European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 29, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 news updates the stars and stripes Friday july 29,1988 Audi defect Case Chicago a consume groups have argued that a  posed settlement for owners of Audi 5000 sedans who contend the cars Are prone to unintended acceleration was not properly reviewed and should be thrown out. Attorneys for Audi and the plaintiffs countered tuesday that they had mailed out 345,000 notices of the settlement and Only 1,500 people said they would not agree to  county circuit judge Thomas Rakowsky set a new hear ing on the proposed settlement for aug. 11.in june attorneys announced the proposed settlement under which Audi would offer rebates of $300 to $2,000 to 390,000 current or former owners who buy another Audi. Under the settlement Audi acknowledged no liability. The settlement would affect owners of Audi 5000 sedans buil Between 1978 and 1986. The Center for Auto safety con tends that at least 1,650 accidents causing 402 injuries and five deaths have been linked to acceleration surges when the Audi 5000 was shifted from Park into gear. French spy promoted Paris up one of two French secret agents convicted forthe 1985 bombing of the Green peace ship Rainbow Warrior has been promoted from major to lieu tenant colonel the French satirical newspaper be canard enc Haine said wednesday. Be canard also reported that socialist defense minister Jean Pierre Cheve nement has decided not to Send the spy maj. Alain Rafart Back to a Remote Island atoll to serve the remainder of period of exile under an agreement with new zealand. The French defense ministry confirmed that As of oct. 1, afar would hold the rank of lieutenant colonel but said this was Auto Matic As a result of seniority. House panel will study Issue of debt saddled sex spouses by William j. Bartma Washington Bureau Washington the House armed services committee this fall will take up the Issue of former spouses of military members being saddled with debts incurred by their retired former mates according to aides for rep. Pat Schroeder a Colo. The debts commonly Are unpaid Home and educational Loans or medical billowed to the government by the sex mate. Under current rules the government de ducts payments from the former service member s Gross retirement pay also reducing the automatic Alimony checks mailed to the former spouse. Under the privacy Laws protecting re tired military members the spouse is not Given notice or details of the deductions. The Issue gained Media attention due to the plight of Vivian Filemyr a 66-year-Ola Austin Texas woman in frail health and on a tight budget who Sud Denly and inexplicably found herself with $200 less a month. Filemyr who was receiving $1,100from her sex husband s monthly pension plus $160 in social Security says she had to plead with doctors and creditors to accept less than usual when Bills came due. The woman is apparently devastated said a spokeswoman for the group expose or sex partners of servicemen women for Equality. It s unfair that after 25 years of divorce he runs Upa debt with the government and then they decide that she should have to pay part of it. We had one woman in South Carolina several years ago who 10 Vears after the divorce he the sex spouse ran up a Bill of $1,000 with the government. And they took $500 from  Schroeder wants to Divide the Gross pension first pay the sex spouse the fully owed share and then deduct the debt directly from the retired military person. Expose said the problem is not in frequent and the spokeswoman added it is a worry of ours that it could Esca  Pentagon says it is working on the problem. Congressional critics however complain that the military is dragging its feet. Maj. David super a Pentagon spokesman said the defense depart ment continues to operate with existing administrative rules and Laws. Schroeder s aide said the House com Mittee also will look into the Issue of sex spouses receiving unexpected tax liabilities and not receiving a portion of the sex mate s tax refund. W. Germans to Cut phone rates to . At to extends coverage for credit card Frankfurt West Germany the Cost of Long distance Telephone Calls for americans in West Germany will drop during the next five weeks because of separate actions by american Telephone & Telegraph co. And the West German Telephone company. On sept. 1, the Telephone division of the West German Bunde Spost is reducing its rates cutting the Cost of a 10-min Ute phone Call from just Over $20 to about $17. Beginning monday at to s Usadi rect credit card phone service to the United states will be extended to include All West German Telephone numbers. At present it is not possible to make such Calls from German phones with an 06 prefix. For Telephone Calls of More than three minutes using at to can save Money. Us direct Calls placed from West German Home phones Cost $6.62 for the first three minutes and $1.09 for each additional minute meaning a 10-minute Call would Cost $ 14.25. The Cost of self dialled Calls through the West German Telephone system Are figured by the number of units with each unit of 3.762 seconds costing 23 pfennig. To arrive at the Cost Divide the total seconds of the Call by the unit and multiply by 23 pfennig. A three minute self dialled Call costs 11 Marks or about $6. A 10-minute Call Cost 36.68 Marks or just a Little More than $20. As of sept. 1, the German Telephone company is extending the unit time to 4.42 seconds which will reduce the Cost of a three minute Call to 9.43 Marks about $5, and a 10-minute Call to 31.22 Marks about $17. At to began offering its credit card phone service in West Germany in 1986.the concept was first tested in the Munich area and then extended a year late to allow Access from All prefixes except those beginning with 06. To use the service a customer must have both the at to card and a visa or Mastercard. Members of the military must provide their Apo or Fpo  must have a valid . Pass port. The at to phone Calls Are billed to the credit card account. At to card applications Are available by writing the at to International information Center . Box 619475, Dallas fort Worth Airport Texas 75261-9990,or by telephoning 0130-9869. The Ger Man Telephone company charges 23 pfennig for dealing the 0130 toll free numbers. Merchants testing improved automatic tellers Frankfurt West Germany merchants National Bank began testing six on line automatic Teller machines wednesday that give customers a higher withdrawal limit allow Transfer of fund Between checking and savings accounts and provide up to the minute account balances. The Green machine pilots located atthe Abrams Complex in Frankfurt mar tin Luther King Village in Mainz at Rhein main a and at Mainz Kastel in Wiesbaden provide customers with cur rent account balances allow them to Transfer funds Between checking to Sav Ings accounts and to make German mar deposits a Bank spokeswoman said thursday. The daily withdrawal limit also has been increased from $300 to $500 or its German Mark equivalent. Although deposits made on the Pilot machines Are credited to the customers accounts Only $20 of the Deposit can be withdrawn before the Bank verifies it. Non Cash deposits that exceed the Cli ent s combined account balances will be held for five business Days. Receipts from the on Lipe Teller machines will give Ledger and available account balances. The Ledger balance is the balance that reflects All posted deposits and withdrawals. The available balance shows the amount the customer has in the account not including deposits not yet verified by the Bank and funds de posited that Are being held for five Days. Bank officials will evaluate the performance of the machines during the Pilot phase and announce locations of Otheron line machines As they become Avail Able. The machines should tap into two worldwide Teller machine networks Early next year said Reinhold Langguth Bank project Leader. Access to these networks would allow customers to Complete transactions with participating stateside Banks. Hamadi implicated by brother witness testifies Frankfurt West Germany a Moham med Ali Hamadi s older brother bragged in a West German bar shortly after the 1985 Twa hijacking that Mohammed was involved in seizing the jetliner an acquaintance of the two testified on thursday. A series of acquaintances of Mohammed Hamadi testified at his trial on thursday. One of them said the defendant was crazy about iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini while another said Hamadi admitted belonging to Hezbollah the  iranian Radical shiite moslem group linked to kidnappings in Lebanon. Mohammed Hamadi is accused of being one of the hijackers of Twa flight 847, which was seized on june 14, 1985, and diverted to Beirut Lebanon.  diver Robert Stethem was killed by the hijackers and 39 americans were held hostage for 17 Days. Hamadi s older brother Abbas in april was convicted by a West German court of kidnapping two West germans in Beirut in an attempt to Force West Germany to free Mohammed. Ghazi Yazbeck a lebanese Man who lives in West Germany and knows the two Hama Dis was asked in court if Mohammed Hamadi Ever mentioned the hijacking to him. No Mohammed said nothing. But his brother Abbas said Mohammed had something to do with the hijacking Yazbeck replied. He just said it he was sort of bragging Yazbeck Yazbeck said the conversation occurred just a few weeks after the air plane was hijacked at a bar in West Germany s Saarland state where Abbas Hamadi was living at the time. Another witness Elfriede Akchura said she had be friended Mohammed Hamadi while he lived in West Germany from 1982-1984 and that they frequently discussed religion. He was crazy about Khomeini she told the court. He is a Khomeini  another witness. Reinhard Schmid shared a cell with Hamadi for six months in 1987. Schmid was in prison for a drug offence but is now free. Schmid said that at one Point Hamadi admitted toeing a member of Hezbollah. Schmid said he asked Hamadi what the goals of Hezbollah were. The goal of the Hezbollah is to wipe out the zionists even if it takes generations Schmid said Hamadi  said Hamadi told him the enemies of Hezbollah were Israel France and those supported by the  Schmid also told the court that during their conversations Hamadi insisted he had nothing to do with the hijacking