The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 1

ffefii Hlfiili I A SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 1997 No. 49,728 FIRST PUBLISHED 1831 228 PAGES $1.30 Gore Vidak Scott Hicks Steffi Graf's The David Man-interview SPECTRUM SELLING OF SHINE NEWS REVIEW 1 pMLsl 1 breaking ihaifteg? If point 1 fiSdhi I spectrum 1 ft- 11 COLUMN 8 Accused pedophile Bell arrested 1992 before alibi evidence from several witnesses led to the case being no-billed. The royal commission has heard from 10 boys as young as 1 Ion whom Bell allegedly preyed in Sydney in the 1970s and 1980s. Of the boys who came under Bell's influence, one had moved into heroin trafficking and spent four years in jail; one had a series of nervous breakdowns; another suffered a stroke induced by stress. in Albania in April last year, was present when the arrest took place about 1 1.30 am local time.

The former Sydney businessman was held pending the use of provisional extradition warrants in relation to alleged pedophile activities in NSW. Early this morning South African and NSW police were still searching the house in which he was found. Bell has been sought on an international warrant issued in April last year when secret and said Interpol had been "stalking" Bell for several weeks on the country's east coast Craig Urquart, a reporter on Johannesburg's Saturday Star, said Interpol had disturbed the Christmas lunch of the South African President, Mr Mandela, to secure a "surrender warrant" which would ensure Bell's extradition to Australia should he be arrested. Urquart said the director of Interpol in South Africa, Mr David Bruce, told him Bell Bill Cosby's tribute to murdered son: ls4 I would appear in Jeffreys Bay Court, probably today, where the agency would apply to have him sent to Pretoria to face extradition procedures. This would take some days.

At least one member of the NSW police task force Indus, set up to compile evidence after Bell vanished from his then base Every parent's nightmare Iexia before making special education his field of interest, earning a master's degree in 1995, had been a constant source of material for his father's comic routines. The tales of life with his son yielded some of Cosby's most touching and human comedy. Ennis was Theo Huxtable, the TV son on the hugely popular series The Cosby Show. He was Ljlil -ff 1 my hero' above, was killed. Photo by reuters freeway and was apparently shot for unknown reasons," a police spokesman said.

The killing was at first portrayed as a robbery attempt, but police have said there did not appear to be anything missing from the car. Reports yesterday suggested that Ennis had been on his way to visit a female friend in Los Continued Page 19 IT SEEMED to be a mistake, but it wasn't When a leaflet landed on our desk from a cleaning service at Gosford, we thought do they really mean "false" or I ppCUS CLEANING SERVICES tl t'l Tf "lnlng and WE RANG their number. Yes, said Duygu Kandemir, who helps run the service, they meant to be but didn't realise its literal meaning. When a group of Turkish friends started the business about a month ago, they chose "Bogus" because someone had heard it in a movie and thought it meant The movie? Bill Ted's Excellent Adventure. Aficionados of the Bill Ted series are divided on whether "it's real bogus, man" is a positive or negative.

They suggest Bodacious! or Excellent! Cleaning Services. We wish Bogus lots of business. Their name is sure to get customers' attention. STROLLING along the banks of the Thames at Windsor, Roger Anderson, of Dundas, found this sign: Assistance will be given at River Street car park office to persons who have fallen in the river. THAT is, drag yourself out, slosh around to the office, and they'll rescue you.

JOHN Rotenstein, of Chats-wood, got one of those gloomy MBF letters that started, "The cost of healthcare in Australia has increased significantly in the last year and rates for private healthcare cover will be rising It announced a "restructuring" of contributions. His hospital cover "will change from $637.05 to $635.90 each Says John: "If only everything went up in negative amounts." APOSTROPHE Man, on long-service leave, returns only to do battle with gross misuse or absence of that little tadpole. That's why he was brandishing the full-page Optus ad on Page 9 yesterday which said, in 2cm-high letters: If your not with Optus Long Distance ANNE Hickman, of Rosebery, who has been watching the one-day cricket on TV, has a theory: At the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Mexican waves go clockwise, while at the MCG, they fo anti-clockwise, just like the orse races. Watch for it AN EARLY-moraing Balgow-lah Heights dog-walker tells us there's a resident who takes his bicycle at dawn to Tania Park, facmg out to the Heads, puts it on a stand, and cycles away while watching the sunrise over the ocean. Fitness, safety and inner peace.

on OE2 and World Air onif $3364 negotiations with the Police Royal Commission to persuade him to give evidence, either in person or by video link, from overseas broke down. At the time the Royal Commissioner, Justice Wood, revealed that he had rejected a plea for indemnity from solicitors for Bell in exchange for information about an alleged "pedophile brotherhood" that had operated in Sydney under police protection. After the arrest warrant was Cosby and his wife leave for Los belief that the suspect is a white male, police are trying to solve the -case quickly. A spokesman for the LAPD, who described Bill Cosby as having been "extremely upset" but also "very coherent" when told of his son's death, said he had asked police to "do anything possible to find and locate and prosecute the Ennis Cosby is believed to three months of exposure to HIV probably makes more difference than anything else you ever do," he said. The long-term impact of the new treatments remains unclear, but there are already signs that they are having major benefits, although not everyone is responding to them.

Some patients cannot have i 1 Mv By JENNIFER COOKE One of Australia's most wanted men, the alleged pedophile Philip Bell, was arrested last night in South Africa after an 18-month worldwide police hunt Bell, 62, was arrested at Jeffreys Bay, a famous surfing beach near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, at 8.30 pm Sydney time on behalf of NSW police on 215 warrants involving 29 people aged between 12 and 17. Newspaper sources in Johannesburg confirmed the arrest Super League wants peace by 1998 By STEVE MASCORD Rugby league moved towards a reunited competition in 1998 after the chief executive of Super League, Mr John Ribot, said yesterday he was willing to reopen peace talks with the Australian Rugby League. Speaking after Mr Kerry Packer's Nine Network secured free-to-air television rights to the News Ltd-backed league, Mr Ribot said the two competitions were now "more And senior sources said Super League's agreement with ABC for Sunday television rights, announced yesterday, had been limited to 1997 in the hope of a united competition, shown by Nine, next year. "I've said over the last few months that we're all compromised out," Mr Ribot said. "But I think this announcement now has made the product more compatible, the product being the ARL and Super League.

"There's every opportunity we can talk because we're now not having a fight" Super League's strategic sue-, cess in wresting control of the lucrative Monday night football concept from the ARL has made it apparent that any compromise would heavily, favour the new competition. While the ARL's deal with Nine runs out in 2000 the same year as its financial support from Optus Vision sources said yesterday the free-to-air network's agreement with Super League was for between eight and 12 years. It is understood that all Super League rights will revert to Nine next year in the event of a merged competition. The ARL broadcaster Optus Vision has pledged $170 million over five years to the ARL. Resolving this deal appears the only major obstacle to a peaceful resolution to the 21 -month-old fight for control of the code.

Optus Vision was defiant yesterday, publicly throwing its full weight behind the ARL. In a statement, the network said: "The Channel Nine deal is unlikely to provide Super League with enough visibility to kickstart the competition, i "Optus Vision is extremely confident that the ARL's position as the premier competition will be maintained." Mr Ribot did not' know whether Foxtel would allow Optus to televise games in a united competition. But he ruled out any compromise in time for the start of Super League's season February 28 or a "Super Bowl" style game this year between winners of the rival competitions. Any talks between the leagues, he said, would progress "over a period of Super League expressed dismay when, after its Federal Court victory in October, the Continued Page 11 PAGE 11: Born in sleepy NZ bay; Peter FitzSimons. PAGE 57: ARL threat to break Nine contract llAMr ISSN 0312-6315 Delivery issued, Bell was soon found to be living in Albania with a 15-year-old boy shortly after being seen in the Swiss resort of Gstaad.

It is believed he had been moving about between boltholes in Europe, South Africa, and Brazil while sensational evidence of his alleged activities with young boys was being heard in the royal commission last year. In late 1991 Bell was charged with 13 counts of sexual abuse of one young boy and was committed for trial in February 'He was Angeles after their son, Ennis, have been killed by a single shot to the head soon after midnight on Wednesday. His body was found beside his Mercedes Benz sedan, which had its emergency lights flashing, on an exit ramp from the San Diego freeway. Tyre-changing equipment and wheel nuts were near the body. "He apparently experienced a flat tyre, pulled his car off the the run the treatments, either because of side-effects or they cannot tolerate so many tablets a day.

Meanwhile, the Sydney Star Observer newspaper, which once ran dozens of AIDS obituaries each week, now sometimes has none. Anecdotes abound of people who had been seriously ill recovering and returning to work. Mr Bill Whittaker, treatments spokesman for the National Association of People with HTVAIDS, said there were reports from around the world of a dramatic improvement In one instance, the Boston AIDS Hospice had closed. "Of course, the unknown is how long this will be sustained, but I think one can be cautiously optimistic," he said. However, Mr Whittaker said the change had been traumatic for some, who had been suddenly faced with the prospect of rebuilding their lives after they had been preparing for death.

"A lot of people had thought, 'I probably have only a year or two and I'm going to make the most of it'. They can see they may have to adjust their finances if they are going to live on." SPECTRUM 8: Maverick MD. ROAD TOLL 36 Last year 15 Phone 7 1 Classified .9282 1122 By ALAN ATTW00D Herald Correspondent in New York, and agencies Through his TV shows and books, Bill Cosby became America's favourite father. Now he is living every parent's nightmare -the violent death of a child. Early on Thursday morning, Cosby's only son, Ennis, was shot dead on a freeway on the outskirts of Los Angeles, apparently while changing a tyre.

He was 27. Late that night Cosby and his wife, Camille, emerged from their Manhattan apartment and faced a barrage of flash-bulbs before leaving to fly to Los Angeles. Earlier, wearing a cap and looking older than his 59 years, Cosby said of his son, who was studying for a doctorate in special education at New York's Columbia University: "He was my hero." In a statement released on behalf of the family, he said: "We have every confidence in the LAPD. Our hearts go out to each and every family that such an incident occurs to. This is a life experience that's truly difficult to share." Cosby, who has been in New York filming a new series, Cosby, has four daughters -Erika, Erinn, Ensa and Evin.

Ennis was the middle child. He said once that all his children's names started with "for Ennis, who overcame dys- Cheers, By MELISSA SWEET Medical Writer John Dearman has spent the past year in "limbo wondering if the scores of tablets he downs each day have fought off HIV, which he contracted just over a year ago but has been undetectable in his blood since March. Next month, he hopes to find out whether he might become the first person to have successfully eradicated HIV as a result of multi-drug treatment beginning soon after infection. Doctors will test samples from his lymph glands, eye fluid and spinal fluid to determine whether HIV is lurking there. If he gets the all clear, the 36-year-old plans to stop treatment to see if the virus bounces back.

Mr Dearman is one of a few dozen people in the world who have been monitored for more than a year after beginning multi-drug treatment soon after infection. Many experts believe treatment will have the most impact when the body is mounting a major immune attack on the virus during initial exposure, or seroconversion. Weather TODAY Sydney America's beloved comedian Bill the sly adolescent whose first words on turning 16 were, allegedly: "Wanna Porsche." He was the kid who shaved his head for no reason and tormented his sisters with wet towels. He was, in short and though they scarcely knew him America's son. Because of Bill Cosby's status as one of America's most prominent black people and the Sis I to the man who has HIV on An Atlantic Crossing.

His GP, Dr Cassy Workman, was criticised by colleagues when she first began aggressive treatment of "seroconverters" two years ago, but further evidence of its benefits is expected to emerge at an international conference in the United States next week. The director of the Community HIV Research Network at the University of NSW, Dr Don Smith, said: "If this patient of Cassy's stops treatment and clears the virus, this would be a world first, it would be up there with the world's major scientific discoveries. But it's a big if Mr Dearman knows that stopping treatment would be a gamble, but he is desperate to nd the uncertainty of the past year and keen to help advance knowledge. "It's not just my own situation that I want to resolve," he said, "but it is also a first step towards offering hope to others." His case symbolises mounting hopes that hitting HIV soon after initial infection may alter the course of the disease, perhaps turning it into a chronic infection instead of a terminal illness. Dr Workman said: "Even if we can never get rid of the virus, Six nifAfa Round the package from Hitting the virus early and often John Dearman displays five days' worth of tablets.

Photograph by peter rae we should at least be able to make patients stay well longer." Dr Smith, who is helping conduct an international trial of treatment at seroconversion, involving eight Australians, said there had recently been a major shift towards recommending treatment as soon as possible after infection. "What you do in the first Experience the golden age of elegance, romance and service that only QE2 provides, for six unforgettable nights, while sailing between New York and Southampton. Call your licensed AFTA travel agent or Cunard on (02) 9956 7777. INSIDE Festival Diary CLASSIFIED Entertainment 6 19 News Review 33 Employment 8.1 Arts Spectrum 13-14 90 Section no in bold Herald 112 Books Spectrum9-12 OperaHse Spectl8 Full Index 3 90 MotorMarket 3 59 Business 91-97 Sport 49-58 Auctions general ..4 101 Personal Notices. .3 90 18 to 24.

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