Daily Sitka Sentinel from Sitka, Alaska • Page 1

Member of the Associated Pros A I I Monday, February 8,1988 Vol. 50, No. 27 Sitka Alaska 35c Gorbachev: Afghan Pullout Set May 15 MOSCOW (AP) Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev said today the Kremlin has set May IS as the date to begin pulling its troops out of Afghanistan if U.N.-sponsored talks on die conflict result in a settlement Gorbachev said, the withdrawal would be completed within 10 months. He said the date for beginning the pullout was based on the assumption that negotiations in Geneva between Afghanistan and Pakistan will result in an agreement no later than Match 15.

The Communist Party general secretary spoke in a statement carried by the official Soviet news agency Tass. It was the first mention by the Soviet leader of a specific date for the withdrawal of the estimated 115,000 Soviet troops now in Afghanistan helping the Marxist government battle a Moslem insurgency. Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said in Kabul last month that the Soviet Union hoped to end its involvement in Afghanistan this year. The Kremlin sent Hoops and military hardware into Afghanistan in De- cember 1979, and presided over the replacement of one Marxist niler by another.

The intervention soured Kremlin relations with many Moslem and Third World countries, and doomed detente between the superpowers. U.N.-brokered talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which stands in for the guerrillas, have made progress, but have been stuck on developing a timetable for the Soviet withdrawal. Gorbachev's remarks indicated the Soviets were offering a timetable they hope will bring about a rapid settlement at the negotiations, which resume this month. "Seeking to facilitate a speedy and successful conclusion of the Geneva talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the government of the U.S.S.R. and the Republic of Afghanistan have agreed to set a specific date for beginning the withdrawal of Soviet troops May 15, 1988 and to complete their withdrawal within 10 months," Gorbachev said today.

Noriega: U.S. Plotted Invasion of Nicaragua NEW YORK (AP) The United States had planned more than two years ago to invade Nicaragua, and had Sought Panama's cooperation for the assault, says embattled Panamanian leader Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega. Noriega, appearing on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" program Sunday, said former National Security Adviser John Poindexter told Panamanian officials of the planned U.S! invasion. Noriega, who faces U.S.

drug trafficking charges, also said Poindexter told him the United States wanted to use Panama as a training ground for Contra rebels trying to overthrow nment. In another development, The Washington Times reported in today's editions that the Reagan administration currently is largely uninformed about events in Panama because of an intelligence agreement with the Panamanian strongman. Noriega told "60 Minutes" that Poindexter told him in a 17,1985, meeting that the United States wanted Panama's cooperation in the invasion. "They were going to invade Nicaragua, and the only reason they hadn't done it was because Panama was in the way, and that all they wanted was Panama to get out of the way and allow them to continue with their plans," he said, speaking through a translator. Capt.

Moises Cortizo, a Panamanian West Point graduate also interviewed on the program, said Poindexter told Noriega that he wanted Panama to find a pretext to invade Nicaragua. "They wanted Panama forces to go in with American forces, but we'd go in first," Cortizo said through a translator. "Then we'd get the support from the American troops that would be taking part in the invasion." Noriega, interviewed Thursday in his office, said he turned down both the invasion and training proposals. Noriega mentioned the meeting with Poindexter in a speech Friday in Panama City. He said then that Poindexter had asked for unspecified cooperation in Central 'America, and he refused Poindexter him to "expect the consequences." The general said he considered the consequences to include his indictment.

"60 Minutes" said the National Security Council had no comment on the allegations. White House spokesman Mark. Weinberg told The Associated Press that there would be no comment on Noriega's remarks. Noriega also said he. believed his indictment oh drug charges stems from his opposition to -changes in the Panama Canal agreement, which calls for the removal of U.S.

troops from the Canal Zone by the year 2000. Frank Rubino, one of three Miami attorneys retained by Noriega, said Sunday at a news conference in Miami that there was little chance the Panamanian leader would travel to Miami to face the drug trafficking charges. State Dept. to Help Promote Anchorage as Olympic Site WASHINGTON (AP) The federal government will be taking a more active role in promoting Anchorage as host city for the 1994 Winter Olympics, U.S. Rep.

Don Young says. The Alaska Republican said he met Tuesday with Edward Derwinski, undersecretary of state for Security Assistance, Science and Technology, and the conversation focused primarily on the recent U.S.-Canada trade agreement. But Derwinski also confirmed the State Department's new drive to support Anchorage's Olympic bid, Young said. That help is to include: Providing an official presence at meetings between the Anchorage Organizing Committee and International Olympic Committee (IOC); Hosting meetings with local IOC members; Establishing or maintaining regular embassy contact with IOC members, national Olympic committee members and others; Providing news releases and ar-. tides about Alaska, Anchorage and the Anchorage Olympic bid in order to boost the city's visibility; and Assigning teams from the U.S.

Information Agency's office of sports and the Voice of America to help promote Anchorage as the site of the 1994 Winter Games. "It's clear to me that our government is clearly behind Anchorage's bid and is prepared to commit a great deal of resources worldwide on Anchorage's behalf," Young said. Letters Arrive Decade Late ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Two bank statements mailed in Anchorage in 1978 have finally reached their destination across town, and nobody seems to know where the envelopes have been for the past decade. Carl Hild of the Alaska Public Health Association said he checked his organization's mail box on Friday and along with a stack of official mail were two statements from the National Bank 'of Alaska. He said he noticed after leaving the post office that two envelopes in the Sack of mail appeared a little worn.

He looked closer and discovered both were postmarked in the spring of 1978. Hild returned to the post office and showed the envelopes to a postal worker. "He was flabbergasted, Hild S8 Hiid said he was told that when a letter gets stuck in a piece of mail- sorting equipment and is found much later, a worker will stamp it to let the recipient know why it was lost. But the two NBA statements were unmarked except for their postmarks. The letters were stamped on different postal meters and mailed a week apart.

One was postmarked March 31, 1978; the other, Aprils. "II they were postmarked a week apart, how did they get stuck in the same place?" Hild asked. Hild said he plans to dig out his organiza'tion's 1978 financial records and find out if the books were ever reconciled. Then, the statements will be filed with the organization's historical records, he said: "At last I can balance my check books," he said. FWK in die Winter Sun A surfer rides the waves at Sandy Beach during a blustery period Saturday afternoon.

The weather and the water turned calmer Sunday and today. Temperatures reached to 44 degrees Sunday, and were expected to be in the 30s today and Tuesday. No ram is expected until Tuesday afternoon. (Sentinel photo by Will Swagel) U.S., Soviets Plan Bering Fishery Talks WASHINGTON (AP) Amid growing concern about overfishing and reports of foreign trawlers illegally in- American waters, the United States, and the Soviet Union have formed a bilateral working group that will meet in early March to develop recommendations to oversee fishing in the Bering Sea. Other nations that fish in the Bering Sea, including Japan and Korea, have not been invited to join the talks, but will be informed of the outcome later, said Ed Wolfe, the U.S.

State Department's ambassador for oceans and fisheries. Wolfe declined comment on the Japanese reaction when told of the decision reached in a Moscow meeting two weeks ago to form the study group. But Rep. Mike Lpwry, said, "the fact that this is ocurring does send a message to the Japanese that we are not at all pleased with some of their recent activities." Yasuo Endo, fisheries counselor at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., said his government would have no comment on the U.S.-Soviet talks. "We to and see what type of discussions they will have and will communicate with them later," said Endo.

Seven foreign trawlers, most of them beleived to be Japanese, were videotaped last month with their nets down allegedly 38 miles inside the 200- mile U.S. fishing zone by American fishermen from a private plane. Last week, Wolfe again met with representatives of the Japanese Embassy to demand a formal explanation of the incident. "Their oral responses have so far been incomplete," said Wolfe. The Japanese, in a preliminary report, said the masters of two of the videotaped vessels had denied they were fishing illegally.

Lowry, who along with other Washington state lawmakers have called for a congressional investigation, said he was impatient over the lack of an official Japanese response. Energy Aid Funding For Alaska Homes Cut In other developments: --The Japanese government has instructions" to their trawlers in the Bering Sea to "conduct orderly fishing operations" to avoid any suspicion of illegal fishing in American waters. The Japanese have also taken steps that will eventually require that all of their trawlers be equipped with sophisticated navigational radar. --The U.S. Coast Guard said that at least three of the vessel videotapped allegedly fishing in the U.S.

zone had applied for permits to operate in American waters during 1988. The Coast Guard has urged the National Marine Fisheries Service not to grant the permits until an investigation is complete. --The United States has decided not to participate in talks with Japanese later this month in Tokyo on drift net fishing in the Bering Sea, a move Wolfe refused to characterize as a protest over the alleged illegal fishing. Both American fishermen and the Coast Guard have suspected for more than a year that foreign trawlers were fishing illegally in U.S. waters.

But U.S. fishermen say the trawlers are extremely difficult to catch, often sneaking into the American-zone under cover of darkness or in stormy weather. American fishermen believe that foreign vessels use a area in international waters known as the "doughnut hole" as a staging area for forays into the U.S. zone. U.S.

fisheries scientists' are concerned that the foreign fleet might be overfishing in the doughnut hole and depleting valuable bottomfish stocks. During a series of surveillance flights over a five-month period last year, Coast Guard planes spotted more than 160 foreign ships either in the doughnut hole or nearby U.S. waters, though none were caught fishing illegally. The vessels included Japanese, Korean, Polish and Russian. American fishermen have said that most of those fish were actually caught in shallower U.S.

zone adjacent to the area rather than the two-mile deep waters of the doughnut hole itself. Wolfe said that legal, scientific and technical specialists will take part in the U.S.-Soviet working group when it meets in Washington, D.C. "The Soviets are equally as concerned as we are in the United States about what is happening in the doughnut hole," said Wolfe. "It is important that we have agreed at long last to take this first, major step." By LARRY PERSILY Associated Press Writer JUNEAU (AP) The numbers are bad and getting worse for Alaskans who receive home energy assistance. Federal funding is down, the average grant is down, the number of applicants is up, and the temperature won't be up for months.

The federally funded program to provide home heating grants for low- income people is hurting. Money for Alaska is at its lowest level in a decade. To cope with the drop in funding, maximum grants have been reduced from $1,000 per household last year to $800 this year, said Wendy Wolf, Alaska's energy assistance program coordinator. The average grant was $497 last year and $399 so far this fiscal year, Wolf said. Alaska's share of the federal money was cut 16 percent this year, from $9.9 million to $8.4 million for the federal fiscal year that started Oct.

1. Nationwide, states lost $300 million from last year's federal funding of $1.8 billion the biggest cut in the program's history. Most of the funding for Alaska is handled by the state, but some of the money is passed out by eight tribal organizations under contract to the federal government This year's 16 percent cut in Alaska follows an 8 percent cut last year and a 9 percent drop the year before. "Meanwhile, of course, the caseload goes Wolf said. The state and tribal organizations last year gave out 15,430 grants.

Wolf said applications now are running hun- dreds ahead of last year's level. She expects a 5 percent increase for the year. "I see a clientele who I call the nouveau poor," Wolf said, describing people who are laid off, had their hours or pay reduced, and are having trouble paying their bills. No state money goes into the program, she said. "The purpose of this program is to offset the high cost of heating your home," Wolf said.

Grants are based on a series of guidelines, including household income and geographic location and fuel costs. As an example, a family of four whose average income for the past three months is less than $1,912 would qualify for assistance. Most of the grants go directly to heating oil and gas suppliers and electric utilities. Renters who pay for heat as part of their rent receive energy assistance funds directly from the state, Wolf said. Special attention is given to people over 60, who get $50 a year on top of the regular grants.

Some of Alaska's federal money goes for weatherization projects administered by the Department of Community and Regional Affairs, in an effort to reduce future heating costs for homeowners. People may apply for home heating grants at any state public assistance office or through local fee agents in rural communities. The program by law is required to provide assistance in emergencies to people facing fuel or utility shut-offs. Soviets to Visit Sitka By Sentinel Staff An agreement by which Alaska and Canada will share medical research and information on treating health problems in northern climates is to be signed in Juneau this month, the office of Gov. Steve Cowper announced today.

Last year a similar agreement was signed by Alaska and the Soviet Union. Cowper's Press Secretary David Ramseur said Soviet health experts will visit Alaska later this month and will be on hand for the signing of the Alaska-Canada pact in Juneau Feb. 29. The Soviets are to be in Sitka Feb. 27.

The Soviet visit is the latest of several exchange visits Alaskan and Soviet representatives have made under their sharing agreement Last September, an Alaskan delegation led by Dr. Ted Mala of the University of Alaska-Anchorage visited the Soviet Union. This latest visit will be the second trip for the Soviets to Alaska in connection with the health accord, Ramseur said. The Soviet delegation will include Dr. Lydia Novak, president of the 7.5 million-member Soviet workers union and a member of General Secretary Gorbachev's health reorganization team; Dr.

Vladamir Davidenko, a cardiologist who is representing the Soviet Academy of Medical Sciences; and Natalia Vorobieva, international secretary to the Central Committee of the Soviet Medical Workers Union and Novak's assistant Canadians expected at the signing are JX. Nickolspn, director of Canadian Medical Services and a government health ministet; John O'Neil, professor of medical anthropology at the University of Manitoba; and Dr. Brian Wheafley, director of research and development for the medical services branch of the Canadian Department of National Health and Welfare. The Soviet delegation is scheduled to arrive in Juneau Feb. 26 and to spend the day with municipal and state officials.

The foloiwing day the group is to visit Sitka for a tour of Mt Edgectunbe Hospital, St Michael's Cathedral and other Russian historical sites. Mt. Edgecumbe Administrator Art Willman said he expects the Soviets to meet with doctors to discuss the delivery of health services to small villages. A public reception for the Soviets is set for the evening of Feb. 27 at the Westmark Shee Atika Lodge.

On Feb. 28 the group will return to Juneau for a visit to the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall and a state banquet that evening. At 9 a.m. Feb. 29 Alaskan, Soviet and Canadian officials are to participate in the signing ceremony of the new Alaska-Canada agreement.

A press release from the governor's office stated that the visitors are expected to endorse proposals to create an Alaska Science Foundation and a circumpblar health institute..