Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 1

The Edmonton Sprinter voted top headliner Canada A3 Your letters to Santa Jr. Journal C11 QjJ 50 Cents (Metro Only) MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1988 Edmonton man in Indian jail under anti-terrorist law By MATTHEW McCLURE Journal Staff Writer An Edmonton man has been in an Indian "I expect the press accounts of charges are probably true." Jagdev Sohi said an officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and External Affairs officials have spoken to him about his brother's situation. He said the CSIS officer told him on Friday that External Affairs had requested the security agency do a background check on his brother, presumably to see if there is any foundation to the allegations by Indian police. Although local policitians Gerry Gibeault and David Kilgour have written letters to External Affairs and India in an effort to spur Amarjit's release, Jagdev said he is frustrated the Canadian government can't do more to help. "It's a helpless feeling," said the 38-year-old oil sands electrician.

Family and friends insist they have never seen Amarjit handle or fire a gun, and feel the claims by Indian police are ridiculous. They say he is an executive member of Edmonton's Punjabi Literary Society, a Sikh organization whose stated aim is harmonious relations in India between Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. allegations against Sohi maintain he was in possession of a handgun at the time of his arrest, and that he had returned to India to instruct Sikh extremists after receiving special terrorist training in Canada. His arrest has attracted the attention of India's national newspapers, with some press accounts stating he was tortured in an interrogation centre prior to being placed in jail. Human rights groups in the country have made demands for Sohi's release and provided him with a lawyer.

Gar Pardee who oversees Canada's relations with India at External Affairs said in Ottawa on Sunday he is unsure about whether Sohi has been charged and about the circumstances surrounding his arrest. "Our problem is we have no standing because he is still an Indian citizen," he said. "There is little we can do besides inquiring about his welfare and ensuring he has a lawyer." Allan Jones, an official with the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, said today Indian government officials have told him Sohi is in jail, but he has been unable to confirm whether charges have been laid. prison for more than a month amid allegations he was involved in terrorist activity. I There are also conflicting reports on whether charges have been laid against 25-year-old Amarjit Sohi.

A landed immigrant who has studied and worked in Edmonton for the last seven years, Sohi returned to his native Punjab in April to visit his parents. His family says as part of his extended stay he attended a human rights conference of teachers, artists and intellectuals in the distant Bihar area in early November. Press reports say he stayed on in the area after the conference to visit friends, and ended up being arrested along with 26 others under the country's an ti-terrorism legislation. Under the severe legislation passed several years ago by the Indian Parliament to deal with growing disruptions in the Punjab region, Sohi can be held for up to two years before police decide whether to lay charges. Indian press sources say the current V- PICTURE: Larry Wong Jagdev Sohi holds a picture of his jailed brother Amarjit Sohi also: prisoner's niece Sandy Solii, sister-in-law Rajinder and nephew Jaspal French only outdoors Ml Sunny.

High near -2. Chance of precipitation 20 per cent. Tuesday: cloudy. Low near -12, high near -8. Chance of precipitation 10 per cent.

Details C6 Quebec to override charters of rights with new sign law si 1 fiaack, Ms a. AMtyA ami 6 shopping days until Christmas -a- Journal i i.n (tldmition Christmas 1 Casl; Total Christmas Card Exhibit, Edmonton Art Gallery, 10:30 a.m. 5 p.m. Sexton of Dingley Dell, Nexus Theatre, 12:05 p.m. Citizen of the Year It's that time of year again when The Journal is on the lookout for its seventh annual Citizen1 of the Year.

We need your help. We're looking for someone in central or northern Alberta whose dedication, compassion and service stands apart the kind of person who. by his or her selfless actions, has helped improve the quality of life for others. Send your nominations to the Edmonton Journal. Citizen of the Year.

Box 2421. Edmonton. T5J 2S6. before Jan. 3.

We'll publish excerpts from the nominations on our Opinionletters page and announce trie winners in January. World A resurgence of drug activity threatens to turn Mexico into another Colombia. A12 But, he added: "I cannot commit myself to a calendar because I don't know what will be the level of cultural insecurity in Quebec." Bourassa delivered an emotional appeal to the anglophone members of his caucus to remain in his government, saying, "We need you." But it was not known whether his words would be sufficient to head off resignations. A drawn-looking Clifford Lincoln, minister of the environment, told reporters that he is considering his future. Shortly before Bourassa announced the government's decision, about 9,000 people packed an arena in Montreal to give the premier their message: Quebec is French and must remain so.

NDP to city: no union, no convention By NORM OVENDEN and DIANA COULTER Journal Staff Writers OTTAWA Edmonton's bid to host the NDP's national convention next summer was rejected because the convention centre isn't unionized. Instead, about 2,000 New Democrats, their families and a sizable media crowd will meet in Winnipeg Aug. 10-13 to debate, organize, party and spend money. The NDP had decided to hold its 1989 biannual national meeting in the West, largely because 33 of the party's 43 MPs elected Nov. 21 came from northern or Western Canada.

Meeting in Ottawa this weekend, the party executive selected the Manitoba capital ahead of Vancouver, said Rod Murphy, the New Democrat caucus whip. Convention facilities in both those cities are unionized. "Edmonton was one of our three targeted sites," but it was quickly rejected because the convention centre staff doesn't belong to unions, Murphy said Sunday. A high percentage of the 1,200 NDP delegates will represent unions or are union members, Murphy said. "They fought to keep their unions.

It's hard for us to choose something else." Convention centre manager Ekkehard Kolesch said the party's decision concerned him "because we don't like to lose business for any reason." Don Aitken of the Alberta Federation of Labor said Sunday he'd just returned from the New Democrat meeting in Ottawa and was disappointed but not surprised by the outcome. "I would have liked to see it here but I sympathize with their decision because it is based on party policy." QUEBEC (CP) The Quebec government will override the provincial and federal charters of rights to continue its ban on languages other French on signs outside stores. But the government will allow merchants to post bilingual signs indoors. "To govern is to choose," a tense and tired Premier Robert Bourassa told a Sunday afternoon news conference. "We are not happy to impose that solution" in response to the Supreme Court of Canada judgment last Thursday that struck down Quebec's French-only sign law, Bourassa said after a hectic weekend of meetings with party members, cabinet and caucus.

Protest in Montreal A3 Albertans blast decision B1 The government is "asking an enormous concession" from the province's English-speaking minority, said Bourassa, who is facing his most difficult political test since the election of his Liberal party three years ago. But he explained that francophone Quebecers are still too insecure about the future of their language for the government to allow bilingual signs outside stores. Opposition Parti Quebecois house leader Guy Chevrette denounced the plan, saying the government has taken the most "pernicious and hypocritical route to the anglicization of Quebec." Chevrette criticized the premier for not providing more details about the legislation, and questioned how it would be applied. What, for example, would be the status of a bilingual sign visible through the front window of a store? What about stores inside malls? Royal Orr, president of the English-rights lobby, Alliance Quebec, condemned the decision to override fundamental freedoms established in Quebec's own charter of rights. Orr said the Bourassa government's moral convictions should have outweighed its legal right to use the "notwithstanding" clauses in the two rights charters.

"You and your government are without principle, without the courage to do what is right, and without the quality and integrity of leadership which command respect," he said. Bourassa spent all weekend in intense discussions with the cabinet and caucus trying to prevent a damaging split in the party and a walkout by anglophone members. Bourassa wanted to work out a compromise that would please hardline elements in his caucus who wanted no changes to the sign law, as well as anglophones who urged the government to live up to a 1985 electoral pledge to allow bilingual signs inside and outside stores. Bourassa, whose Liberals lost power to the Parti Quebecois in 1976 partly because of language unrest, held out hope that one day there might be no ban on languages other than French on outside commercial signs. PICTURE: Ken Orr Christmas pledges pour in Bureau radiothon.

More than 50 guests donated time and talent to the five-hour show broadcast on CBC Radio to raise money for the needy. Story Bl. The Journal's Bub Slug greets Santa Claus in a rather unorthodox way Sunday as they show off pledges received Sunday in the Christmas SNORES AS LOUD AS TRAIN VANCOUVER (CP) Whenever Mark Hebbard nodded off, he was technically breaking the law. But the suburban Richmond man didn't lose any sleep over that. Unless somebody beats him soon, he'll appear in the 1990 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records for the loudest snoring in the world.

Hebbard, who has since had an operation to dramatically quiet his snoring, ranked with subways, motorcycles and lawnmowers, according to testing carried out at the University of British Columbia. He came in at a constant 90 decibels about 20 decibels below a power saw or rock music band. A Vancouver bylaw tolerates 80 decibels. Hebbard, a senior system analyst at B.C. Sugar in Vancouver described his noisy affliction in a letter to Guinness.

"I did not realize how severe my snoring was until it was compared to (Vancouver's) Automated Light Rapid Transit System which registers at 86 decibels." (iuinness deputy editor Alex Reid replied: "Thank you for writing and congratulations on your accomplishment." Aiberta Ann Landers B7 Bmgos B10 Births C3 Bridge C6 Business B5 Cam Cole 01 Canada A3 City B1 Comics C7 Crossword C5 Deaths C2 Ooonesbury A4 Entertainment B8 Frank Hutton B5 Horoscope C5 John Brown A7 Junior Journal 1 Lifestyle B6 Opinion A6 Patterns C5 People A4 Science Sportsweek D1 Television B8 Viewpoint A7 Weather C6 World CLASSIFIED AOS Index C3 Order torm C7 Auctions C10 Employment C3-5 Legals C10 Mini Market C6 Real Estate C6-9 Tenders CIO Vehicles C9-11 The Journal Information C2 Phone numbers. C2 Crew sang, prayed on 'longest night' Greenhouse effect chic The summer of 1988 made the term 'greenhouse effect' a household word. There were floods in Bangladesh, hurricane Gilbert in the Caribbean, a heat wave in the east, drought in the west and fires in Yellowstone. HERMAN 1 MiP into an enclosed fibreglass survival capsule, before being brought aboard the Smit London tug boat. Upon docking Sunday, they were quickly rushed to Victoria General hospital, briefly treated and released to their waiting families.

Some of the men and women, all in their 20s and early 30s, told how they sang Fare Thee Well to Nova Scotia to distract them from their worries, and cracked jokes. And they said prayers. "I think the Lord's phone was ringing off the hook that day," said Tim Matheson. Darryl Smith of Yarmouth said he would return to the offshore rigs but would never again cross the Atlantic under tow. "I won't let him do it again," agreed his wife Carolyn, who said she spent three sleepness nights awaiting her husband's safe return.

All spoke of the skill and calm that characterized the escape from the $90-million rig into an enclosed fibreglass capsule as 15-to-20-metre waves crashed around. It was still not clear why the rig only five-years old and given a clean bill of health by both Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard inspectors before its ill-fated voyage across the Atlantic was torn apart in seas it was built to sustain. Southam News has learned the rig developed cracks near a ballast when it was hit by a winter storm the first time it was towed to the east coast from the Gulf of Mexico in 1984. The damage required extensive welding.

William Hedrick, safety director for rig owners Rowan Drilling of Houston, confirmed "there was something along those lines" but said he first learned about the damage Sunday and did not believe it was severe. "The rig was recently certified by the American Bureau of Shipping, which is an intensive structural inspection," he said, defending the decision to tow the rig under winter sea conditions. An inquiry conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to be held soon. By JULIAN BELTRAME Southam News HALIFAX Frightened, nauseated and exhausted, the rescued crew of the sunken Rowan Gorilla oil rig resorted to sing-a-longs, jokes and prayer during their 24-hour ordeal inside a survival capsule.

"I was very scared was the longest night of my life," said a still shaken Lynn Christian as she planted her feet on firm ground Sunday after 68 hours of crisis and drama on the high seas. "Every hour was like a month. I thought an hour had gone by and I'd look at my watch and it was only minutes." The crew of 25 men and two women docked safely in Halifax harbor early Sunday, ending a nightmarish three days that began Thursday morning when the rig was torn apart by two violent storms 900 kilometres off Nova Scotia. The crew abandoned the rig Thursday morning and spent the next 24 hours strapped i 'I gotta leave you on your own for a few weeks. 2 2 Science C1 The bad news for scientists is that those weather patterns were a result of natural climate fluctuation and not the greenhouse effect.

The good news is that more and more people are aware of the global warming trend and scientists want to keep that public consciousness high. Published daily by me proprietor Southam Inc ai The Journal Building Edmonton Alfa T5J2S6 Second class mail registration number 0566 t'.