Page 6- The Behrend College Collegian - Thursday, February 5, 1998
`Ethnic cleansing'
acquires force of law
By R. Jeffrey Smith=(c) 1998, The
Washington Post
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina
-- Several times a month, Borislav and
Dusanka Birg walk past their apart
ment in this city and sadly shake their
heads. Having fled on the eve of war
in 1992 with just one piece of luggage
between them, they have been trying
to reclaim their home for more than
two years.
Of Croat and Serb descent in a city
that is now 87 percent Muslim, the
Birgs have run into a mass of red tape
and not-so-subtle discrimination from
local authorities. Their application to
reclaim their home was refused, their
appeal was ignored, and when they
tried to occupy their apartment any
way, soldiers briefly choked Dusanka
Birg and then ejected the couple.
The compact two-bedroom unit is
the only vacant one of 12 in a refur
bished building. Its dark windows and
decrepit interior, foreign officials here
say, are a symbol of the Bosnian
government's failure to implement
repeated pledges to foster the rebirth
of a multi-ethnic society. As one U.N.
official who has been pressing for
action asserted, the city is tough on
Dusanka "because she is a Serb.... Its
goal is to keep them from coming
back."
An examination of the Birg case
and many similar ones suggests that,
by wide consent, ethnic-cleansing in
this country continues -- except that
it is now accomplished by legal means
instead of armed conflict. After the
war ended in 1995. the two newly
established political entities in Bosnia
-- the Serb Republic and the Muslim-
Croat federation -- each enacted laws
and regulations meant to freeze com
munal concentrations and obstruct the
return of minority refugees to their
prewar homes.
The effort has been largely success
ful. Less than 9 percent of the 400,000
refugees who have returned to their
homes since 1995 are minorities in
their immediate communities. As a
result, postwar migration patterns
have mostly reinforced the war's im
pact, complicating the West's aim of
turning back the clock to prewar in
tegration.
Foreign frustration with these ob
stacles has reached a boiling point. At
Syria: The Hollywood of the Mideast?
By John Lancaster=(c) 1998, The
Washington Post
DAMASCUS, Syria -- From Leba
non to the Persian Gulf, television
viewers are tuning in to "The Mirror,"
the Arab world's answer to "Saturday
Night Live."
Irreverent in the extreme, the hour
long comedy show takes gleeful aim
at uncaring bureaucrats, autocratic
rulers and other distinguishing fea
tures of Arab politics and society. One
recent episode, "The Tribal Confer
ence," parodied a summit meeting of
Arab leaders, depicting them as self
important buffoons whose search for
"Arab unity" ends in squabbles over
soccer matches and a riot of hurled
paper and insults.
Another depicts the Kafkaesque
struggles of "Essam" -- a young Syr
ian woman named after a boy -- to
avoid the draft by persuading govern
ment bureaucrats that she is, in fact, a
female.
In a region where governments tra
ditionally show little tolerance for dis
sent, such pungent political satire is
as rare as it is popular. What makes
"The Mirror" even more remarkable,
however, is that it originates in Syria
Despite its well-deserved reputa
tion for political repression, Syria has
emerged as a leading producer of Arab
television entertainment, much of it
surprisingly bold in its treatment of
sensitive themes. Besides "The Mir
ror," Syrian-made programs now air
ing around the Middle East include a
lavish adaptation of Shakespeare's
"King Lear" and historical dramas
such as "The Silk Market," a hugely
popular serial that casts a critical eye
on the brief, unhappy union between
the urging of the Clinton administra
tion and with the support of the inter
national community's High Represen
tative in Bosnia, a one -day conference
will he convened here Tuesday to
spotlight the failure of the Bosnian
government to allow -- much less pro
mote -- minority resettlement.
The conferees will set a series of
short deadlines for the government to
adopt new laws, resolve dozens of
housing disputes and permit thou
sands of minority refugees to return
to Sarajevo. To ensure the message is
heard, U.S. and European diplomats
at the conference also plan to threaten
a cutoff of tens of millions of dollars
in aid to Sarajevo if the deadlines are
not met.
The goal is make a showplace of
the capital city, whose prewar popu
lation was roughly 50 percent Mus
lim, 27 percent Serb and 7 percent
Croat. "Sarajevo is what it's all about.
... If you get that right, you get a mul
tiplier effect," said Andy Bearpark, a
British diplomat who serves as deputy
high representative for reconstruction
and return. "This conference is meant
to raise the political temperature."
The principal obstacle to allowing
minority refugees to return is a 1995
Bosnian law that gave former resi
dents two weeks to reclaim their
homes after the Dec. 22 cease-fire that
year, a tight deadline at a time when
factional hostility was still high. If
they did not meet it, their property was
declared abandoned and given to
someone else. Because the law was
never publicized outside the country,
hundreds of thousands of minority
refugees are now without legal re-
The Bosnian parliament also has
voted to deny refugees the right to
return to thousands of apartments
owned by the Yugoslav Army before
the war by nullifying contracts for the
sale of those apartments to their pre
war inhabitants. The Bosnian army
has declared many of the apartments
abandoned and transferred them to
favored war veterans.
U.N. aid workers here can tick off
dozens of cases of Serbs or Croats
who have been abused by arbitrary
regulations, such as that of one man
whose documents were not accepted
because they were in the Cyrillic let
tering commonly used by Serbs.
Syria and Egypt from 195 g to 1961.
With a dozen or more private pro
duction firms, a recently inaugurated
government-owned satellite channel
and a strong tradition of dramatic arts,
Syria is poised to challenge Egypt as
"the Hollywood of the Middle East,"
television producers and actors here
say.
"We have new ideas and new sub
jects," said Hatim Ali, 35, who pro
duces "The Mirror" for a private corn
pany here. "The Egyptians are repeat
ing themselves."
Much of what Syrian television of
fers is heavily flavored with propa
ganda, such as the 1996 hit "Brothers
of Sand," an ambitious, privately pro
duced war epic whose depictions of
Turkish atrocities against Arab sol
diers during World War I -- including
a graphic impalement scene -- sparked
formal diplomatic protests from An
kara.
The limits of free expression arc
clear. It would be unthinkable for
"The Mirror," or any other program,
to poke fun at a specific Arab ruler,
least of all Hafez Assad, the former
military pilot who has ruled this coun
try of 15 million since seizing power
in 1970. - As long as you attack bu
reaucracy and generic baddies, you
can get away with it," a Western dip
lomat said.
That appears to be the strategy of
Ali, the producer of "The Mirror." He
recently finished work on a dramatic
series that blends two works by
Shakespeare -- "Macbeth" and "Ri
chard III" -- to make a statement about
"the authority and power of the state,
and the rise of dictatorship," he said.
But according to diplomats and
Syrian television officials, Assad has
World and Nation
Many were barred because they ap
peared on the wrong day to pick up
keys; others were told officially that
their homes were uninhabitable, even
though they were occupied by Mus
lims.
"People are asked to run after docu
ments and papers for which there is
no basis in the law," said Pandurevic
Mladen, vice president of the local
Serb Civic Council. "When we find
out and make pressure, they hack off
but always make up something else."
The Bosnian government "has ba
sically closed the (Sarajevo) canton
through its property laws ... and been
dancing around on this one" to avoid
amending those laws, said O.S. spe
cial envoy on Bosnia Robert Geihard,
who conceived the conference. "They
want to make Sarajevo a haven" for
Muslims.
Government officials here ac
knowledge making mistakes, but say
that U.N. and U.S. officials have ex
aggerated them. "There is quite a bit
of tension . . . about this conference
because of the stupid statements by
the Office of the High Representa
tive," said Mirza Hajric, an adviser
to Bosnian President Alija
Izethegovic. He said housing disputes
have arisen from government ineffi
ciency and because there are simply
not enough apartments for all those
who want to live in Sarajevo.
"The problem is that 30 percent of
the housing was destroyed and 15,000
foreigners (are) living here" to admin
ister aid programs, Hajric said. He
conceded, however, that the squeeze
resulted in part from the fact that mul
tiple dwelling units have come under
the control of owners who had just
one unit before the war. "Here is
where (Western critics) are right. ...
Someone tries to get something, a flat
for his cousin, three flats for himself,"
Hajric said. "The government is try
ing to get a grip on this issue."
Borislav Birg said he finds it frus
trating to be a "refugee in my own
city - and to be barred by police from
making any repairs to his apartment.
He said that while he and his wife
were refugees in Switzerland the
apartment was stripped of its doors,
windows and toilet fixtures. "Some
thing has to be done," he said. "I can
not live on the street anymore, - de
pending on the help of relatives.
promoted the growth and export of
Syrian television entertainment as a
means of boosting his claim to lead
ership of the Arab world -- a status
Syrian officials say he has earned in
light of his resolute defiance of Israel.
"Syria's essential position makes it
important to be admired all over the
Arab world," said Adel Yazigi, the
director of state television. "Syria
stayed firm and consistent and
straight, That's why people like to see
what is coming out of Syria."
With that in mind, Yazigi said, the
government in 1988 sought to boost
the output of Syria's entertainment
industry by encouraging private pro
duction, easing import restrictions on
cameras and other television gear and
expanding the margins of free expres
sion. Syria's satellite station, which
broadcasts locally produced fare
throughout the Arab world, went on
the air three years ago; the govern
ment will soon begin work on a new
studio complex in the ancient city of
Aleppo.
Syrian writers and producers still
must submit their projects to Yazigi's
office for prior review. Asked whether
his office practices censorship, he re
plied, "There are no restrictions.
There is encouragement."
With satellite television, however,
government control is ebbing. Al
though technically illegal, satellite
dishes are widely used in Syria, giv
ing viewers access to a variety of
Arab-language programs carried by
Middle Eastern satellite stations such
as the Saudi-owned Orbit network. As
a result, the government has eased
restrictions on content to keep Syrian
television competitive with foreign
rivals, producers say.
Authorities Seek
Man for Questioning
in Clinic Bombing
By Stephanie Saul.(c) 1998,
Newsday
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Federal
authorities were searching a remote
mountainous section of North Caro
lina on Friday for a man wanted for
questioning in the abortion clinic
bombing that killed a moonlighting
police officer and seriously wounded
a nurse here Thursday.
The FBI issued a national bulletin
for Eric Robert Rudolph, seeking him
as a possible material witness, and not
a suspect, authorities said. He was
identified only as a 31-year-old white
man and the registered owner of a
gray 1989 Nissan pickup seen leav
ing the bomb site shortly after the
blast.
Rudolph's last known address was
on a mountain road in Cherokee
County, N.C. County Sheriff Jack
Thompson said the FBI was looking
for him Friday.
Authorities said Rudolph was not
known to be a member of any right
wing group headquartered in the
Smoky Mountain county.
"He might not even come back here
if he is living here," Thompson said.
"Our regular patrols have been look
Clinton Job Approval Soars to
Presidency's Apex in Poll
By David Lauter=(c) 1998, Los An
geles Times
WASHINGTON -- President
Clinton's job approval has soared to
the highest level of his presidency as
strong public support for his policies
and a distaste for his accusers appear
to be outweighing doubts about his
personal conduct, according to a new
nationwide Los Angeles Times poll.
Asked how Clinton is handling his
job as president, 68 percent of those
polled say they approve and only 29
percent disapprove. That rating is up
about 10 percentage points from the
level found by a Times poll last week
end, a few days after allegations first
became public that Clinton had car
ried on an affair with a former White
House staff member, Monica
Lewinsky, and had urged her to lie
about it.
Even last week, Clinton's job ap
proval rating had suffered only slightly
from the scandal allegations. Clinton's
high poll ratings have confounded his
political adversaries and surprised
many analysts, who believed he would
suffer badly in public esteem because
of the allegations.
The fact that his approval has risen,
instead, appears to be attributable to
several factors:
--Clinton clearly received a boost
from his State of the Union speech,
which was heavily watched and over
whelmingly well-received.
--The public appears to be making
a sharp distinction between his private
behavior and his ability to conduct
official business.
--When asked about his private be
havior, the public views Clinton far
more charitably than do his critics.
--And, finally, the public has a low
opinion of Clinton's main accusers,
particularly Independent Counsel
Kenneth W. Starr.
"Clinton, in his State of the Union
speech, appears to have done the right
thing by not discussing the charges
against him," said Times Poll Direc
tor Susan Pinkus. "He appeared presi
dential and portrayed himself to the
American people as in control and
governing as normal."
Americans remain sharply divided
about whether they believe Clinton's
denials that he had an affair, the poll
shows. And the poll indicates that his
standing could erode substantially if
evidence ever proves that Clinton lied
or urged others to lie. If serious wrong
doing were proven, majorities say they
could support Clinton's impeachment
or resignation.
But respondents clearly do not want
ing for the vehicle and we've not seen
the vehicle. If we run into that per
son, naturally, we'd arrest him and
hold him." Thompson said he had re
ceived a call Friday morning from the
FBl's office in Charlotte notifying
them that agents would he in the area.
Rudolph's telephone had been dis
connected. Authorities in Asheville,
N.C., where Rudolph may have lived
at one time, had also been alerted.
U.S. Attorney Doug Jones empha
sized that Rudolph was being sought
under a "material witness" warrant
issued Friday in federal court here.
"No one should jump to any conclu
sions about the fact that we are look
ing to question Mr. Rudolph," Jones
said at a news conference here Fri
day.
The Birmingham News reported
Friday that a man wearing a wig was
seen running from the New Woman
All Women Health Care Clinic, then
driving away in the Nissan pickup.
The National Association of Abor
tion Providers warned its members to
be on the lookout for the truck, and
abortion clinics throughout the
nation's southeastern region height-
ened security.
As the manhunt began, federal,
that to happen. By 56 percent-39 per
cent, those polled said that "if the al
legations prove true, I do not want
Clinton's affair with Lewinsky or his
efforts to deny it to force him out of
office."
In comparison with last week's sur
vey, Clinton has gained substantial
ground among younger Americans
and political independents. In the cur
rent survey, those between the ages of
18 and 29 give him positive job rat
ings by a margin of 77 percent-21 per
cent, compared with 52 percent-44
percent a week ago. Independents give
him a positive job approval, 70 per
cent-27 percent, compared with 56
percent-38 percent last week.
The poll also indicates some over
all improvement in Clinton's ratings
among men. In past surveys, includ
ing last week's, women had tended to
give Clinton a somewhat higher rat
ing than men -- the much noted "gen
der gap." In the current survey,
Clinton's ratings are up among both
men and women, with no statistically
significant gender gap...
Those polled say, by a margin of 53
percent-38 percent, that the country is
on the right track and, by 86 percent
-12 percent, that the economy is doing
well. And the poll clearly indicates that
Americans give Clinton credit for
those good times.
Asked if the country is better off or
worse because of Clinton's tenure in
office, over half said the country had
benefited, while only one in ten said
the country was worse off; and almost
four in ten said Clinton had not made
a difference one way or the other.
Even among Republicans and con
servatives, the percentage saying the
country is better off because of Clinton
outweighs the percentage who say the
country has suffered.
The public clearly makes a sharp
distinction between the private and the
public spheres.
Asked if it is possible for Clinton
to "behave unethically in his personal
life while still maintaining integrity in
his presidential responsibilities," those
surveyed said yes by a margin of 59
percent-35 percent.
By 54 percent-38 percent those
polled said Clinton has the "honesty
and intergrity to be president" -- a
level that is about average for his
presidency. By 61 percent-38 percent
they view him as credible.
Byrum Cartwright, a 54-year-old
dentist from Fargo, N.Dak., one of
those surveyed, was typical of those
who said they draw a distinction be
tween private and public conduct.
"He probably is a guy who doesn't
state and local agents were continu
ing to comb through debris in a one
block area of Birmingham's
Southside neighborhood. The area
remained blocked off to vehicles and
pedestrians Friday.
The ATF's lead agent here, Jim
Cavanaugh, said authorities would he
able to reconstruct the bomb. But he
would not confirm any connection be
tween the Birmingham bomb and the
explosion at the Atlanta Olympic
games in 1996 and two other bomb
ings in the Atlanta area last year.
According to Cavanaugh, there is
evidence that the three Atlanta explo
sions were the work of the same per
son. A joint ATF-FB I task force is in
vestigating the Atlanta bombings.
Cavanaugh confirmed that, like the
Atlanta bombs, the bomb was loaded
with nails, which became deadly pro
jectiles in the explosion, killing off
duty police officer Robert Sanderson..
The registered nurse and clinic
counselor who was injured in the
blast, Emily Lyons, 41, was improv
ing Friday following nine hours of
surgery on Thursday. She suffered
extensive injuries to her legs, abdo
men and face, including the loss of
an eye.
handle his sexual ethics the way we
would like," Cartwright said.
But Cartwright described himself as
"offended" by the way Clinton's per
sonal weaknesses are being used in
"political feuds."
"It's really irrelevant. It's between
him and his wife," Cartwright said. "If
you want to have an ethically perfect
person" in office, he added, "you're
kidding yourself."
Similarly, Lisa Burke, a 24-year-old
self-described liberal Democrat from
Colombus, Ga., said she is skeptical
of Clinton's denials, but puts his per
formance on the job ahead of his pri-
vate behavior.
"If he did it, that's his business," she
said. "As long as he does his job for
the American people, that's what I'm
concerned about."
Indeed, 45 percent of those who
voted for Clinton in both 1992 and
1996 said they thought he had had af
fairs even before the current allega
tions, compared with 28 percent who
did not think so and 27 percent who
said they were not sure.
Clinton's personal favorability rat
ing -- 57 percent favorable, 36 prcent
unfavorable -- is lower than his job
approval, hilt is still quite healthy -- 9
percentage points more positive than
last week and about the same level as
when he was reelected.
His wife's favorability has moved
sharply higher. By better than 2-1,
those surveyed view Hillary Rodham
Clinton favorably -- the most positive
rating she has ever received in a Times
poll.
The shift in Mrs. Clinton's
favorability seems in large part to
come from moderate Republicans and
Republican women. A majority of
moderate Republicans now view her
favorably, and Republican women,
both moderates and conservatives,
now divide evenly
_45 percent favor
able, 46 percent unfavorable.
Clinton's chief accusers fare much
worse.
Only 32 percent of those polled say
they approve of the way Independent
Counsel Kenneth W. Starr is handling
his job, while 37 percent disapprove
and 31 percent are not sure.
By 58 percent-32 percent, those
polled say the allegations against
Clinton "have more to do with parti
san politics (than) getting to the truth"
-- a view that is even shared by 44
percent of Republicans.
By 51 percent-43 percent those sur
veyed say they agree with Mrs.
Clinton that the allegations are "part
of a continuing right-wing con-
spiracy."