European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 24, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 28 the stars and stripes sunday december 24,1989 romanian rebellion topples Ceausescu from Page 1 from Bucharest the romanian capital. However there was no confirmation of the capture in romanian Media. Mccau Csc j s soi., Nicu was reported in custody and was shown on to with a bloody face his arms held by a civilian and a Man in a uniform. He was then taken away by his captors. Reports that Ceausescu and his wife had been Given Sanctuary in China were denied by Beijing. Ceausescu backed China s bloody suppression of the student led pro democracy movement in the Spring and China s communist party chief Jiang Zemin had spoken recently of the sincere and profound Friendship be tween the two countries. Provisional Leader Ion Iliescu appeared on Roma Nian television along with other members of a nation Al salvation committee that the Media said was formed to run the country temporarily. Iliescu an old acquaintance of soviet president Mikhail s. Gorba Chev and former foreign minister Cornclio Manescu said free elections would be sought by april. Manescu. A 73-year-old former foreign minister said that he was directing a provisional government that would stay in Power until the elections. Manescu had been under House arrest for months in an Industrial Complex near Bur Charcot according to sources. In March he and five other senior officials had sharply criticized the regime. In a few Days we shall Calm Down Bury our dead and will to consciously building new free and demo cratic the soviet news Agency Tass quoted Roma Nian port Mirca Dinescu As saying. Besides free elections the National salvation com Mittee said it was committed to a pluralistic society continued membership in the Warsaw pact the idea Ofa common european Home an idea espoused by Gorbachev abolishment of All structures of the Ceausescu dictatorship and placement of the army and the news briefs Jet strays off course from wire reports Anchorage Alaska a thai airways jumbo Jet flying from Seattle to Tokyo mistakenly reversed course Over the Northern Pacific on thursday evening and wandered 600 Miles off its flight path before it was alerted by air traffic controllers Federal aviation officials said officials said they believed in was the largest deviation from a Pacific flight path Ever made by a plane a Boeing 747 carrying 391 people landed safely in Anchorage. But aviation experts said they were shocked that a jetliner equipped with the latest navigation devices could stray so far off course. Miners intensify talks Washington the United mine workers and the Pittston co. Bargained intensely Friday in Hopes of reaching a pc can slams agreement to end a bitter sometimes violent and costly eight month strike. The two sides have been in around the clock negotiations for three Days and although the government appointed mediator has imposed a gag order on the talks sources said considerable Progress has been As several self imposed deadlines for reaching an agreement passed thursday and Early Friday the sources raised the possibility that the talks would Sim ply be recessed Friday until after Christmas. Although the strike involves just 1,700 miners it holds Broad implications for the ump and the mining Industry As a whole. The dispute Between the miners and Pilston Over Retiree health benefits threatens to undermine a decades old compact Between mining companies and the ump guaranteeing retired miners full health benefits. Christmas sales cold new York the lagging Christmas shopping season picked up new life in its final week with a potential Bonus due on sunday an extra shopping Day this year. But retailers across the country estimated Friday that sales for the season which has been plagued by bitterly cold weather in Many areas have shown gains of Only 3-5 percent Over last year Down from a 7 percent increase in 1988.interviews with retailers in various cities found that predictions of a disappointing season were being borne out. An extra gain of i to 3 percent could be achieve this weekend they indicated provided there arc no heavy snows. But even so they said there was Little doubt that the final results would be lacklustre. Mass Groves filled with dictator s victims Timisoara Romania a hundreds of peo ple Friday were digging up mass Graves discovered in the Forest District of Timisoara trying to find the re Mains of their friends and relatives killed in last week end s crackdown. Three such mass Graves arc believed to be holding As Many As 4,500 corpses of people massacred by the dreaded Security forces last weekend and earlier this week. There was no Independent confirmation of the number of dead. Timisoara 500 Miles from Bucharest vicar the Yugo slav and hungarian Border was the Center of protests that were brutally suppressed by the regime of presi Dent Nicolas Ceausescu. West German television apparently showing foot age provided by romanian to showed muddied naked corpses being dug out and placed on White sheets one after the other. All had their feet tied together with wire. A dead boy about 3 or 4 years old was shown lying on the ground. Security apparatus under the control of the civil government. Efforts by the Security forces to regain control by seizing the television and radio were repulsed by rebel soldiers inside the buildings. The to station stayed on the air during the attack with reporter Victor Lonosco exhorting residents of Bucharest to come to the scene of the shooting. Come help us he implored. We re helping people who had been chanting outside the to build ing Only minutes before the shooting scattered briefly during the attack but they came Back and cheered when tanks on Side of the uprising took up new positions around the building. Rebel troops also were located on the building s roof. The i arly reaction to Ceausescu s ouster was Posi Tive. In Washington the Bush administration said a terrible Burden had been lifted from the romanian people and expressed Hope for a peaceful transition to democracy. Romania s exiled King Michael deposed by the communists in 1947. Told his countrymen in a Broad cast from Switzerland i am and will always remain with Brandenburg Celebration two Young East bar liners hold sparklers As they celebrate the opening of Brandenburg Gale on Fri Day. Tens of thousands of people surged through two new openings in the Berlin Wall to celebrate. Panama from Page 1 Thurman s Deputy and direct commander of . Army troops in Panama. Included in the surrender of weapons and men were the 600-Man peace battalion and the 200-Man red devils company considered among Noriega s Best combat units. Both units had fled into the Countryside wednesday. The 5lh military zone includes the Chriqui depart ment near the Costa rican Border where Noriega was expected to base his last ditch guerrilla Campaign using arms stashed several months ago in secret hiding places. Del Cid said his command contained 4,500 men of whom about 3,500 would be surrendering. He did no know the whereabouts of the other men. But presumably they remained in the Hill country of Boquet about a 45-Mmutc drive North of Here. Meanwhile a group of scientists including five americans who had been taken hostage from a tiny Island on the Caribbean coast of Panama on wednes Day was rescued Friday by . Military helicopter teams. The 11 scientists research assistants and a 4-year old girl were taken hostage wednesday by about 30 soldiers believed to be members of the Panama de sense forces. The scientists and the child were taken against their will from a Marine research station oper ated by the smithsonian tropical research Institute on an Island on the Northern coast of Panama. On the diplomatic front the . Security Council was to vote saturday on a Resolution denouncing the . Action in Panama and demanding the immediate withdrawal of . Troops with the United states poised to veto it. Only Britain has expressed wholehearted support on the 15-Membcr Council for the . Action and a Dou ble veto is possible. Virtually All other nations in the world body have rejected the . Argument that it acted in self defense in invading Panama. In Washington Bush told Congress in a forma notification required by the War Powers act that it was impossible to predict the scope and duration of the . Intervention. The administration also dismissed a vote by the organization of american states deploring the . Invasion and calling for an immediate withdrawal. Theotas vote was 20-1, with the United states casting the Lone no vote. Six nations abstained. Bush mentioned the continuing chaos in Panama during a speech on aids at the National institutes of health saying we sorrow at the casualties in Panama but we know nothing is More crucial to peace on Earth than Freedom and
