European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 08, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 28 news briefs the stars and stripes monday May 8,1989 Carter sees no evidence of voter fraud in Panama Panama City Panama a foreign observers of Panama s presidential election on sunday said they saw no evidence of irregularities at polling places despite opposition predictions the vote would be rigged. The Only problem i be seen is with the num Ber of voters said former president Carter re Ferring to the Long lines of voters As he visited polls at Torrijos Carter elementary school in the suburb of san Miguelito. He said there had been complaints in some precincts about ballots arriving late. The elementary school is named after the 1977 treaties under which the United states is to hand Over the Panama canal to Panama at the end of the Century. Carter and Omar Torrijos the late panamanian dictator signed the trea ties. Carter who headed an observer delegation that included former president Ford visited More than half a dozen voting places around Panama City. Abortion consent Law declared unconstitutional Tavares Fla. A Florida s new Abor Tion consent Law for single girls under 18 has been declared unconstitutional by a judge who asked a higher court to clarify the statute. Judge Jerry lock Cal said the Law was so vague he was unable to hold a proper hearing on petition by a 15-Ycar-old girl who is 11 weeks pregnant and wants an abortion without her parents consent. Before the new Law was passed last year unmarried girls under 18 could obtain abortions without consent from parents or the courts. The new Law requires a girl to obtain permission from a Parent or guardian if she is unwilling to approach the Parent or guardian she May file a petition in circuit court. But the new Law and rules of procedure adopted Early this year Force judges to rubber stamp teen agers claims to Cloctt said. The Law requires judges to Rule within 48 hours after a girl Hies a petition. If a judge docs not Rule by then the girl is free to proceed with the abortion. The matter has to be secret and neither the judge nor the state is allowed to Call in testimony from anyone other than the girl. Settlement tentatively of d in Mcchord fab racial suit Tacoma Wash. A a judge has tentatively approved a settlement of a decade old class action racial discrimination lawsuit hied by Black civilian employees of Mcchord fab. . District court judge Robert Bryan said Friday that he found the settlement fair and reasonable but the agreement won t be final before mid August. About 125 current and former Black employees who were denied promotions they sought or who were discouraged from applying arc eligible to receive a total of $415,000 in Back wages the government agreed to pay under the  suit included about 300 current and former Black employees. Williams said payments should Range Between about $500 and $15,000. The settlement is designed to Correct what Black employees said was a system that fostered discrimination in promotions at the base. The Federal government did not admit wrongdoing in the agreement. I m very confident that the people in the civilian personnel office will make a legitimate Effort to ensure that what occurred in the past docs not occur in the future said Sidney a. Williams who has worked at Mcchord for 33 years and filed the original claim in 1979. If nobody Ever complains nothing Ever changes Williams said. The preliminary settlement provides for the promotions of 12 Blacks to currently vacant supervisory positions or higher paying positions that eventually could Lead to supervisory posts. Nato disputes nothing new . Envoy to Bonn tells clubs by Joseph Owen Stuttgart Bureau Stuttgart West Germany nato has sur Vived crises worse than the political tensions plaguing the United slates and West Germany Over the Issue of Short Range nuclear missiles the . Ambassador to Bonn said sunday. Vernon Walters speaking at ceremonies marking the 35lh anniversary of the federation of German american clubs made Only veiled references to West Germany s demand for East West negotiations on Short Range missiles and . Insistence on parity in conventional forces As a precondition for such talks. Instead Walters stressed the two countries com Mon values and the need for collective efforts in react ing to favourable political change in the soviet bloc. His remarks were echoed by the event s other speak ers which included West German foreign minister Hans Dietrich Genscher the Baden  state president Lothar Sputh Stuttgart mayor Manfred Rommel and . Air Force Gen. Thomas c. Richards the Deputy commander of the . Euro Pean come. Of course there Are problems in our relationship Walters told the 800 guests in Stuttgart s opera House. There Are genuine disagreements some of which reflect real divergences of National  but such differences arc nothing new he said Recal Ling the problems facing nato at its founding in 1949, France s withdrawal from the Alliance s unified military Structure in the 1960s and the missile debates of the Early 1980s. Such friction is natural Between two countries with such different traditions he said. It is True that we share a Rich common culture and Many fundamental values Walters said. We both believe in democracy human rights and social Justice. But there is also a whole series of German american dichotomies stability versus mobility Security ver sus Opportunity homogeneity versus diversity. We arc not the same. And when we judge Ameri cans As if they were germans or germans As if they were americans we arc doing each other a great Indus  Genscher at the forefront of the current political dispute recalled a former . Ambassador s Obser vation that the United states and West Germany have developed a Strong desire to be understood and sup ported by one another despite their differences. I think that has lasted right up to the present Day he said. The foreign minister also emphasized German responsibility for reducing economic tensions betwee inc two countries spurred by . Apprehension about the virtually Border free Market planned in 1992 forthe 12 common Market countries. The positive dynamics of our european Community should Lead to a linking of economic forces of the old and new worlds in the interest of All Mankind Genscher said. Richards noted that with time recollections of world War ii arc fading in both countries. It has become common for those who have no memory of War to take this time of peace and Prosperity for granted Richards said. We have an obligation to acquaint our youth germans and americans with their history and they should pay attention if Thev want their Freedom to continue As a Bright and Bountiful  in the face of political change in the soviet Union he said the prudent course for us should be to Reaf firm the Unity and the Friendship we have forged and to re dedicate ourselves to those shared values that Hac served us so  cult Leader from Page 1 Mexico City for about five minutes saturday night but he would not divulge details of the conversation. The attorney general s office in Mexico s Federal District would not immediately confirm the Story. Constanzo 26. And Aldrete 24, had been charged with aggravated kidnapping by Cameron county authorities and Are believed to have directed human sacrifices mutilations and the boiling of brains and other organs in rituals to bring occult Protection for their drug smuggling ring. The ring and its macabre activities were discovered when authorities unearthed 15 bodies buried West of the Border City of Matamoros Mexico by cunning on april ii. Constanzo and Aldrete missing since the first 12 bodies were uncovered april 11, arc among 11 people indicted in the United states on a four count drug indictment. Four of the five men in custody in Matamoros said the cult leaders were Constanzo and Aldrete. The pair flew from Mcallen to Mexico City on april 11, officials have said. In the mexican capital the investigation led to searches of residences where occult altars were found. Thousands protest in Athens in delayed May Day March Athens Greece a tens of thousands of workers rallied in Central Athens and marched on parliament on sunday in a May Day Celebration that was delayed six Days because of orthodox Christian easter. More than 300 turkish and kurdish refugees held their own demonstration and marched to the turkish embassy where they burned that country s Flag. They were protesting the death of an 18-year-old worker during violent unauthorized May Day demonstrations in Istanbul last week More than 100 riot police prevented the demonstrators who chanted death to the fascist turkish re Gime from approaching the embassy. There arc about 700 turkish and kurdish political refugees living in Athens. The kurd belong to an outlawed movement that seeks the formation of an inde pendent kurdish state in Southeastern Turkey. The May Day Celebration organized by the general confederation of greek workers was the first unified workers gathering in More than four years. On a Day like this our various views ideological differences and political choices arc put aside under the joint goal that brings workers together said Lambros Kanellopoulos the group s socialist presi Dent. The confederation which represents most of Greece s 3.5 million workers was bitterly divided after its pro government socialist leadership pushed for sup port of an austerity policy in 1985. Support for the two year austerity policy imposed by the governing panhellenic socialist movement was opposed by Radical socialist and communist lab or Lead ers who split the confederation. Through working under a new More moderate leadership those differences have since been resolved. The confederation issued a Resolution sunday Call ing on the government for wage increases linked to the inflation rate and a reduction of the workweek from 37.5 hours to 35. Inflation in Greece was running at 14 percent at the end of 1988, the highest in the 12-nation european economic Community. Moslem Leader in France Dies of heart attack Paris a Sheik Abbas Ben Sheik Al Home Rector of the great mosque of Paris and considered the top moslem religious authority in France has died of a heart attack. He was 77. Abbas of algerian nationality was made Rector of the mosque in 1982. He often acted As a spokesman for French moslem a role disputed by some and As a Liaison Between the French government and the mos Lem Community