European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 5, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Kohl backs arms Cut elimination of All chemical weapons Friday june 5, 1967 the stars and stripes Page 3 intermediate Range nuclear missiles Bonn up Chancellor Helmut Kohl called thursday for the United slates and the soviet Union to Cut their strategic nuclear weapons in half and ban All chemical weapons. Kohl in a speech to the German parliament formally announced the govern ment s decision to accept in principle the superpower Accord to eliminate from Europe nuclear weapons with Range of More than 300  speech confirmed the Compro Mise reached earlier this week by the Kohl coalition government which had been sharply divided on whether nuclear weapons with ranges from 300 Miles to600 Miles should be scrapped. The Kohl government however said it wants to keep its 72 aging Pershing la missiles which the soviet Union has demanded be included in a  agreement. The Pershing la mis Siles Are operated by the German air Force but their nuclear warheads Are under the control of the United states. The opposition social democrats and the anti nato Green party both called on Kohl to abandon the Pershing la mis Siles in order to ensure an arms Accord Between the iwo superpowers. The so called double Zero option which includes nuclear weapons with ranges both above and below 600 Miles has been pushed by foreign minister Hans Dietrich Genscher a member of the coalition s Liberal free democrats. Until the Compromise Kohl and conservatives in his coalition had resisted the proposed elimination of Short Range nuclear weapons because there Stilt would remain Battlefield nuclear weapons which would primarily be used on German soil in event of War. Public opinion surveys showed at least77 percent of All germans favor the Usu he Zero option in his speech to parliament Kohl called for the superpowers to reduce their strategic nuclear arms by 50 per cent. Per thing ii Range cruise Range ss-4 Range ss-20 Range nato missiles Pershing us 108 warheads on 103 missiles 1,100-mile Range ground launched cruises 208 warheads on 208 missiles 1.550 mile Range French and British 256 warheads on 178 land and sea based missiles soviet missiles ss-4s 112 warts acts on 112 launchers 1,120-mile Range ss-20s Western sources estimate 810 warheads on 270 missiles in Europe White soviets claim 243 Western sources estimate 513 warheads on 171 missiles in Asia 3,500-mde Range Chicago Tribune graphic sources arms control association arms control and disarmament Agency and Chicago Tribune news reports Honecker tells dutch he backs 25% cuts in conventional forces Erich Honecker the Hague Netherlands a East German Leader Erich Honecker told dutch leaders the Warsaw act favors reducing the East s and the West s conventional forces in Europe by 25 percent by 1990, a source said. During a 90-Minule meeting wednesday with dutch Premier Ruud Lubbers Honecker acknowledged a certain imbalance in the numbers of nato and Warsaw fact conventional forces said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The dutch Side at the meeting which included for eign minister Hans Van Den Brock replied that i would Welcome such a reduction the source said. The Warsaw pact holds a numerical cd Fie in conventional forces. Honecker also told Lubbers that Warsaw pact Lead ers agreed at an East Berlin Summit meeting last week that on site verification of any future superpower arms limitation Accord would present no problem according to the source. In a wednesday nigh banquet speech Honecker said a superpower pad to eliminate medium Range nuclear weapons from Europe is a key to open the door toward  the elimination of medium Range missiles from Europe would be the first real step toward disarmament in the history of humanity said Honecker 74. We Are absolutely not opposed As Long As the principles of Equality and equal Security Are observed to pursue further Zero options in the Field of nuclear chemical and conventional weapons the Easl Ger Man Leader told his hosts. He was referring to the current arms reduction proposal in Geneva dubbed the Zero option under which All superpower medium Range missiles would be removed from Europe. But in an apparent reference to president Reagan j strategic defense initiative or Star wars Honecker warned that if the Earth is being disarmed it is not logical to bring weaponry to space. Dod tells Congress if plans to sell copters to Colombia Washington a the penal gon notified Congress on wednesday it had approved the Sale of u11-60 Black Hawk helicopters to Colombia for use by its military in fighting drug traffickers. Assuming there Are no congressional objections the Pentagon said Colombia would be offered a package Deal including either five or six Black Hawk chop pers. The Purchase Price will be the same in either event j 36 million because the five helicopter option includes additional spare parts the pen Lagan said. The contract also Calls for technical support and training services for Pitois. The . Army will oversee the trans action and the prime contractor Wilt be the Sikorsky aircraft division of i reunited technologies corp. In Stratford conn., the Pentagon said. The government of Colombia will use these helicopters to provide the mobility needed in its armed forces to counter the Narco terrorism challenging its social political and economic institutions the Pentagon said. The primary use of these helicopters will be to transport colombian soldiers in air Mobile operations against narcotics traffickers and insurgent forces it said. Two soldiers killed in copter crash fort or win Calif. A a Heli copter crashed at the army National training Center killing to soldiers and injuring six four seriously officials said. The helicopter crashed about 6 15 . Wednesday. The names of the dead and injured Are being withheld until the families Are notified said spokesman Paul Stone. The soldiers were assigned to an aviation unit supporting the fort Carson colo., 2nd brigade 41h inf which is undergoing training at fort Irwin in the Mojave desert. Belgium won t replace its 36 Nike missiles from staff and win reports Brussels Belgium Belgium said wednesday it will not replace its 36 nuclear capable Nike anti aircraft missiles in Germany with the conventional Patriot system because of the High replacement costs. A source Al nato Headquarters called the decision very disappoint  i will create a Hole in nato s Nike Bell of anti aircraft missiles in Central Europe hat must now be filled by other countries said the source who asked not to be named. A spokesman for shape in mods Belgium to d the stars and stripes the command had not been officially notified of the decision wednesday afternoon and declined further com ment. The belgian government said the decision not to buy the . Patriot was taken because the 25 billion francs $660 million in replacement costs were Loo High during a time of government austerity. The decision came one week after the nato defense ministers vowed to raise conventional defences to meet the soviet Union s superiority in that area and offset cuts in nuclear arms under a possible East West missile Accord. In nato circles in is feared the belgian move could have a psychological effect on the other allies and set a precedent. Since 1981, Belgium s defense Bud get has been declining. This year it totals 105.8 billion francs j2.8 billion Down 3.8 percent from 1986. This year the government wants to Cut its Overall budget deficit by $5.27 billion to $ 11.2 billion or 8 percent of the Gross National product