News and Record from Greensboro, North Carolina • 9

Nation World News Record Thursday December 5 2002 A9 Iraq accuses UN inspectors of spying The Associated Press BAGHDAD Iraq Iraq pro tested sharply Wednesday about UN weapons surprise intrusion into one of Saddam presidential palaces accusing the arms ex perts of being spies and staging the palace search as a provoca tion that could lead to war The harshest criticism came from Vice President Taha Yas sin Ramadan who charged in language reminiscent of clashes with inspectors in the 1990s that the new UN teams are gathering intelli gence for Washington and Is work is to spy to serve the CIA and intelligence service Ramadan claimed to a visiting delegation of Egyptian professionals Ramadan known for his fi ery statements claimed to his all Arab audience that the in spectors went to the palace hoping to provoke the Iraqis into refusing them entrance something he said would be in terpreted as a of the UN resolution that mandated the inspections and a cause for war The resolution includes eral land Ramadan 1 said the aim is that one of them will go Responding to Iraqi protests about palace visit a UN official countered that the inspectors are taking the right approach navigating be tween Iraqi complaints and US pressure for more inspections And said in spections team leader Demetrius Perncos are getting Among other things Perricos reported that on a five hour inspection of a desert installa tion his experts secured a dozen Iraqi artillery shells previously known to be there that were loaded with a power ful chemical weapon the agent for mustard gas It was the first report of such armaments traced and controlled in the week old round of inspections The UN teams are picking up where their predecessors left off in 1998 when the moni toring regime collapsed amid disputes about access and US spying from within the UN operation The inspectors of the 1990s eliminated tons of Iraqi chemi cal and biological weapons and the equipment to make them and dismantled program to build nuclear bombs team and another paid unannounced visits to that key site and to the nerve center of old nuclear weapons program places that were bombed searched and disman tled in the 1990s The 2002 in spectors wanted to ensure tnat plans for ultimate weapons have not been revived The desolate al Muthanna State Establishment among camel herds and wild dogs in the desert 40 miles northwest of Baghdad was most important chemical weapons research and production facil ity in the 1980s and was heavily bombed in the 1991 Gulf War Later in the 1990s the UN inspectors moved into the site and destroyed 38500 artillery shells and other chemical filled weapons almost 500000 gal Discarded shells and cement filled tanks litter the al Muthanna State Establishment most important chemical weapons facility in the 1980s I I 'f 1 I I i i Aw JEROME DELAYThe Associated Press Ions of liquid material and 150 pieces of equipment used to make chemical agents accord ing to a recent Iraqi report The second team went to al Tuwaitha long the heart of Iraqi nuclear research where scientists and engineers in the 1980s worked on producing fuel for nuclear bombs THEMBA HADEBEThe Associated Press Thompho Netshipale (left) and his brother Pfunzo look to the sky Wednesday during a total solar eclipse in Venda South Africa US denies United guarantees on loans The Associated Press WASHINGTON United Air lines lost its bid for $18 billion in federal loan guarantees Wednesday a major setback to the second largest air carrier in its efforts to avoid bankruptcy The Air Transportation Sta bilization Board said that de spite efforts to pare costs business plan submitted by the company is not financially Chicago based United had asked that the government guarantee $18 billion of a $2 billion private loan package Without the guarantee and the of the Transportation Depart ment voted to defer a decision until Monday to allow United to submit additional financial in formation are hard decisions and I certainly feel for the af fected said Gram lich the same time the loan board has a responsibility to taxpayers and to fostering the long term health of the air line he said explain ing his decision to reject request isher said: is not just about costs about a busi ness plan that is fundamentally After losing an industry re ally worthless and it would lose control of its restructuring to a judge The airline is 55 percent owned by its employees United shares had risen 7 cents in regular trading Wednesday to close at $312 on the New York Stock Exchange But the shares plummeted in after hours trading losing 65 percent of their value or $202 to $110 each The board sent a letter to United in early November seeking additional information about cost savings that could be achieved from labor unions and from management capital spending commitments and pension obligations Solar eclipse bedazzles southern Africa crowds loan the airline said it would probably have to file for Chap ter 11 bankruptcy protection The $18 billion is the largest request received by the board double the amount that US Air ways was conditionally granted earlier this year The board was established by Congress last year to oversee a The Associated Press We can tell our CHRISTMAS CANDLE SALE Adam Eve) Lingerie and More fo rnimmimrrn $10 billion loan program part of an airline industry bailout after last Sept 11 terror ist attacks The board in its statement said plan not support the conclusion that there is a reasonable assurance of repayment and would pose an unacceptably high risk to US Two of the three board mem bers undersecre tary for domestic finance Peter isher and ederal Reserve board member Edward Grarn lich rejected re quest The third member Kirk Van Tine the general counsel Gift Sets 9am 7pm Sal 10am 6pm Sun 1pm 5pm 1 40 Sandy Ridge Rd Exit GSO 370 9215 996 2139 1 800 682 2232 (30 Everyday monitoring her fourth solar eclipse there are no stars there are no humans Life de pends on the Traditional leaders gave dif fering interpretations on the ra dio for the meaning of the eclipse Some said it meant rain and plentiful crops Others said it was a harbinger of death Naniekie Magoro a develop ment worker wearing a crim son robe only brought out for important occasions saw good fortune in the eclipse the hope of good changes of good things in the she said Later Wednesday cheers resonated through the western Zambian town of Mongu as day turned into night simply said businesswoman Precious Mundia Only a few hundred people traveled to southern Zimbabwe to view the eclipse their num bers kept down by fuel short ages In Australia some 20000 spectators erupted into cheers as the moon obscured the late afternoon sun over Cedona where the southern central des ert meets the Indian Ocean was the most amazing 30 seconds of my life it was a shining white purple said Ivan Blajer who traveled more than a thousand miles from capital Canberra to watch the eclipse 1 375 7892 ext 245 Highway 29 (Between Cone Blvd Lakeview Memorial) Grandfather Clocks OR a Christmas KRUGER PARK South Africa Darkness fell over thorn trees lions feasting on fresh kills and grazing elephants and giraffes Wednesday as the moon slipped over the sun in a total solar eclipse over southern Af rica NASA scientists sent to re cord the phenomenon de spaired as clouds over this wildlife park blocked the view of totality the moment the glow of the completely covered sun radiates from behind the moon But hundreds of thousands of others cheered as its path crossed Angola Zambia Zim babwe South Africa and Mo zambique and across the Indian Ocean to Australia In Kruger Park foreign tour ists with powerful zoom lenses jostled for position with South Africans cloaked in traditional costumes to watch the eclipse said Cherry Hochfelden of Johan nesburg as the light from be hind the clouds dimmed and the sky turned a deep twilight Rows of cameras propped on tripods clicked and onlookers toasting the occasion with vodka coolers cheered lovely to see the effects around us but not much use said Hochfel husband Gavin an in vestment banker An amateur astronomer he had attended a training session said Duval who was on eclipse watching given oy the Johannesburg chapter of the Astronomical Society of South Africa but did not even bother using his fancy tele scope because of the dark stretch of silver clouds obscur ing the view Wearing metal bangles up to their elbows and on their an kles women from the Venda tribe wrapped in striped and dotted fabrics of magenta lime and yellow held up eclipse viewing glasses Whenever the cloud cover lifted people nudged each other in a cacophony of lan GAVIN STAPLETONThe Associated Press A view of the sun during the total solar eclipse near Mussina South Africa The next total solar eclipse over southern African will occur on Nov 25 2030 guages to look through the sil ver foil glasses to catch a glimpse of what appeared as an ever shrinking sun first a fiery ball then a sliver and eventually only a glow so magnificent I think we should all see this at least once in our said Ko ichi Joe a 31 year old televi sion director from Japan In an effort to make sure eclipse viewing would be a safe experience in South largest game park rangers armed with rifles patrolled viewing sites Astronomer Marie rance Duval used a wooden light re fractor to monitor the eclipse wait a long time for this Up to I Christmas customers are satisfied by the SMILES on their faces 1103 Silas Creek Pkwy Parkway Plaza Shpg Ctr Winston Salem (336) 722 3358 2500 Spring Garden St Greensboro NC (336) 854 3474 oisum i MB Iffii ML jiSDS cord $21 billion in 2001 United is on course to exceed that loss this year as it struggles amid a weak economy and a decline in business travelers A bankruptcy would be un likely to have any immediate effect on passengers United has said it would continue fly ing its normal schedule as US Airways has been doing since its Chapter 11 filing in August But United is trying to avoid a filing because its stock shares would probably become virtu Only two major airlines have gotten help from the board The board gave conditional approval in July to US application for a $900 million federal loan guarantee but the carrier still ended up filing for bankruptcy protection And in December of last year America West received conditional ap proval for a federal loan guar antee of $380 million The board has approved loan guarantees for some smaller airlines as well 50 MEMBERSHIP THIS WEEK ONLY! aMbl Dale lost 103 lbs HgggaK and 62 inches ilggggj rorever Hertel Wrifkt CMtrel Sytteai ffifcYou'willlose up to7lbs per weekr 1 iJaYou will have one on one support Ay ifeYou will eat your own food gffiWe will guarantee your weight loss' iffiThis is the last program you will go on Call today for a tree Consultation fttsi Inllttu pnttiniiHas dirwlitl In riniii'vloi i Wijiht Loss I oi cut has helped thousands ol people like MHirsell lose uetuht Hertel Weight Coatrnl yen 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