Newsday from New York, New York • 8

8- at Last? IRA hardliners skeptical of new Anglo-Irish plan By Jim Mulvaney and Charles Zehren STAFF WRITEKS British and Irish leaders yesterday apx-ed on a for in Northern Ireland in hopes of bringing Catholic and Protestant gunmen to the negotiating table and ending a 25-year-old guerrilla war that has claimed at least 3000 lives The carefu lly worded seven-page joint declaration signed in London by British Prime Minister John Mqjurand his Irish counterpart Albert Reynolds after months of talks is intended to persuade the fighters to lay down their weapons and start exploratory negotiations within three months is now a dear The statement is chock full of tortuous diplomatic language aimed at balancing the hopes and fears of Northern warring factions In it the Irish government made clear that it is prepared to amend its constitutional claim to the territory as part of a political settlement Also while the British goverment affirmed the six counties would remain in the United Kingdom as long as a majority of its people favor it the statement said is for the people of the island of Ireland alone by agreement between the two parts respectively to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent freely and concurrently Please see IRELAND on Page 146 the courage to sit down address the problem and find a way In response the Irish Republican Army expressed disappointment leaders said they would issue a detailed statement in a few days Hardline Protestants rejected the plan out of hand political path which is meaningful for all" Reynolds said after the signing Later Mqjor told the British Parliament: wish to take action to make sure there is no more bloodshed no more coffins carried away week after week because politicians will not have ISronx Irish Cautiously Optimistic Chronology of Events Page 25 Defense Chief Aspin Quits Clinton to pick ex-CIA deputy sources report lly Susan Page and Earl Lane WASHINGTON III 'KKAl Washington In an abrupt announcement that caught the capital ofT guard Defense Secretary Les Aspin resigned from the Clinton cabinet late yesterday Aspin who has had a stormy year in PTice marked by controversy over gays in the military miscalculations in Somalia and debate over the post-Cold War military budget appeared with President Bill Clinton at a hastily called Oval Office appearance A senior White House official said a decision on a successor could be announced possibly as early as today Late last night The Associated Press reported that two White House officials speaking on condition of anonymity said that Clinton had settled on retired Adm Bobby Inman a former deputy CIA director and ex-director of the National Security Agency to replace Aspin Aspin 55 in a letter to the president cited his work for more than two dec- Defense Secretary Les Aspin right with President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office more than 20 years The senior White House official said Aspin and Clinton had discussed the Pentagon chiefs possible departure for a few weeks been more intense in the last few the official said just reached a personal decision It was time to Aspin is one membatfef a triumvirate that has shaped national-security policy for the Clinton administration all three have been targets of criticism National security adviser Anthony I -aka has been faulted for failing to track problems and avert catastrophes such as Somalia and Secretary of State Warren Christopher has been criticized for failing to articulate a coherent post-Cold War vision There have been suggestions that Clinton was less than happy with his team Five weeks ago on the Clinton was so noncommittal when asked about and tenure that his spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers had to deny he wanted either secretary to resign The president said he was accepting resignation with He expressed the hope that Aspin after taking a break mifit consider other assignments asked a lot of him tough times and problems He gave even more to me to our military and to our country than was asked And I will always be very very grateful" Clinton said A White House official speaking not for attribution said Aspin was not pushed to resign and had not taken the action for health reasons Aspin had a pacemaker implanted in his chest earlier this year been a very difficult for Aspin one of the senior White House officials said Agreeing that he had not been pushed to leave the official said: think he may have been a little uncomfortable but it was his Gen John Shalikashvili chairman of the Joint Chiefs said: regret very much to learn that Secretary Aspin has submitted his resignation as secretary of defense Secretary Aspin has worked very well with the chiefs and we respect the leadership he provided" Aspin did the right said I Sen Alfonse (R-NY) who had called for resignation after the October firefight Martin Kasindorf Saul Fried- man Jill Dutt and William Doug- Id thie story v- ades help build a strong American military time now for me to take a break and undertake a new kind of Aspin said he was leaving for personal on which he did not elaborate Aspin the first Clinton cabinet member to resign will stay on the job through Jan 20 Administration officials portrayed Aspin's decision as prompted by stress overwork and the burden of a job that had been marked by political controversies some of own making: twenty years of hard work and he feels like he needs a the senior official said The controversies particularly the criticism of failure to send armored vehicles to Somalia before an Oct 3 fi refight that killed 18 soldiers had clearly taken a toll on Aspin the former chairman of the House Armed Services committee and a congressman from Wisconsin for Barney Inspires Scalper Crackdown I issued summonses for overcharging for Barney tickets tickets were in connection with Barney and the citations were for Barney said the official who did not want to be identified Barney the purple dinosaur who has captured the hearts of thousands of youngsters has an 11-concert run at Radio City March 5 to 13 but whpn parents and grandparents tried to get tickets that went on sale Dec 1 they were turned away only two hours after the window opened Suspecting fraud consumers flooded the office of Consumer Affairs By Wendy Lin STAFF WRITER Ticket scalping is an age-old problem in New York City that has been largely condoned for years until one purple dinosaur came along When $30 tickets for the Radio City Music Hall appearance of Barney sold out to the public but went on sale by scalpers for as much as $200 the Department of Consumer Affairs said As of yesterday said an official with the department 15 ticket brokers in New York New Jersey Connecticut and Pennsylvania were with complaints Investigators conducted an undercover calling operation between Dec 11 and 15th and found that the $30 tickets were selling for about $65 each and as high as $200 The calls were made from the Consumer Affairs Office It was the official said the first organised law-enforcement action against scalpers in the city Of the 15 ticket agencies cited for overcharging 10 were additionally cited with operating without a license The legal limit for the resale of a $30 ticket said the official is about $38.