Daily Sitka Sentinel from Sitka, Alaska • Page 9

PAge 10, Dally Sltka Sentinel, Sitka, Alaska, Wednesday, February to, 1988 Noriega Accused of Meeting with North Soviets List Dates For Afghan Pullout (AP) Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, Panama's military ruler, met with Lt Col. Oliver North twice in 1985 and agreed to provide military training for U.S.- backed Contra rebels, an exiled former Panamanian official testified today. i-The witness, Jose I. Blandon, once a senior member of Panama's intelligence apparatus, said Noriega later offered to send Panamanian soldiers inside Nicaragua to conduct "terrorist sabotage" against that country's leftist Sandinista government But he said North replied that he had no authority to accept such an offer and would relay it to his superiors at the National Security Council.

Blandon did hot indicate if the idea was ever put into effect Blandon also testified that Vice President George Bush used Noriega in October 1983 to warn Cuban leader Fidel Castro that the United States was about to invade Grenada. He said the message from Bush was to warn Cuba not to try to intervene in the U.S. military action against the Caribbean island nation. It was intended to avoid casualties among Cuban troops on the island, Blandon said. Sen.

John Kerry, said the phone call from Noriega meant "Fidel Castro probably knew about it (the invasion) before we Blandon said Noriega's first meeting with North took place on a luxury yacht off Pannama's Pacific coast in June 1985, the second in Noriega's office the following October. Blandon, appearing under oath before the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on terrorism, contradicted statements by Noriega last week that in a December 1985 meeting with Rear Adm. John Poindexter, just installed as presidential national security adviser, the subject of Nicaragua had not come up. Noriega said Poindexter spoke of plans to mount a U.S. invasion of Nicaragua.

No mention was made of invading Nicaragua, said Blandon, adding that he was present at all the meetings he described. On Tuesday, the Central Intel- ligence Committee "categorically denied" Blandon's assertion that the CIA regularly sent Noriega information about the political positions and personal lives of U.S. senators with an interest in Panama, including Sen. Jesse Helms, RN.C., a foe of Noriega, and Sen. Edward M.

Kennedy, DMass. Kerry the subcommittee chairman, asked Blandon today if he wanted to change his story. Speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, Blandon told the panel: "There is no reason in my heart and in my mind to invalidate what I have said. Unfortunately, what I have said is tiue." He said it is "no secret" in Latin America that the CIA makes such information available to other governments, even though the agency is barred by U.S. law from gathering information on Americans in the United States.

Sen. Alphonse D'Amato, RN.Y., said he believes there are powerful groups who "will do anything they can to discredit Mr. Blandon." "I do not doubt the veracity of Mr. Blandon," he said. "I believe him." But the spy agency, through spokesman Sharon Foster, said on Tuesday: "The CIA categorically denies Blandon's assertions that the agency furnished any such information regarding U.S.

senators or their staffers to the government of The central theme of Blandon's testimony has been his allegation that Noriega made millions of dollars by opening Panama as a safe haven for drug traffickers and allowing Panamanian banks to be used as conduits for laundering drug-sale profits. Meanwhile, the Senate Intelligence Committee, which oversees the CIA, immediately began inquiries of the agency and of the National Security Council and the Pentagon, two other agencies mentioned by Blandon as 'ntelligence sources for Noriega. Arab Killed In Fight with Israel REMEMBER LOVED ONES FAR AWAY-- Givelfour Honey ABigBear Hug. Ce's Flowers 747-5577 Next to Castle Hill By NICOLAS B.TATRO Associated Press Writer JERUSALEM (AP) A Palestinian died today of gunshot wounds suffered in a clash with Israeli army troops, army and hospital officials said, and a 12-year-old boy said he was shot and wounded by Israeli civilians. The military today lifted curfews that had confined 212,000 Arabs to their homes for up to 10 days, and U.S.

envoy Richard W. Murphy met with Israeli leaders in an effort to defuse tensions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At least 52 Arabs have been killed since unrest broke out in the occupied territories two months ago. Imad Mahmoud Al Hamlawi, 22, of the occupied Gaza Strip's Maghazi refugee camp, died at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, said hospital spokeswoman Tami Lunenfeld. She said Hamla- wi was brought to the hospital Jan.

9 with gunshot wounds in the spine. The military said he was wounded by army gunfire. Sulieman al Suwezi of Gaza City told The Associated Press he was at a lunch stand eating a sandwich today when he was shot in the right shoulder. The youth, speaking from his bed at Ahli Arab Hospital, said he saw a truck drive by with two Israelis inside and then, "I heard a shot They fired while the truck was The army said it was investigating. Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Murphy presented a U.S.

plan calling for Palestinian elections this year in the occupied territories. The plan calls for talks by Decem- Inc. A Gift Today, A Treasure Tomorrow Special gifts for your Valentine-Pewter items at Something Different across the hall from Dip 'n Sip ber on the permanent status of the occupied lands, the sources said. Murphy discussed the U.S. proposals today with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, officials said.

After meeting Shamir on Tuesday night, Murphy said he had received "great encouragement" in his talks with Israeli leaders as well as with the leaders of Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt "I had the sense of eagerness and enthusiasm in each place that I visited, including here in Jerusalem, to find a way to move ahead and to look at some new ideas," Murphy said. In his session with Murphy, Shamir reiterated that negotiations should be based on the 1978 Camp David accord, which proposes five years of limited autonomy before the start of talks on a final agreement. Shamir told a party meeting Tuesday he opposed an accelerated time frame for self-rule. "We see serious problems if anyone thinks we have to cancel or shorten (the timetable). This is a problem and we will have to insist, and possibly debate and bargain," he said.

Peres supporters saw Shamir's comments as a rollback on previous flexibility on the issue of timing. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders said Israel would block a Palestine Liberation Organization ship carrying more than 130 deported Palestinians from reaching Israel. The ship planned to set sail. from Athens today. "This ship will not be allowed to come close to the shore," said Avi Pazner, spokesman for Shamir.

"The question is whether we will allow this ship to stand at a distance and the exploit the situation to blacken our image in the army lifted curfews on eight locations including Nablus, the largest city in the occupied West Bank where 125,000 Arabs have been confined to their homes since severe riots on Jan. 31. Curfews remained in force in a half- dozen West Bank villages and refugee camps where 65,000 Palestinians live. The daily Hadashot reported today that a group of soldiers and one settler from Elon Moreh beat four Palestinians from the village of Salem north of Jerusalem and then used a tractor to dump dirt on them. "They ordered us to lie with our faces to the ground and two soldiers stepped on our backs so we wouldn't move," the newspaper quoted one of the four, Adb el-Megid Hamdan, as saying.

"I heard the officer, I think his name was Charlie, tell the tractor driver: 'Let's go, move on "I felt the tractor throw a big pile of wet sand and rocks on us. He did it two or three times," Hamdan was quoted as saying. "I couldn't breathe. I just remember that people came from the village, pulled us out of the pile and poured water on us." An Israeli army spokesman said he had no immediate comment on the report, which he said was still under investigation. Arab demonstrators clashed Tuesday with Israeli security forces in scattered protests in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.

An army officer opened fire to disperse protesters in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, wounding a 16-year-old youth in the leg, military officials said. The army also said it was investigating Arab reports that a 17-year-old Gaza City resident, Fuad Tarazi, died Tuesday after being beaten while in army custody. According to U.N. figures, 51 Arabs have been killed at the hands of Israelis since anti-Israeli protests began Dec. 8.

Most of the casualties were caused by army gunfire. EyBARRYSCmVElD AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) Three- quarters of the Soviet troops in Afghanistan could be withdrawn from the war-torn country over six months under a new proposal, from Moscow being warmly received by Secretary of State George P. Shultz. But forming an interim government to oversee the Red Army's pullout could be difficult, Shultz said Tuesday. The U.S.armed Afghan rebels, who have fought Soviet troops for more than eight years, "are not ready to accept positions in a government run by Mr.

Najibullah," the Soviet-backed leader in Kabul, Shultz said. "It is difficult to imagine how an interim regime is going to be put together," Shuitz said in an interview with radio reporters. Soviet General Secretary Mikhail S. Gorbachev offered on Monday to begin the pullout on May 15 if negotiations held under United Nations auspices produced a settlement by March 15. He said the pullout could begin even earlier if there were a quicker agreement.

"I was glad to see his statement," Shultz said. "It's one more indication that the Soviets do intend to withdraw from Afghanistan. And that's something we have sought since they went in in the first place" in December 1979. The a i i a i rosy assessment coincided with an announcement by U.N. mediator Diego Cordovez in Islamabad, Pakistan, that a virtual agreement had been reached to end the Soviet Union's occupation.

Pakistani and Afghan government officials would meet in Geneva for a new round of indirect peace talks on March 2 to "fill in the blanks" of the Soviets' disengagement, the mediator said. Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press the Soviets were discussing a withdrawal of three- quarters of their troops within 180 days of the beginning of the pullout. U.S. aid to the resistance would end simultaneously with the onset of a Soviet troop withdrawal.

In the first 90- day stage, the official said, half the 120,000 troops Shultz estimated ace in Afghanistan would depart. In the second 90-day stage, another quarter, or about 30,000 troops, would leave. The official stressed that this was all "propositional" still subject to further negotiations and that in any event the United States was trying to shorten the overall schedule. Referring to Gorbachev's proposal of 10 months, Shultz said, "We'd like to see the timetable shorter, and we don't see any reason why they couldn't be put by the end of the year if they start in the middle of May." He said Gorbachev had accepted his call for "front-end loading" getting so many troops out early that the withdrawal is irreversible. Shultz said the Soviets have let it be known that "their decision to withdraw is independent of whatever may happen to the government'' in Kabul.

"Their troops are having great difficulty there, and they are suffering losses," Shultz said. The U.S. estimate is about 20,000 deaths. Earlier, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater called the offer to remove troops "a very good step in the right direction." Fitzgerald Story To be Published NEW YORK (AP) A bitter tale written by F. Scott Fitzgerald three years before his death but never published is a herald of black humor and offers new insight into his days of despair, according to literary scholars.

"It's a Woody Allen joke that was 50 years ahead of its time," said Stephen Ferguson, curator of rare books and special collections at the Princeton Library. "A Full Life," written in 1937 but rejected by Redbook magazine and then lost for 40 years, will make its print debut next week, The New York Times reported today. Meese Plans to Close PLO Offices in U.S. SITKA HARDWARE VARIETY STORE For your Valentine-- Garden Supplies Arriving in our upstairs store: '88 Deluxe Table Gat Barbecues. Open Sundays 12-4 Bank Cards Welcome Cotter, Visa MasterCard By BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) Attorney General Edwin Meese III will close the Palestine Liberation Organization's observer mission to the United Nations in New York despite reservations from the State Department, congressional and other sources said today.

Meese concluded that legislation adopted by Congress last December should be binding on him even though the status of the mission under international law was unclear, the sources said. Now in Spain, he had planned to announce the decision on Friday or early next week, but the sources, demanding anonymity, told The Associated Press he had come down on the side of Congress even though Abraham D. Sofaer, the legal adviser at the State Department, had raised concerns about the impact. Gonzaga Gets Funds to Open Indian Center SPOKANE (AP) Gonzaga University has received a $454,000 federal contract to start a center that will work with Indians in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska to bolster education programs. Staff members of the Indian Education Leadership Center will work with parents, school officials and leaders on reservations.

The center will offer workshops and respond to requests for help in developing programs. "What is quite harmful on reservations is the lack of jobs and economic opportunities," Lorraine Misiaszek, the center's director, said Monday. "There's a sense of being at a dead end for the young people," she said. "They see no future. There seems to be nothing to inspire them, to keep them in school." The center will work with groups receiving funds through the Indian Education Act.

The PLO's information office in Washington was ordered closed last year by the department, but the House, by a 365 to 49 vote, and the Senate, by an overwhelming voice vote, insisted on closing the mission in New York as well. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, headed by Assistant Attorney General Charles Cooper, has, ruled that the law Congress enacted late last year in this case is overriding, according to department sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. Cooper is Attorney General Edwin Meese Ill's legal adviser. FINAL WINTER All Winter Fashion Sale Merchandise marked down another Hurry! Last Three Days! Dresses Pants Shirts Sweaters MORE 1 DAY ONLY! Saturday, Feb.13 Your Choice of Entrees- Children's Menu will be available! Reservations Accepted: 966-2480 Special Valentine Dinner- Aii Dinners include appetizer soup, salad and a slice of our famous Nugget pie! BfTCEES: (your choice of baked potato or rice pilaf fresh vegetable) 8 oz. roasted to perfection Chicken Bteast breast with wine, mushrooms and herbs Pernod local prawns In tomato garlic sauce and Pernod Liqueur Mlnleure white wine, lemon and butter Saute Zucchini, lemon, white wine and Parmesan cheese Baked Halibut halibut Wet with shrimp sauce Prawnt local prawns in a spicy Calun stole sauce Hied breaded and deep fried.

Dine with us before going to the SJ Dance!.