergence from relative obscurity to become Turkey's most influential civilian leader has been widely welcomed by groups running the full range of the political spectrum. His appeals for easing curbs on freedom of expression have made him a favorite among human-rights groups. Turkey's poor human-rights record remains the focus of criticism by European governments as Turkey seeks to start membership negotiations with the European Union. Mr. Sezer's nomination is viewed as a positive step towards further democratization in Turkey. (SIGNED)
NEB/AZ/GE/RAE 01-May-2000 11:34 AM EDT (01-May-2000 1534 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[06] AUSTRIA / HAIDER (L-ONLY) BY STEFAN BOS (BUDAPEST)

INTRO: Austrian politician Joerg Haider has officially stepped down as leader of Austria's far- right Freedom Party. The politician announced in February that he had submitted his resignation, but the official change waited for the party congress. Stefan Bos reports from Budapest.

TEXT: Joerg Haider stepped down as leader of Austria's Freedom Party at a time of record personal domestic popularity and unmatched international diplomatic isolation for Austria. Austria's European Union partners expressed their doubts about the Freedom Party's, and Mr. Haider's, commitment to democracy and respect for human rights by freezing bilateral political relations. E-U diplomats, along with American and Israeli officials, criticized Mr. Haider's statements about World War Two Nazi Germany.

[07] EUROPE / MAY DAY (L-ONLY) BY LOURDES NAVARRO (LONDON)

INTRO: Thousands of people are massing in central London to take part in May Day protests. British police are braced for trouble, with thousands of officers on hand to prevent a reprise of violence caused by anti-capitalist demonstrators last year. As Lourdes Navarro reports from London, sporadic violence in London has been echoed elsewhere in Europe.

TEXT:

[08] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

INTRO: U-S stock prices were higher today (Monday), with software giant Microsoft, once again, playing a key role. V-O-A correspondent Elaine Johanson reports from New York:

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 77 points, three-quarters of one percent, closing at 10- thousand-811. The Standard and Poor's 500 index went up 15 points -- one percent. The Nasdaq composite closed two-and-one-half percent higher, gaining almost 100 points. Microsoft, both a Dow and NASDAQ market component, was the leading mover of the day. Shares of the world's biggest software maker traded as much as five percent higher, after the U-S government Friday proposed splitting the company in two. Analysts say Microsoft's lower share prices already reflect the possibility of a break-up. Otherwise, volume was relatively light. Some analysts say that is not a good sign because it points to investor uncertainty.

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

INTRO: The saga of Elian Gonzalez has spawned a new set of editorials this Monday. The potential breakup of computer software giant Microsoft is also a popular topic, as is China and the controversy over its trade status. Rounding out the major editorial topics of the day are comments on the quarter century anniversary of the Vietnam War; a disquieting rise in police violence in South Africa; Mexico's new-style presidential election; and a promising new face in Turkish politics. Now, here is _________with a closer look and some excerpts, in today's Editorial Digest.

TEXT: Elian Gonzalez, together with his mother and stepfather, fled Cuba for the United States last November, but the six-year old boy is the only one who survived the journey. The boy is now at the center of a custody dispute between his father, who wants the boy to live with him in Cuba, and his relatives in Miami, who want the boy to remain in the United States. On April 22, Elian was forcibly taken by the government from the custody of his Miami relatives and reunited with his father, who came to the United States and is staying outside Washington, D-C. A federal court ponders his ultimate fate. Today's Omaha [Nebraska] World-Herald voices misgivings about Miami's Cuban-American community's attitude toward this case and toward the U-S government. The paper says that while many Cuban- Americans are part of the broader U-S culture, others make up an anti-Castro "country within a country." The paper writes:

VOICE: Cuban-Americans who suggested that perhaps the youngster's place was with his father were accused of being "bad Cubans." Not bad Americans, not bad people, but "bad Cubans." ... The Cubans who form a nation-in-exile in this country are not doing the United States any good. Neither are the elected officials who bow too easily to their demands. If nothing else, the debate over little Elian Gonzalez has thrown that into sharp relief [focus].

TEXT: New Hampshire's Manchester Union Leader takes issue with a Catholic priest who said that Cuba would not be a bad place for Elian to grow up. The paper scoffs at the priest's assessment of the Communist island.

VOICE: Reverend Patrick Sullivan ... says [that] Elian would have a decent life if he returned to Cuba. "It's not a hellhole. ... Reverend Sullivan points out ... that people in Cuba have enough food to eat and free health care. [So do] farm animals in the United States ... Is that what we want for Elian? The secure life of a farm animal? Elian would be lucky to live like a farm animal if he returned to Cuba. ... But in the name of "fathers' rights," Americans seem ... content to put Elian out to pasture and hope he is left alone to graze like a farm animal for the rest of his life.

TEXT: On the broader issue of U-S Cuban relations, today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel uses the example of Arizona Senator John McCain and his attitude toward Vietnam, where he was a prisoner of war for several years. He has put his torture behind him, says The Journal Sentinel and now espouses a normalization of relations with Vietnam.

VOICE: By contrast, the officials responsible for U-S policy toward Fidel Castro, and the Cuban expatriates who drive that policy, continue to live almost exclusively in an increasingly remote and irrelevant past. The spearhead of that policy is an economic embargo that for 40 years has failed utterly to isolate or weaken [President] Castro. All it has done is make the United States look foolish. ... By contrast, thanks partly to [Senator] McCain's support, the U-S and Vietnam -- another old adversary -- are trying to develop a more normal relationship.

TEXT: Turning to the major business story of the day, the proposed U-S government break-up of software giant Microsoft into two companies, Maine's Portland Press Herald says it is a "good starting point" that will "restore competition."

VOICE: /// OPT /// There has been a healthy shift in public perception of the antitrust case against Microsoft Corporation. Where once a breakup of the software giant was widely considered to be an extreme measure, doing so now seems far less remote and risky.

TEXT: A California paper that devotes a lot of attention to "Silicon Valley," the San Jose [Northern California] Mercury News, also agrees the "breakup is the right remedy" but wonders in today's editorial "how many pieces [of Microsoft] would be enough" [?] And back in New England, Boston's Christian Science Monitor also gives the judge's plan its qualified approval.

VOICE: It's the cleanest solution with the least government meddling. And like the antitrust cases against Standard Oil and AT&T, it sets a precedent for preventing another monopoly in what has become a basic utility of daily life: computers and the Web.

TEXT: China rates high in several editorial columns this May Day. The Philadelphia Inquirer is upset at the crackdown against the Falun Gong sect, and sees the crackdown as an impediment to normalizing trade with this country.

VOICE: It's the government's most forceful crackdown against freedom since the 1989 slaughter of demonstrators at Tiananmen Square. /// OPT /// ... Almost every day, police haul citizens away from Tiananmen Square for unfurling pro-Falun Gong banners or starting to do the exercises. /// END OPT /// ... This repression might make a difference as the House [of Representatives] gets ready to decide whether to normalize China's trade status with the United States. ... Beijing is playing with fire if it expects U-S lawmakers to vote right on trade while Chinese citizens are detained and tortured for following Falun Gong.

VOICE: And in Oklahoma City, The Oklahoman comments on a speech there by John Copper, a China scholar from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, assessing relations between the U-S and China on Taiwan. While predicting heightened leadership struggles on the mainland, as old-line rulers see power erode with the advance of new thinking, he sees increasing trade between China and Taiwan as a positive development.

VOICE: [Professor] Copper's view is that increased economic cooperation and integration between the mainland and Taiwan must precede serious discussions of political unification or creation of some sort of commonwealth relationship. Complicating factors are not only the ambitions of the mainland's rulers ... but [also] the continued desire of some Taiwan politicians for full independence...

TEXT: From China to Vietnam, where ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the end of the war between the United States and Vietnam are being held. The Dallas Morning News suggests "Our foreign policy should reflect new realities" -- and not just in Vietnam.

VOICE: The 25th anniversary of the fall of South Vietnam provides an appropriate occasion to revist U-S foreign policy, such as it is. For nearly 50 years American foreign policy was fairly clear - - contain communism, which was perceived as the biggest threat to freedom, prosperity and peace. ... But our John Wayne [Editors: a synonym for "aggressive"] days are over ... The Soviet Union has collapsed. Cuba has ... a more human face. China is slowly embracing capitalism, if not yet human rights and democracy.

TEXT: Now to African affairs: today's New York Times is upset at revelations that South Africa's police forces have turned even more violent than they were under apartheid.

VOICE: Last year in South Africa, more than 550 people died at the hands of the police. Statistics for the apartheid era are weak, but the numbers indicate ... the police are more deadly today than they were during most of the last 25 years of apartheid. ... A new government, it seems, does not automatically bring new police practices. One of the mistakes governments and international peacekeepers make after a transition is attempting to build a new police force with veteran policemen. ... Ninety percent of South Africa's new police officers served under apartheid ... [spending] their careers repressing dissent, and know little about fighting crime or being accountable to citizens.

TEXT: A serious problem facing all the countries of Africa, declares The Sun in Baltimore, is AIDS. The paper writes:

VOICE: By the end of the decade, it is estimated that more people in sub-Saharan Africa will die of AIDS than died in all of the 20th century's wars. Given the high cost of life-extending drugs that are used to treat AIDS patients, it's understandable that Thabo Mbeki, president of hard-hit South Africa, is looking for help. What is mystifying - and also dangerous - is where he's looking: to the ignorant and the charlatans who argue - - in the face of all the scientific evidence to the contrary - - that the HIV virus is not the cause of AIDS. ... in Africa, as elsewhere, "The first battle to be won ... against AIDS is the battle to smash the wall of silence and stigma surrounding it," in the words of U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan. Mr. Mbeki would play a far more useful role if he joined with other world leaders in that battle.

TEXT: Peering south of our border, Boston's Christian Science Monitor hails the prospect of a truly contested Mexican presidential election, the first in 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (P-R-I).

VOICE: Whoever wins, Mexico has the potential to continue its political opening and serve as a democratic anchor in a region where many of its neighbors show signs of slipping back toward authoritarianism. The P-R-I's loosening grip on Mexican political life is a hopeful sign. /// OPT /// Those truly committed to reform, including President [Ernesto] Zedillo, must do all they can to assure the July second election is a model of fairness. /// END OPT ///

TEXT: And finally, another political advance, at least in the opinion of the New York Times, in Turkey, where the paper salutes the pending choice of Judge Ahmet Necdet Sezer as the country's next president.

VOICE: In Turkey's political system the president is far less powerful than the prime minister. But he helps set the tone of political life, and Judge Sezer, who currently leads Turkey's highest constitutional court, would be an excellent choice. /// OPT /// In the past year, Judge Sezer has become an outspoken advocate of eliminating or easing Ankara's chilling antiterror and antiseparatist laws. ... his candidacy has stirred hope among Kurds and other victims of legal persecution. ... Turkey's legislators should give him a winning margin in today's second round [of voting].

TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of comment from the editorial pages of May Day's U-S press.
NEB/ANG/KL 01-May-2000 13:30 PM EDT (01-May-2000 1730 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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