— The Daily Collegian Friday, Oct. 22, 1999 Rockets hit Chechen market At least ten rockets, suspected to be fired by Russian forces, hit parts of Grozny, killing more than one hundred Chechens. By RUSLAN MUSAYEV Associated Press Writer GROZNY, Russia Salvos of rockets slammed into a crowded open air market and other parts of Grozny, including a maternity hospital, yesterday, killing at least 118 people and injuring up to 400, a Chechen official said. Chechnya said the rockets were fired by Russian forces moving in on the capital. The Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow denied responsibility. Bleeding bodies and severed limbs were scattered throughout the market after six rockets exploded in the stalls, which were crowded with shoppers during the early evening attack. At least four other rockets slammed into other parts of the city, including one that hit a maternity hospital, Magomed Magomadov, a senior government official, said. He said 118 people were killed and between 300 people and 400 people were injured. Many of the injured were in critical condition, he said. Russian forces moved into Chechnya in late September to impose a security zone around the breakaway republic and to wipe out Islamic militants. Earli er, Russia had been bombing mili tant bases after the militants neighboring Dagestan i ,ec,e, mimbing four apart ment blocks and killing about 300 pt( T le But the Russian advance prompted fears that the two sides would repeat their 1994-96 civil war, in which Russian forces headers, Tanzanians bid Nyerere farewell fiy SUSAN iJNNEE DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania Military proms. rolled, international leaders pz!id tribute find Tanzam:irs wept for their beloved "Nlwal , mu „ .Julius Nyerere, whose state funeral yes terday marked the passing of an era in Africa. A after the 77-year-old Nyerere. who ~,Lr.iry's firs! plesident from 1962 to 1 9 85, d'ed in a London hospital, his African :friends raid colleagues entered the National Sta- Ilium to thank him for his role in the liberation cif i..ts! .rn and southern Africa. lntc iational figures spoke with feeling for the le Oder known as "Mwalimu," the Kiswahili word for teacher, who gave his people self respect, dignity and a stable unity a rare -thing in Africa. They praised him for his hon 'estv and integrity on a continent where so many leaders succumb to corruption. 139 South Allen Street 234-5924 A Russian army medic cuts off a wounded soldier's clothing at a field hospital in the Naurski region of Chechnya, 56 miles northwest of Grozny, Wednesday. More Russian troops have crossed the Terek River to take up positions near Chechnya's capital. were battered by street fighting, and Chechnya was left devastated but with de facto independence. At the market yesterday, hun dreds of terrified people, many screaming and crying, ran for cover as rockets exploded. Streets were jammed with people trying to escape. Some onlookers tried to help the wounded. .t was dark and then. all of a sudden, the place was illuminated and something was sparkling in the air. Then we heard the explo sions," Umar Madavev said. .Icl wer? SUS- Grozny's already overcrowded and poorly equipped hospitals were packed with the injured. A Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo nearly vhisp....reil as. :it. r...c..,"c( 4 to free him from prison after he was jailed and accused of plotting a coup. "He was the first non-Nigerian who called me when I was freed, and he told me he sA as afraid he hadn't done enough," Obasanjo. wearing a dazzling white and blue agbada, the Nigerian national dress, said in his brief Many inty_iiiiers, etary State Madeleine Albright and Britain's Princess Anne, wore black. Nyerere's widow, Maria, and several of his daughters wore black turbans. Among ordinary Tanzanians who crowded into the stadium, many of the women wore brightly colored shawls or the traditional "khanga" cloth printed in black, white, blue and yellow with the likeness of a younger Nyerere and the phrase in Kiswahili, "Majonzi Tunayo Tanzania" or "Tanzania is grieving." Those who eulogized Nyerere spoke with j,cl i tz- c 01 t lAA. few doctors, working with almost no medicine, operated under the glare of kerosene lamps because the electricity was out. The wounded lay in pools of blood in the hospital's dirty, dark corridors, as there were not enough beds. Russian troops, meanwhile, closed in on Grozny, with tanks and armored personnel carriers reportedly within eight miles of the city. Chechen officials said some Russian soldiers had been spotted even closer. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, despite Chechen claims that hundreds have been killed. Russia has said ►gin'; it is aiming only at the militants Just a few hours before the explosions, the government issued a statement declaring that "the fight against terrorists and bandits shall in no way turn into a fight against peoples of Chech nya." Russian warplanes bombed Grozny repeatedly last month, knocking out communications facilities, oil refineries and other installations. As ground troops neared Grozny this week, the capital's outskirts shook from the concus sion of nearby shelling, but none of the shells apparently hit the city. admiration of his having used Kiswahili, an Afri l„,, E ,aage, to forge unity among a nation of 32 million people comprising 120 ethnic or language groups. "Mwalimu's intellectual heritage lives on, and he is a source of inspiration to all of us," said Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, the current head of the European Union. "He gave you ne;. , :e stability and a clear identity based on a con.iliwi language, culture and self-respect." President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique reminded mourners of the debt his own coun try, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia and Angola owe to Nyerere and the people of Tanzania who gave their meager resources to support liberation movements throughout the region. President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya, Tanza nia's northern neighbor, described the day as the passing of an era, not only in Tanzania, but in all of Africa. Laser Hair Removal The only FDA approved laser for permanency Call our office to learn more! Williamsport • (570) 322-4779 Megawati vice presidency Indonesia's newly elected vice president was named to her post after losing the country's first presidential election By GEOFF SPENCER Associated Press Writer JAKARTA, Indonesia protests turned into celebrations yesterday when wildly popular opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri was named vice pres ident, a move that bodes well for the future of Indonesia's fledging democracy. The vote of the People's Consul tative Assembly came one day after Megawati lost the first free and contested presidential race in the country's 54-year history. Immediately after her loss to new President Abdurrahman Wahid, tens of thousands of Megawati's disillusioned support ers went on a rampage. Twc people were killed and 65 injured by a car bomb as troops fired tear gas and warning shots in Jakarta. On the resort island of Bali, a Megawati stronghold, mobs torched and looted supermarkets, blocked roads and burned trees. Bradley offers plans to end child poverty By SANDRA SOBIERAJ Associated Press Writer NEW YORK Claiming the big ideas of this presidential race, Bill Bradley likened his goal of elimi nating child poverty to John F. Kennedy's vow to put a man on the moon, and offered yesterday a $9.8 billion "wholesale rescue effort" for the poor. The Democratic presidential candidate proposed automatic, annual increases in the minimum wage and expanded tax credits and childcare subsidies. He also called for new government programs to recruit 60,000 teachers into poor school districts and give children an after-hours school hangout seven days a week. Even if these attempts to attack poverty's root causes proved faulty, Bradley at least wanted credit for trying like, he said, President Kennedy did. Launching America's race against the Soviets into space, Kennedy "didn't know what kind of fuel should be used in that booster or what kind of suit the astronauts should wear. He just knew we had to do it," Bradley told teachers, stu dents and social workers at a church in New York's poor, Bed- Friday: The Best of Everything 6-Bpm John Cunningham $1.95 doz Wings 5-Bpm Schleigho 10:30pm wins There were no direct attacks on tourists, and the protesters empha sized their anger was directed at the assembly, not at tourists. The chaos eased only after Megawati took the oath of office in a ceremony broadcast on national television. In Jakarta, crowds returned to the streets to celebrate, waving flags, honking car horns, banging drums and setting off fire works. Violent Although a consolation prize, the vice presidency could prove cru cial. Wahid, 59, is almost blind and has severe health problems. After two strokes, he cannot walk unaid ed. Under Indonesia's constitution, written in part by Megawati's father, founding President Sukarno, the vice president assumes the presidency if the incumbent is incapacitated or dies in office. Megawati's election was facili tated yesterday when Indonesia's powerful military commander, Gen. Wiranto, dropped his candida cy, saying he did so "in the inter ests of the nation." Akbar Tanjung, leader of authoritarian ex-Presi dent Suharto's Golkar Party, cited the same reasons for pulling out. The process marks a major polit ical change in Indonesia, particu larly Wiranto's withdrawal. "Eliminating poverty as we know it is a big goal." Bill Bradley GOP presidential candidate ford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. "Eliminating child poverty as we know it is a big goal," he continued. "But the first step is the commit ment and I am making that here today." An estimated 13.5 million Ameri can children live in poverty, defined by the government as a yearly income of $16,400 or less for a family of four. As Vice President Al Gore, Bradley's rival for the Democratic nomination, likes to point out, that population has shrunk from 15.3 million when he and President Clin ton took office in 1993. Bradley sniffed at that achievement as "better than doing nothing." "Child poverty is a kind of slow motion national disaster," Bradley said, and should be treated with the same kind of "wholesale rescue" undertaken after hurricanes.
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