European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 22, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 28 news briefs the stars and stripes monday May 22,1989 fire hits Mannheim pm operations not curtailed Mannheim West Germany a fire in the Post Exchange at Benjamin Franklin Village at 4 30 . Saturday will not affect Normal operations of the facility a local cafes official said. Major damage from smoke and water occurred in the storage area and there was minor damage to parts of the sight and sound Center and the shoe Section the official said. Neither an estimate of the damage nor the cause of the fire has been determined. The incident is being investigated by West German and military authorities. Collision of soviet trains causes huge explosion Moscow a two freight trains one Laden with highly flammable propane collided in the capital of soviet Kazakhstan sparking a giant fire and explosion that destroyed fact once and 13 houses and killed an unspecified number of people Tass reported sunday. The official soviet news Agency said the trains collided while being switched from one track to another on approach lines to a station in Alma Ata the capital of Kazakhstan a Central asian Republic. A huge fire that broke out As a result of the collision caused a powerful explosion which claimed human lives Tass said. W. German Aid workers evacuated from Lebanon Beirut up three West German work ers for the Relief Agency Asme hum Anitas were evacuated sunday from Lebanon six Days after two of their colleagues were kidnapped Security sources said. The sources said the germans identified As Jan shrink scr hours Lomba and Markus Quint boarded the cargo ship Libra at the Southern port City of Sidon 24 Miles South of Beirut and headed for Cyprus. The sources said the Relief workers who arrived at the port unescorted and carrying hand Luggage left behind two women colleagues at the Agency s Headquarters in Bahrani just South of Sidon. Two men who work at Relief Agency Are still held hostage by unknown gunmen. Quint disappeared for 10 Days starting May 4 in Bahrani and he reportedly said he was abducted in connection with the hijacking trial of shiite moslem Mohammed Ali Hammadi. Thomas Kemp incr 30, and Hinrich Struebig 48. Were kidnapped in Sidon on May 16, along with a colleague Petra Schnitzler 26, who was released shortly after. The kidnapping occurred a few hours before a Frankfurt court sentenced Hammadi to life in prison. The abduction was seen As a last minute attempt by shiite extremists to influence the ver dict. Blast in West Germany kills French Soldier Strasbourg France up one French Soldier was killed and 12 others injured sunday in an explosion in West Germany. The blast was apparently caused by a live Shell that May have been dropped during world War ii military authorities said. The explosion occurred Early sunday near the West German town of Grossheim where Mem Bers of a French army Reserve unit were participating in exercises along the Rhine River. 6 . Narcotics agents among 9 killed in crash Lima. Peru a a plane carrying six . Narcotics agents and three peruvian police offi cers crashed in the Andes and All aboard were killed the peruvian Interior ministry said Sun Day. . Embassy spokesman Charles Loveridge said the plane went Down saturday afternoon minutes after leaving the Jungle town of tingo Maria. He said it was spotted sunday morning in the mountains near the town of Huan Uco. Stethem s parents go Home the pain has t healed port tobacco my. A Richard and Pat Ricia St them have finally come Home after nearly a year in West Germany now that a Man has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the 1985 terrorist murder of their son. Robert Stethem 23, a Navy diver was shot and his body dumped onto the pavement at Beirut internal tonal Airport during the 17-Day hijacking of Twa flight 847. The stat hams both 53, attended 65 court sessions in Frankfurt West Germany beginning last july for the trial of Mohammed Ali Hamadi nearly a year out of my grandchildren s lives mrs. St them said. The stat hams returned to their Charles county Home thursday night after Hamadi s sentencing. We re very confident and really feel hell stay be Hind bars mrs. Stethem said of Hamadi. So we feel our trip was Worth  they say time heals All wounds Stethem said. The pain has t healed yet. And i Don t Sec it happen ing at this Point. But this verdict has helped a  the first order of business was working in i hair Yard and tending the Rose Garden mrs. St them maintains to Harvest Flowers for her son s grave at Arlington nation Al cemetery. A neighbor mowed the Lawn while the stat hams were away but a three week lapse and abundant rain have Given it time to grow knee High. We must get on with our lives now said St them a civilian Navy employee. We Don t feel in any Dan Ger. We be been victims already. Well never have Rob  in the garage is their son s car with a vanity License plate Stethem obtained after his son was killed. Rob Bies it says. We Don t drive it much Secl him said. The elder St them joined the Navy in 1953, when he was 17. He retired in 1979 but returned As a civilian employee. Mrs. St them also was in the Navy in California when they met. She now is a Secretary at the . Court of military appeals in Washington. There arc three other children Cheryl 31, a Mother of two and two Navy sons Kenneth 29, and Patrick,23. I had actually tried to talk All of them into joining the air  their father said. When the Twa air plane was hijacked in june 1985,Robert St them was part of a Crew of Navy divers returning from a routine maintenance Job at a . Navy sewage treatment Plant in Greece. They were on their Way Back to Little Creek va., where Patrick St them now holds the same Job his brother once had. Why St them was chosen for execution by the shiite moslem terrorists remains unknown. Another diver severely beaten at the same time lived to testify at Hamadi s trial. Two other terrorists involved in the hijacking remain at  the time they spent at the trial in West Germany did not provide answers to All their questions the stat hams derived a certain Solace. I had to be there mrs. Stethem said. I had to know what was happening. I would be climbed the Walls wondering what was happening if stayed at  during Breaks in the trial she did Volunteer work typing at the dental clinic of the . Military base where they stayed. A lot of nights i did t sleep and walked around and called my daughter in Maryland she said. Her husband said he read a lot of books about terrorism. A Security detail whisked them into the courtroom which was inside a prison and they sat with the prosecutor behind bulletproof Glass. An interpreter trans lated. Now that they re Home the Secl hams plan to visit their son s grave taking newly Cut roses from the Gar Den and news of what happened to Hamadi. This is going to be great going this time  said because i can ice him we just got  soviet team inspects defector s Mig-29 Ankara Turkey up soviet technicians on sunday examined the sophisticated Mig-29 Jet fighter flown to Trabzon on the Black sea by a defecting air Force Pilot As turkish authorities prepared to hand the plane Back to the soviet Union officials said. A foreign ministry spokesman said a soviet Ilyushin transport plane carrying a team of technicians landed in Trabzon s civilian Airport at 9 10 . On sunday and then carried out a preliminary Examina Tion of the Mig-29. The Ilyushin was turned Back late saturday because the Trabzon Airport 400 Miles Northeast of the capital of Ankara did not have enough lights for a plane that size the spokesman said. Soviet air Force capt. Alexander a Uyco 28, who asked for political Asylum in the United states after he flew the Mig-29 to Trabzon on saturday was still recovering in Hospital from a Bullet wound in the right shoulder. A Uyco was shot by soviet guards As he fled from an air base near Batu i in the soviet Republic of Georgia. He reportedly told doctors in a Trabzon Hospital that he avoided radar detection by flying his plane 30 to 40 Yards above the Black sea to Turkey. The plane had several Bullet holes in the Side As a result of shooting at the soviet air base the Semi offi Cial Anatolian news Agency said. Soviet technicians examined it sunday to determine if it was still airworthy. The soviet foreign ministry on saturday demanded the return of the plane and the Pilot. The turkish government agreed to return the plane but was still examining Zuy cps request for political Asylum in the United states a turkish foreign ministry spokesman said. The Mig-29 was expected to be flown Back to the soviet Union on sunday if it was airworthy the spokesman said. He did not say whether there was another soviet Mig-29 Pilot on Board the Ilyushin that brought the team of technicians to Trabzon. The Mig-29 had four air to surface missiles on Board when it landed. Turkish foreign minister Mesut Yilmaz told reporters the plane will stay in Turkey until investigations arc completed. We will give Back the plane  Yilmaz spoke to reporters at Ankara Airport where he went to Sec off prime minister Turgut Ozal who began a visit to Tunisia on sunday. The turkish foreign minister met with soviet ambassador Albert Corm Shiv on sunday but neither offi Cial spoke to reporters after the meeting. Several other officials from the soviet embassy led by senior Diplomat Valter Shonia flew to Trabzon to handle the return of the Mig-29, the Anatolian news Agency said. Shonia told reporters at Trabzon Airport the Pilot a Uyco clashed with guards while taking the plane. Turkey ought to return such a criminal otherwise the turkish government would be guilty of harbouring a terrorist. Zuyev recovering in an orthopaedic Ward of the Farabi Hospital in Trabzon refused to speak to reporters who visited him. He also declined to be photographed and covered his face with a Blanket As journalists walked into the room. But a translator said the Pilot promised to hold a press conference later. A doctor who asked for anonymity said that besides the Bullet wound in his right shoulder a Uyco also had bruises on his body As though he had been beaten with a stick. Bush from Page 1 militarized Europe one with a secure conventional balance at lower Levels of Force on the economic front Bush spoke warmly yet cautiously about Western Europe s plans for a common Market free of internal Trade barriers by 1992. He said that despite apprehension in some quarters about what a United Europe will bring this administration is of one mind. We believe a Strong United Europe Means a Strong  on the other hand Bush said there arc certain to be clashes and controversies Over economic issues and he pledged that America would defend its inter ests. But it is important to distinguish adversaries from allies and allies from adversaries Bush said. What a tragedy what an Absurdity it would be if future historians attribute the demise of the Western Alliance to disputes Over beef hormones and wars Over  he was referring to two Trade areas that have been sources of discord Between the United slates and Europe