European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 5, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 8 the stars and stripes tuesday septembers 1989 Sweden s troubled Saab holding talks with Ford Stockholm. Sweden a reporting Plung ing profits. Swedish troubled automaker Saab scam confirmed monday it is negotiating with Ford motor co. Gcorge Kar Sund Saab s president and chief executive officer refused to disclose details of the talks saying that Saab has signed an agreement of confidentiality with Ford. Discussions arc taking place Between the two companies. The purpose of these discussions is to explore whether there arc any possibilities of closer cooperation in various areas of the automotive business Kar Sund said in a statement cleared in Advance with Ford. He said no further information would be released until the talks were concluded. He said Saab also is talking with other car makers but declined to say which. Sales in the United states where a $25,000 Saab has been considered a status car for Young professionals dropped 15 percent in the first six months of this year the company said. The troubles in the United states once Saab s most profitable Market dragged Down profits of the car division by 30 percent to 902 million Kroner $139 Mil lion it said. Kar Sund said Saab needs to increase volume to overcome the crisis and this applies regardless of whether we go it alone or Start to collaborate with another car the Saab Santa group could carry the ailing car division but we would achieve bigger volumes faster through collaboration with a suitable he said. A six month report showed that despite setbacks in passenger cars the automotive and aviation giant re Mains one of Sweden s richest companies with sales of 23 billion Kronor $3.5 billion up 12 percent Over the same period in 1988. Its backlog of orders for commercial aircraft has built up to 12 billion Kroner $1.8 billion compared with 7.7 billion Kroner $1.2 billion this time last year the report said. Rumours have circulated for months that Saab might sell off its car division. A Deal with Ford which included the profitable Scania truck division would give the american company a foothold in Europe in heavy vehicles to compete with general motors which signed a cooperation agreement two years ago with Volvo Sweden s leading automaker. Swedish newspapers reported last week that Saab was negotiating to sell Ford a 20 percent to 40 percent share of the car division. Ford reportedly was bidding for a majority share. Double Delight balancing two Large watermelons on his shoulders Aman Walls for a bus in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul. In a War racked nation where food is Short the summer crop of Rich melons provides Many an in rationed feast world today Sartre de Beauvoir texts used to pay off taxes Paris a several important manuscripts by French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre and his lifetime companion Simon de Beauvoir have been accepted As payment of death taxes from do Beauvoir s heirs French economic minister Michel Charass has announced. The texts include the manuscripts of Sartre s Monu mental work Flaubert the idiot of the family the critique of dialectical reason and 399 letters Sartre wrote to do a Avoir Between 1926 and 1963, some of which have never been published. Most exciting is the discovery of 255 letters from de Beauvoir to Sartre which literary historians did not know existed. Vietnamese Leader Linh against liberalization Bangkok Thailand a vietnamese Leader Nguyen Van Linh sharply rejected a multiparty system for his communist nation. Expressing unease with the kind of changes sweep ing the soviet Union Poland and other communist countries Linh said Vietnam would keep liberalizing its Economy but not its political system. It is not our policy to hasten renovation of the political system while preparations arc still inadequate the communist party Leader said. Neither is it our intention to effect limitless soviet watermelons rot for Lack of trans portion Moscow up bulldozers crushed 3 million rubles $4.7 million Worth of Choice watermelons that rotted in the Sun because no trains were available to Lake them to Market soviet television said. The spoiled watermelons were destroyed at a collective farm in Astrakhan near the Caspian sea 770 Miles Southeast of Moscow a Field manager said Sun Day. Vehicles meant to carry out these watermelons Are in a Jam at the station. They can t be unloaded onto trains. Refrigerator cars Are full to bursting the Man Ager said. The farm needs up to 110 railway cars to deliver its watermelons to markets he added and this week 12 to 15 cars was All we got 20 at heavy Rains account for 7 deaths in Japan Tokyo a heavy weekend Rains in South Western Japan caused flooding and landslides that claimed seven lives police said monday. In All More than 4,500 houses were flooded As up to 13.4 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period that ended Early sunday authorities said. Eighteen prefectures were affected. The National police Agency said landslides occurred at 183 locations damage to roads at 88 locations and damage to rails at 10 locations. Britons see to film backing Wii bombing chief London a a play giving a sympathetic View of air chief marshal sir Arthur Harris who destroyed Ger Man cities in world War ii was Broad cast for the first Lime on British television sunday night the 50th anniversary1 of Britain s entry into the War. Harris area bombing of Cologne Hamburg and Dresden ordered to de stroy German civilian morale was criticized during the War and has remained controversial. Unlike the other British commanders Harris was not Given a peerage when the War ended and no medal was struck for bomber command which lost 56,000 airmen in raids Over Europe. The slights still rankle with survivors who revered Harris As a Leader who fought in the Allied War councils to get the Best for them. He died in 1984 at 91. Bomber Harris the 90-Minutc Brit ish broadcasting corp. Movie depicts Harris As a professional determined Long serving military Man who worked out bombing tactics and strategy Long be fore the War began and who ordered modifications in aircraft design to give his Crews More Power and Protection. Scriptwriter Don Shaw who endured bombing As a boy in Britain during the War said that regardless of whether har Ris s strategy was effective Harris believed it would shorten the War. Shaw has Harris saying in the play of his critics we be been accused of Mur Der. What would we have been accused of if Hitler and his bloody gang had won the wart Shaw said lady Harris showed him a letter written by Albert up car Hitler armaments minister saying that As a re sult of the British and . Bombing 1million German troops had been pulled Back from fighting the russians. Harris supporters have argued that in a dark time of British defeats on land and sea he boosted his country s morale with the nighttime raids organizing the first attack on Cologne in May 1942 Only three months after he was Given command of the bomber Force. The play shows him arguing for his strategy with the . Air Force com Manders Gen. Carl Spaatz and it. Gen. Ira c. Eaker whose heavily armed bombers based in Britain struck at pre Cise German targets of military significance in Daylight. Eaker is shown almost in tears after his Crews aug. 17, 1943, raid on Schweinfurt and Regensburg lost 60 aircraft and 600 crewmen killed or captured. Harris complained that if the Ameri cans had carried out area bombing by Day to support his night raids the War could have been won sooner. He had to fight to defend his strategy against his fellow commanders who Dis approved of area bombing and wanted attacks on military targets to prepare for and then assist the Allied invasion of Normandy in june 1944. The play recalls a Little known fact that the anglican chaplain at hams Headquarters who protested to him against area bombing was the Rev. John Collins who became a Canon of St. Paul s Cathedral after the War and was a leading member of Britain s Campaign for nuclear disarmament. Harris tells Collins in a confrontation in the play you return to your con science and let me get on with the
