The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 10

A-1 0 The Orlando Sentinel, Monday, January 22, 1990 Noriega's hidden riches may reach $300 million i TAPE EWKBUVUE BDEPMSTSUIlEEinrS COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS mm EACH VHS ONLY PREVIOUSLY VIEWED OVER 1,000 TAPES TO CHOOSE FROM NEW RELEASES CLASSICS DRAMA COMEDY MORE! ALL SALES ARE FINAL AVAILABLE ONLY AT RITE AID VIDEO RENTAL DEPARTMENTS WHILE SUPPLIES LAST ASSOCIATED PRESS Members of an Army medic battalion were all smiles Sunday. They were aboard a plane to take them from Panama to Fort Ord, Calif. PANAMA CITY, Panama U.S. investigators have uncovered evidence to suggest that the fortune amassed by Manuel Noriega during his years in power may total as much as $300 million, according to Panamanian officials and U.S. sources here.

Among hundreds of bank accounts and pieces of property worldwide believed linked to the ousted dictator is a $27 million castle in the South of France held in the name of Vicky Amado, 35, Noriega's mistress, the sources said. The indication of the vastness of the Noriega holdings has sent a quiet reverberation of hope throughout the financially strapped government of President Guillermo Endara. The regime's grim economic outlook is compounded by new concerns that as little as half of the $400 million in government funds frozen by the United States during the Noriega years may ultimately be returned to Panama. Seeking to seize on the new opportunity, the government plans as early as today to stake a formal claim to the Noriega wealth and to announce plans to mount a legal effort to win possession of the holdings, Controller-General Ruben Carles said over the weekend. Carles and other officials cautioned that the estimate of the holdings is a preliminary one and TlfMf PRINTS II IV and Chinese citizens desperate to leave their countries.

Meanwhile, a month after the U.S. invasion of Panama, American soldiers are becoming less visible as Panama's new Public Force takes over security duties. Only a few soldiers remain in front of the Vatican Embassy, where one of Noriega's confederates is still holed up. According to the U.S. military's Panama-based Southern Command, there are now about 17,500 U.S.

troops in Panama, down from a peak of 26,000 a few days after the invasion Dec. 20. Hundreds more are being withdrawn at regular intervals, with the aim of reducing U.S. strength here to its pre-invasion level of about 12,000, U.S. officials said.

said that it is by no means certain that the sum, made up in large part of property and accounts bearing the names of others, can conclusively be tied to Noriega. But all of the sources, who were briefed by U.S. officials involved in the effort to track down the Noriega funds, said that investigators had found solid evidence of a Noriega connection to a vast range of suspect holdings throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States and had indicated that the value of the assets may reach $300 million. The sources also said that the United States now believes that Noriega acquired a significant portion of the total in the last two years by selling Panamanian visas at monumental prices to Cuban MOW WHEN YOU HAVE ANY C-41 PROCESS PRINT FILM DEVELOPED AT RITE AID EVERY DAY LOW PRICES! WV1 BiulMl if FINAL NET HJ UMO CDDAV Urol Ariane rocket carries aloft 7 satellites World's top commercial launcher successfully deploys cargo 189 I 8 02., GBL-4 07., MOUSSE OR SPRITZ-6 OZ. COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS SUAVE SHAMPOO OR CONDITIONER Suave Suave JL 16 OZ.

A0SEPT DISINFECTION NEUTRALIZATION SOLUTION VISINE EYE DROPS Vi OZ. Visine 5 fe NEUTROGENA COTTONELLE BATHROOM TISSUE 4 PACK ARRID EXTRA DRY ANTIPERSPIRANT DEODORANT 6 0Z. SPRAY HAND CREAM 2 0Z. (eta ASSOCIATED PRESS Columbia's robot arm approaches from the left as the shuttle moves in to snare the LDEF satellite in a photo NASA released on Sunday. AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST 14 jjrf SCOTTIES FACIAL TISSUE 200'S Crews ready Columbia for trip to Florida COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS 93' TUMS ANTACID TABLETS 75 OR E-X 48'S O.B.

TAMPONS 3srs AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST KOUROU, French Guiana An Ariane 4 rocket blasted off Sunday night from the European Space Agency's jungle launch pad, carrying a French Earth observation satellite and six smaller satellites for U.S. and British clients. The 35th Ariane rocket lifted off the launch pad on the northern coast of South America at 10:35 p.m. The launch had been scheduled Saturday night, but heavy cloud cover forced a 24-hour postponement. Less than half an hour after the launch, Arianespace officials announced that all the satellites were placed successfully in orbit.

It was the first time the new generation Ariane 4 rocket was flown without extra strap-on boosters since the rocket went into service last year. Ariane shots have become routine, and the reliability of the program has made Arianespace the world's leading provider of commercial launch services, holding more than 50 percent of the lucrative international market. Arianespace has a backlog of at least 32 payloads. Sunday's launch carried into orbit the French-designed Spot 2 Earth observation satellite, which will replace the Spot 1. Among the six rnicrosatellites were a 26-pound Microsat for the U.S.-based International Association of Amateur Radio Operators, AMSAT, and an 88-pound Uosat telecommunications satellite for the University of Surrey in Guildford, England.

With a launch scheduled for Tuesday, Japan hopes to join an elite club in space technology by becoming the third nation to send a spacecraft to the moon. If successful, the Muses-A will be the first spacecraft to visit the moon since the Soviet Union landed the unmanned vehicle Luna 24 on its surface in 1976. The United States is the only other nation that has sent spacecraft to Earth's closest neighbor. Officials of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, or ISAS, said the launch will develop technology needed for exploration of other planets, including precise control of orbits and high-efficiency data transmission from distant satellites to Earth. The three-stage solid-fuel rocket, an M3S-2 made by Nissan Motor Co.

that stands 92 feet tall, will be carrying two satellites a large mother satellite that is to orbit the Earth and a smaller moon orbiter. Meanwhile, China's Great Wall Foundation has been chosen to launch an Arab communications satellite, the official Xinhua News Agency said Sunday. The satellite will be launched at the end of 1991 for the Arab Organization for Satellite Communications, a network that groups Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Morocco, Iraq, Syria and Jordan. SiSmJ ly YOU COULD BE SAVING UP TO 50 ON YOUR NEXT PRESCRIPTION WITH GENERIC DRUGS ASK YOUR RITE AID PHARMACIST FOR COMPLETE DETAILS WE ACCEPT OUT-OF-TOWN PRESCRIPTION REFILLS While you are oe vacation, Rite Aid will be happy te call year physician to refill your out-ot-towe proscriptions. Some restrictions apply.

Beverage Price plus deposit where required by law. PRICES EFFECTIVE JANUARY 22 THRU 28, 1990 WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIMIT QUANTITIES BUDWEISER COKE BEER REG. OR LIGHT LANCE CORN CHIPS PLAIN Oft BBQ 8 OZ BAG CORN CHIPS i 03 89 2 LITER BOTTLE 2 6 PACK 12 OZ CANS EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. Ground crews worked Sunday to prepare space shuttle Columbia and its cargo an 11-ton space lab for a piggyback jet ride to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle begins the trip Thursday, NASA spokeswoman Patricia Phillips said.

"The work is proceeding very well," she said. "The orbiter appears to be very healthy, as does LDEF." She was referring to the Long Duration Exposure Facility, as the rescued laboratory satellite is called. She said the number of "dings" found on the orbiter's heat-shield tiles was below average and remained the same as counted Saturday: 85 dings smaller than 1 inch, eight larger ones and one tile requiring replacement. Most of the tile damage is on a part of Columbia that faces an access panel to the shuttle's external fuel tank, which was jettisoned from the shuttle as it headed into space after its launch, Phillips said. Officials said Columbia's braking system will be scrutinized since the shuttle was carrying a heavier load than usual.

The shuttle, carrying five crew members and LDEF, landed Saturday after setting a record of UAY HOT BE AVAILABLE IN ALL STORES MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE IN ALL STORES ASSOCIATED PRESS Astronaut Brandenstein holds inflated cake on birthday in space. nearly 11 days in orbit. The shuttle blasted off Jan. 9 from Cape Canaveral. During their space voyage, Columbia's crew also deployed a Navy communications satellite.

LDEF's key experiments relate to the effects of space travel on hardware and are expected to prove useful in constructing the space station Freedom and developing Strategic Defense Initiative weapons systems, said William Kinard, the LDEF program's chief scientist. Data from LDEF's long voyage probably will be analyzed throughout the decade, he said. "This data has really been enhanced by it being up there 5V4 years," Kinard said. Although the satellite showed signs of wear when it was retrieved on the mission's fourth day, it appears none of the experiments was lost, Kinard said. The satellite would have fallen out of orbit in March had Columbia not snared it.

The satellite will not be removed from Columbia's cargo bay until after the shuttle returns to Florida on Friday night, riding atop a modified Boeing 747. KEYSTONE MOLSON BEER BEER mrmmn IFSjlIl Off LIGHT 12PACK-120Z. CANS WnrmiM regular, fc-tcar ACQ NOT ALL PACKAGES AVAILABLE IN ALL FLAVORS Beverage Price plue deposit where required by law 6 PACK 12 OZ. BOTTLES 12 PACK 12 OZ. CANS 33 UAY NOT BE AVAILABLE IN ALL STOKES HAY NOT BE AVAILABLE IN ALL STORES RITE AID DISCOUNT PHARMACIES WINTER PARK DELTONA 0EIIONA PLAZA PH.

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