The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 18

is TTGuardian Monday August 2 1993 At the double Competitors approaching Goddards Curve in yesterday's British Sidecar Grand Prix at Donington Park, Derbyshire, won by the Swiss riders Rolf Biland and Kurt Waltisperg. GP reports and pictures, Lebanon ceasefire holds Times cuts price by 15p to win recession-hit readers after US brokers deal Row over 11-plus tests set to run On the other side of the border, the ceasefire brought an immediate turn of the refugee tide, with long columns of evacuees heading back south. Many found devastation: in seven days of land, sea, and air bombardment the Israelis unleashed more than 20,000 shells, bombs and missiles. In response, Hizbullah fighters launched around 300 Katyusha rockets, more than half of which landed in Israel. Casualties were similarly lopsided: about 130 Lebanese dead and more than 500 wounded, against three Israelis dead, including two civilians.

Politically, Israel's awesome show of strength is likely to boost the government's flagging popularity, with the immense bonus of projecting Syria's president, Hafez Assad, as a man who can deliver or at least be compelled to deliver on peace and security. The recession had made many readers more cost-conscious, and there was some evidence they might be buying the Times less regularly. "We do not know if our newspaper or others in our market are properly priced or not. What we can say is that, over the last five years, the total circulation of qualities has dropped 240.000 and that drop seems to be getting steeper as the recession ends," he said. The price of the Times, like other broadsheets, had gone up by 50 per cent since 1990, Mr Stothard said.

But he denied the price cut was a desperate bid to attract readers amid declining circulation figures. "It's not a desperate measure at all. We are making good newspapers. We all have to ask ourselves why we are not selling as many copies as we would like to. There are many answers.

It may be because it costs too much," he said. He said he believed extra sales were most likely to come from readers who were currently buying three to four Sally Weale THE Times today cut its cover price by 15p a copy but the offer is only open to some readers in Kent. The regional price reduction is a trial exercise to decide if it should be extended to other parts of the country, and how long it should continue. From today the cover price in the area of Kent beyond the M25 will fall to the 1990 price of 30p during the week, and 35p on Saturdays a total weekly saving of 90p. Elsewhere, the price remains 45p and 50p.

It is the second newspaper in Rupert Murdoch's News International group to reduce its cover price this summer. Last month the Sun cut its price nationwide by 5p to 20p, selling an extra 200,000 copies. The Mirror retaliated with a one-day offer, selling copies at lOp. However, Peter Stothard, editor of the Times, denied the Sun's experience had prompted the trial, and said he had been considering it for some time. The Israeli foreign minister, Shimon Peres, said: "It is possible to speak of the removal of a very big mine in the middle of the path of the peace process." Yossi Beilin, the deputy foreign minister, pointed out that Mr Christopher had been personally involved in the ceasefire talks.

"The success of his involvement will enable him, I hope, to be successful in his shuttle diplomacy." Dr Beilin declined to give any details of the ceasefire arrangement. "The agreement is actually an understanding. It is not signed; it is not written," he said. "The whole Israeli military operation was launched to put an end to Katyushas rockets being shot into Galilee, in the northern part of Israel. That was achieved." Neither Dr Beilin nor any other official source would say if Israel would retaliate in the cent of Katyushas being fired into its self-declared "security zone" in south Lebanon.

The ambiguity of the deal Serbs call for 'twin to succeed Belgian king was underlined by the Hizbullah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nas-rallah. He told reporters in Beirut that his group had not agreed to stop firing rockets and reserved the right to respond to Israeli attacks. "All options remain open because there is no agreement." Allowing for bombast, Israeli satisfaction with the ceasefire terms seems well founded. Already, residents of Galilee, many of whom have spent at least a week in basements and bomb shelters, or else have fled the Katyusha target area, have returned to their homes. Hours after the ceasefire was announced on Saturday evening, an army truck toured the border town of Kiryat Shmonah carrying a soldier with a loudspeaker who urged local people to leave their shelters.

The Israeli army has pulled large numbers of troops and armoured vehicles out of the security zone where they had been massed for a widely feared thrust into southern Lebanon. with Queen Fabiola in 1990 His passing leaves the small country of 11 million with renewed cultural uncertainty. At the beginning of this month Belgians voted for a division of the Flemish and Walloon groups under a new federal system giving considerable autonomy to Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. The king sometimes called Derek Brown in Jerusalem THE ceasefire in southern Lebanon was holding last night, more than 24 hours after the United States helped end a bloody long-range artillery duel between Israel and Islamic guerrillas. The US-brokered "understanding" on which the ceasefire is based involves Syrian help in ensuring no more rockets are fired by Hizbullah guerrillas into Israel.

The ceasefire is viewed here as a triumph for Israeli armed might, after a ferocious seven-day bombardment of Hizbullah positions which killed more than 130 Lebanese and created 250.000 refugees. The Israeli government also sees the deal as an encouraging portent for the Middle East peace process, with the US Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, due to start a tour of the region today. Brother Chris White In Brussels THE body of King Bau-douin of Belgium, who died of a heart attack on Saturday night aged 62, arrived in Brussels last night after being flown from Spain in a Belgian air force jet. The death of the longest reigning monarch in Europe initially sparked apprehension about the succession. The king and his wife, Queen Fabiola, had no children and his most likely successor, his brother Prince Albert of Liege, had appeared reluctant to take the job.

But the prime minister, Jean-Luc Dehaene, last night confirmed on television that the prince, aged 59, will succeed to the Belgian throne. "We must put ourselves behind his constitutional successor, Prince Albert, who is being called to continue his work in the spirit of continuity," he said. King Baudouin, who had a history of delicate health, had been on holiday when he fell ill. A Spanish heart specialist was called to his estate near Motril in southern Spain, but failed to save him. The king underwent an operation for prostate cancer in August 1991, and minor heart Tomorrow Continued from page 1 the north.

Under this plan, the airport would be under international administration. The corridor out, linking up with the central Bosnian rump state being prepared for a Muslim population, could be a tunnel, Bosnian sources and a Western diplomat said. "The Serbs control all access roads in and out of Sarajevo and the Muslims can build a tunnel through the mountains to the road to Tuzla," said the diplomat. Last night, Bosnian Serbs claimed to have captured the strategic Mount Bjelasnica overlooking Sarajevo, the Tan- jug news agency reported. UN otlicials said that Lord Owen and Thorvald Stolten- page 14 photograph tom jenkins times a week instead of six.

The cost of the experiment would be Kent was chosen for its good cross-section of readers and convenience for distribution purposes. According to Audit Bureau of Circulation statistics, the Times had an average daily circulation last month of 362,428 27,255 down on June 1992. The circulation of the Independent, which costs 45p during the week and 50p on Saturdays, was last month 338,828 down on last year: the Daily Telegraph, which costs 48p and 60p, was 1,012,640 a fall of and the Guardian, which costs 45p and 50p, was 406.627 3,502 up on last year. The Guardian's deputy editor, Alan Rusbridger, said: "We have no plans to enter the cut-price market. Unlike the Sun and the Times, the Guardian has no problem in attracting readers prepared to pay what they evidently think is a reasonable cover price." There was no comment from the Independent or the Daily Telegraph.

cities3 attempt to sell capitulation to his divided constituency. He made plain he saw his mission now as one of leading Bosnia's Muslims, and, implicitly, their rump Muslim state that UN sources say will be up to 30 per cent of Bosnia. "The centre of our struggle has changed a little because our soldiers should come closer to the Bosnian Muslim nation," he said. He claimed that the main aim of the Serbs was not to destroy Bosnia as a state "so much as to exterminate, literally exterminate the Muslim nation Compared to what lay in store for us, I hope that we fared rather well, because we survived. We were annointed for complete extermination." The winner of this week's Zenith watch is H.

Pinder of Cambridge. Runners up (12.50 book token each) are W. G. James of Newport, Mr E. L.

Jones of Pontypool. and S. J. Best of Nottingham. Th Nw PartfltHn Books of The Quardlan Crouwordt, Books 1 snd 2 are now out at O.SB each from bokssllers.

7 Medical help arises seconds after. Laurels received? (7) 8 Form a theory as society's to embezzle the funds (9) 12 Affected talk with one at the bar possibly describing bridge? (10) 13 Region to change about all about one (10) 14 Darkness disturbs the birds (9) 17 Minor depressions we all have (7) 1 9 Local rules in respect of Wales, perhaps? (3-4) 22 Environmentalist's not smoked (5) 23 Counter stroke quickly lifted (4) 24 One member of the team to urge on (4) Solution tomorrow James Melkle Education Editor THE battle between schools and the Government over 11-plus tests is set to continue despite hints of a U-turn on other league tables of results. Ministers want the tests to remain as a national yardstick against which primary schools' performance can be measured, and provide the baseline against which secondary schools' effectiveness can be judged in results of GCSEs and A levels. They will accept most proposals on slimming down the national curriculum and testing arrangements made in an interim report from Sir Ron Dearing published today, but decisions on league tables will be made later this year. Tests at 11 in English, maths and science are not mandatory until 1995 but there will be renewed rows over the opportunities they offer for selection of pupils by secondary schools.

Plans to publish national school-by-school lists of attainment in this summer's seven and 14-year-old tests are expected to be formally abandoned in the wake of teachers' industrial action. Sir Ron, the Government's chief adviser on the curriculum and testing, will recommend far fewer compulsory lessons and simpler tests. He is also expected to remind ministers that "raw" exam results do not give complete pictures of schools. The Government has made several retreats on testing but will be keen to ensure new changes are not seen as a victory for the teachers. The Government may abandon national publication of results at seven and 14 in future, given the apparent lack of parental concern at the boycott.

Many primary schools, where industrial action was too late to affect some tests, gave information to parents but ignored obli gations to give them to local authorities. Uut John Major will not allow his information revolution to be abandoned. Schools will probably still be obliged to make results available to the public. demand ecutor's Office from taking time to reconsider whether a new investigation about his possible role in Sobibor is required." The prosecution has promised an opinion by next week. The idea that, theoretically, Mr Demjanjuk may yet face another trial came as a shock to members of his family who were told of the ruling as they were checking in to take the flight to Kiev, where he had been promised asylum while they campaigned for him to be readmitted to the United States.

Mr Dcmjanjuk's Israeli lawyer, Yoram Sheftel, said: "To hold him and to prosecute him on charges for which he was not extradited is a clear violation of the law and of the terms of extradition." Israeli prosecutors are monitoring the US circuit court of appeals which is tomorrow set to consider an application to have his extradition revoked. Last night Efraim ZurofT, of the Israeli office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said it was likely Franz would become a hero for neo-Nazis in Germany. "To get these two blows one after the other is just incredible," Mr Zuroffsaid. Guardian Crossword No 1 9,785 Set by Quantum Hizbullah thrives on Israeli blitz, page 7 "le roi triste" (the sad king) had little actual power. He played the part of an honest broker and through sheer force of personality calmed the passions of separatists.

"He was for me the symbol of Belgian unity for which he worked passionately, discreetly and with much influence," Jacques Delors, the European Commission president, said yesterday. Belgium's interior minister, Louis Tobback, announced a period of national mourning. Zaire, a former Belgian colony, declared a day of mourning for the king who granted it independence in 1960. So important is the national issue to a country divided almost equally between French-speaking Walloons, and Dutch-speaking Flemish in the north, that Europe's finance ministers yesterday suspended talks on the Exchange Rate Mechanism at one point to allow Belgium's finance minister, Philippe Maystadt, to attend a special cabinet meeting. King Baudouin's successor has long been at issue.

Prince Albert was considered a reluctant candidate, having said that he would rather hand the role to his son, Philippe. Obituary, page 12 five-man bench which heard the original case ruled that his deportation should be delayed for 10 days. A radical rightwing Israeli, together with a holocaust survivor, had petitioned the court to stay the deportation on the grounds that he had been shown "unequivocally" to have worked in death camps. Noam Federman, of the extreme-right Kach movement, said bluntly: "Jail is the place for him to be until he gets a trial. I do hope he will be tried and will get the death penalty." In their ruling last week the five high court justices said they regarded as "authentic" an identity card which showed Mr Demjanjuk was trained by the SS and also stated that he may well have served in another death camp, Sobibor.

However, the court said that Mr Demjanjuk had not had a chance to defend himself against those charges. When the representative of the state attorney indicated in response to yesterday's petition that a retrial had not yet been considered, Judge Gabriel Bach said: "The high court ruling does not exempt the State Pros Le roi triste King Baudouin surgery six months later. But the Belgian people nonetheless appear to have been taken by surprise. His death ended a 42-year reign. Early yesterday, mourners placed bouquets at the gates of the Royal Palace in Brussels.

Many were in tears and wore black. The king will be buried in Brussels on Saturday. in berg, the EC and UN mediators, were focussing their efforts on widening the corridor, but said they did not expect Sarajevo to revert to its pre-war status. While the war of the maps dominated the weekend talks. President Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia appeared to harden his support for the tripartite division agreed on Friday.

Despite earlier objecting to one of the provisions of the blueprint for a "Union of Republics" agreed on Friday, he admitted on Sarajevo radio that "there must unfortunately be certain barriers between us We were in favour of an integral Bosnia-Herzegovina, but it was not up to us." The message sounded close to a surrender statement and an 21 Diver in the main recalled danger to seamen (4) 25 Where vinegar might go, we hear, in chippy's everywhere? (3,4,3,5) 28 Change course: very steep (5) 27 A fashion centre in swindle making rich clothes (9) Down A side getting recognition tor merit as a matter of principle (5) Refined accent lacking gravity could be a useful weapon (7) British nobleman not entirely before time (4) School record set up (4) Afraid character might see it after an offence? (6.4) Law enforcer when, as appropriate, State arm G.I. (10) Demjanjuk retrial Jcrrold Kessel in Jerusalem THE deportation from Israel of John Demjanjuk was held up yesterday alter judges ordered a 10-day delay while state prosecutors decide whether he ought to stand trial for other war crimes. Mr Demjanjuk was acquitted last Thursday by Israel's supreme court on grounds of reasonable doubt that he was "Ivan the Terrible" who operated the gas chambers at Treb-linka death camp during the second world war. The news came as Kurt Franz, the Nazi commandant of Treblinka now aged 79, was released in Germany on probation after almost 30 years behind bars. German officials were not available to give details about Mr Franz's release.

But, according to Dieter Lehner, an expert on war crimes trials, he remains under supervision. Four hours before Mr Demjanjuk was due to have been expelled to his native Ukraine, three Israeli supreme court judges different from the Books: Sunil Khilnani reviews a new history of the French-Algerian war; Mervyn Jones on Geoffrey Moorhouse's southern Indian pilgrimage and Elaine Feinstein on a new novel loosely based on the'life of Greta Garbo. Health: It killed Werther and it didn't do much for Cyrano's equilibrium. But how much do we understand about the agony of unrequited love? Parents: The average period between children in Britain is 35 months but every parent has an opinion about the Great Gap Debate. Parents and experts talk about which offers the best chance for a happy family.

Women: "Margaret, a 48-year-old widow, and her daughter Tracy, 28, work to finance their habit. They try to see a show every single night. They have seen Phantom of the Opera more than 230 times." Genevieve Fox on the phenomenon of the female theatre fan. Education: New GCSE regulations threaten to exclude thousands of children who are educated at home. Education reports on what officials admit is "another Arts: Deyan Sudjic on the architectural merits of the competing bids for the 2000 Olympics.

Across I Man. cheery, upset major opponent (4-5) 6 Woman's title includes "Princess" (a nice touch?) (5) 9 Between Worcester and Exeter? (15) 10 Drjnk crazy imbibing last of wine (4) II Leader of art school with no time for the clothes collection (8) 14 Company lasting out, having fond earlier memories (9) 15 Sporting star a West Indian (5) IS Grain worker's bounty (5) 18 One might fold up after a handy game (4-5) 20 One way to follow short journey (it was in the air) (8).