European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 14, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 news updates the stars and stripes tuesday february 14,1989 pravda cites forecast Moscow a the soviet newspaper pravda reported Sun Day that nato believes East bloc nations Are doing so poorly economically that they will fall farther behind the West for another two decades. In a Short answer to a Reader question the official communist party daily said the voice of America did not lie in reporting the pessimistic economic projections of nato official Henning Waggoner. But pravda said the conclusion sin the report were on Waggoner s  pravda summarized the nato report saying it projected no More than 2 percent economic growth per year and a widening economic Gap Between East and West until Well into the next Century. Pravda said the official recommended against Western Aid to the soviet Union. Cardinal takes Post Cologne West Germany a Cardinal Joachim Meisner on sunday officially assumed leadership 01 the powerful Cologne archdiocese As thousands of pro testers rallied against the Vatican s strict stand on birth control. Meisner s appointment an Pope John Paul in s conservative policies have caused a widening rift Between West Germany s roman catholics and the Vatican. Cologne Church leaders were an gered last year when the Pope insisted on appointing Meisner an East German who was previously Bishop of Berlin. The Cologne archdiocese is on of the most influential in Western Europe and one of the richest in the world. . Won t Send military official w Bonn West Germany is . Government will not Honor a re quest to Send a Wiesbaden a military official to German parliamentary hear Ings on the controversial stationing of an attack helicopter battalion a committee spokesman said monday. In a Jan. 4 letter . Ambassador Richard Burt said that it would not be appropriate for . Officials to appear before the parliamentary transportation committee. The letter also said representatives of the . Military should not respond in writing to committee questions the spokesman said. However embassy officials told the stars and stripes that such a refusal to appear is Standard procedure. We operate on a government to government basis a spokesman for . Embassy said. If the committee wants information it should approach its own ministry of defense which intern would ask the american embassy. The embassy then would in Thi Scase Contact Usa eur for the information and relay it Back to the commit tee through proper German government  the hearings scheduled to Start wednesday concern the planned stationing of a battalion of Apache attack helicopters at Wiesbaden a in the Wiesbaden suburb of Erlenheim. Army plans have called for a total of181 fixed and rotary Wing aircraft to be at the base including about 100 sophisticated night flying ah-64 apaches. There currently Are 21 apaches at wies Baden. The battalion also will include uh-60 Black Hawks and oh-58 Kiowa. Local residents have protested the planned stationing and have moved to Stop it through the courts the state legis lature and the Federal parliament. The 31-member transportation com Mittee meets about 20 times a year to discuss problems involving civilian traffic and transportation including air traffic congestion and noise pollution from air traffic. Red army says goodbye to afghans in ceremony at Kabul s frigid Airport Soldier accused in murder of transvestite ludwigs Burg West Germany a 93rd signal brigade Soldier has been charged with murder in the death of a74-year-old male transvestite whose body was found Jan. 31 in nearby Rem Seck. Pfc. Thomas fell 21, has Bee charged with unpremeditated murder robbery and sodomy military officials said. Fell is assigned to co a 51st sign Alan at Krab Belloch Cavern in ludwigs Burg spokeswoman capt. Renee Mongo said. The victim retired Stuttgart resident Richard Bode was found dead in his car on a dirt Road near the . Pattonville housing area. Ludwigs Burg police arrested the Soldier saturday evening police spokesman Albrecht Simoneit said. Simoneit said police will release soother information about the Case until the question of jurisdiction is settled. Mongo said the suspect is in . Cus Tody in Stuttgart but is expected to be transferred to the army confinement facility at Mannheim. Correction a Story sunday cited an incorrect1988 total sales figure for the army commissary system in Europe. The amount should have been $397.3 million or a 10 percent increase from 1987 sales said Denise Gomes an army commissary spokeswoman. Kabul Afghanistan a the red army said Farewell to Kabul in ceremony at the frigid Airport monday then paratroopers in fur hats and padded uniforms decorated with afghan medal climbed into a Jet transport and were flown away. Some soviet soldiers remained but officials said they would be gone by wednesday the deadline for the Krem Lin to have All its forces out of a civil War it entered More than nine years ago. A . Airlift has been suspended be cause a cargo plane loaded with food and Medicine left Islamabad in neighbouring Pakistan without clearance and another airline pulled out of the program . Officials said. A swedish airline said it was sending plane to Islamabad and would carry the emergency cargo if there was no risk to the aircraft or Crew. In Islamabad afghan guerrilla briefly resumed monday a moslem Council that was called originally to choose an interim government but two important leaders did not attendant spokesmen said factional quarrels about Power sharing continued. The guerrillas who began fighting after a communist coup in april 1978, predict the marxist government in Kabul will fall soon after completion of the red army s withdrawal. Soviet soldiers entered the country i december 1979 and totalled an estimated 115,000 when the .-mediated withdrawal began May 15. At an Airport ceremony monday to which 150 foreign journalists were invited it. Col. Pyotr Sar Darchuk praised15 Young paratroopers who stood in front of their Antonov-12 transport plane. We have helped Afghanistan create order and provided economic supplies and other goods he said. Now you Are leaving afghan soil and i want to say thank you very much for your service and to wish you All the Best happiness and health and a Safe return  capt. Alexander Zhadan said the medals on our Chest afghan medals Bear witness to what we have accomplished. We would like to Hope that there will be peace in Afghanistan and that the people of Afghanistan will remember us  at least one departing Soldier a 20-year-old, questioned the accomplishments. I think it could have been done peacefully he said in answer to a ques Tion As he boarded the plane which took off for Tashkent. He said he thought so Viet intervention was All a big  paratroopers waved through the win Dows As the plane taxied Down the run Way and took off. It climbed in a tight spiral because of the surrounding mountains and spouted flares to deflect any heat seeking missiles guerrillas in the mountains might fire. About 450 soviet soldiers quietly left the besieged capital sunday during a snowstorm. Sar Darchuk would not say How Man soldiers remained in Kabul after Mon Day s ceremony which had been billed Ashe departure of the last red army troop ers. They could be seen in armoured personnel carriers posted around the air port s military Section and along its perimeter. Soviets to see launchers destroyed Rhein main a West Germany is twelve soviet inspectors arrived monday to watch the destruction of 19 . Pershing ii nuclear missile launchers this week near Frankfurt a base spokesman said. The soviets arrived at 3 07 . For a elimination inspection under guidelines of the intermediate Range nuclear forces treaty it. Col. Pat Maloney said. The launchers will be destroyed at the equipment maintenance Center in Hau sen a Frankfurt suburb. The on site inspection scheduled for tuesday through thursday involves the destruction of nine launchers from Schwabish a mind nine from Neu Ulm and one maintenance spare Maloney said. The Hausen equipment Center also was the site where nine erector launchers were sawed into scrap in october. The nine were the first of 114 such launchers to be destroyed under the treaty. The treaty allows soviet and . Inspection teams to conduct reciprocal on site verification checks on removal an destruction of intermediate Range nuclear missile systems at Sites in Europe the soviet Union and the United states. Military Media winners announced Washington the defense department has announced the winners of the 1988 Thomas Jefferson awards for military newspapers magazines radio and television. The annual contest is sponsored by the assistant Secretary of defense for Public affairs to Reward excellence and professionalism in military print and broadcast Media. Winning european entries in the print categories Are authorized non commercial offset and letterpress newspaper training times 7th army training come Gra Fenohr West Germany. Authorized photocopied newspaper Multi Lith newspaper or authorized mimeograph or other spirit newspaper of newsletter size Comiso columns 487th tac missile Wing Comiso air Sta Tion Sicily. European winners in the broadcast Cate Gones Are broadcast journalist of the year Marine sgt. Alfred r. Moore Navy broadcasting service det Rota Spain. Television internal information series from an on air arts outlet army staff sgt. Thomas Jay Field an Europe Frankfurt West Germany. Local radio news sports stories or Fea Tures used on the air det 1, air Force Arctic broadcasting so Thule a Greenland. Local television news sports stories or features used on the air army sgt. Tony Mckinney Southern european broadcasting Vicenza Italy. Radio spot production Eric Nathan Hompe Southern european broadcast ing Vicenza Italy. Television spot production det 4,air Force european broadcasting so and production department Ira Khon air station Crete. Special internal information radio program from an on air arts outlet George a. Smith an Europe Nurnberg West Germany