European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 28 a a the stars and stripes saturday april 28,1990bonn links defense cuts to unification Bonn West Germany apr the government Friday said defense spending should be Cut to help pay for German unification. Chancellor Helmut Kohls senior aide predicted agreement on merging the two countries economies within a week. Rudolf Seiters Kohls chief of staff also told parliament that local and state governments will help pay the costs of merging the two Germany and said the process will be easier if citizens show courage. East and West German officials on Friday negotiated economic Union and Seiters predicted Success within a week and the merging of the two economies by summer. West Germany is demanding that the East German Economy be completely overhauled. But Lothar de Maiziere East Germany a prime minister said his people would face enormous burdens if subsidies on rents Energy and Public services were eliminated immediately. News briefs Seiters acknowledged that the Cost of reviving East Germany a Economy and protecting its people from economic shocks will result in West German budget cuts a in defense and other areas a and a higher budget deficit. He did not specify what military cuts Bonn envisions although it is considering a reduction in its 490,000-member armed forces to 400,000. Meanwhile East Germany Stop officials said they do not want to be part of nato. De Maiziere in a parliamentary session thursday said that his omission until now of an official East German stance toward nato has been no Accident. A we want to overcome the military blocs not rearrange them a he said. Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii and soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze joined by their colleagues from Britain France and the two German states Are scheduled to meet in Bonn on May 5. Asked about East Germany a stance toward nato East German foreign minister Markus Meckel said a membership in nato is not our  he urged the building up a new european Security system. However since unification will come about sooner than a new system a temporary solution May be necessary he said. If under those circumstances East Germany has to consider membership in nato then the Western Alliance would have to substantially change its strategy Meckel said. Seiters assured lawmakers that West Germany a Strong Economy can absorb much of unification a Cost and noted Kohls Promise not to raise taxes. During the same session opposition politicians accused Kohl of excluding them from participating in the unification process. A unification is not a private matter for the Federal Chancellor. It is a matter for the whole people a said Herta Daubler Gmelin a top official with the opposition social democrats. East and West Germany Hope to adopt a single currency and join their economies by july 2, which will be huge Steps toward ending the two countries 41-year division. No details were immediately forthcoming from the negotiations in East Berlin on Bonne a proposed a state contract outlining policies for monetary economic and social Union of the two nations. The proposal includes terms for replacing East Germany a currency with the mighty West German Mark restructuring the East German Economy and adopting social programs to protect East germans from resulting economic shocks. The Bonn proposal Calls for a Basic 1-1 currency Exchange for wages pensions and savings up to $2,300. Savings Over that amount would be exchanged at the less attractive rate of 21. Political motive discounted in knifing of Lafontaine Cologne West Germany up a investigators said Friday the woman who assaulted and critically injured leading opposition politician Oskar Lafontaine had neither political nor terrorist motives and is being checked for mental disorders. A spokesman for the state prosecutors office in Cologne which is leading investigations said the attacker Adelheid Streidel will not face trial by jury until summer. Streidel stabbed Lafontaine in the neck with a Large Butcher knife during a political rally of the social democratic party near Cologne. Lafontaine received several visitors Friday including party  on Jesus burial site shut during christians strike Jerusalem apr Christian leaders Friday closed the Church on the site where Jesus was buried for the first time in More than 800 years As part of a one Day strike to protest a jewish settlement in the old City of Jerusalem. Other churches and Christian shrines throughout the holy land also were closed and Church Bells in Jerusalem Bethlehem and other towns rang in somber funeral cadence for about five minutes every hour. About 150 clergymen including representatives from nine major Christian sects gathered to oversee the closing of the massive wooden doors of the Church of the holy sepulchre site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. In a show of Solidarity moslem leaders closed to visitors the a1 Asa mosque and dome of the Rock shrine. Only worshippers were permitted in the  Sheik assails . Position on hostages Sidon Lebanon up a the spiritual Mentor of the iranian backed Hezbollah group bitterly assailed the United states Friday for demanding the release of Western hostages while failing to seek the release of a moslem fundamentalist Leader kidnapped by israeli commandos. A american officials have recently said that they were not ready to exert pressures on Israel to release Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid and other lebanese and palestinian prisoners held in Israel a Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah told a shiite crowd at a mosque in Southern Beirut. A but at the same time the americans put pressure on the whole world for the Sake of the . And european hostages a he said. Obeid a key Hezbollah figure was abducted by an israeli commando team in Southern Lebanon last july. Hubble is a open for business freeing shuttle from support role space Center Houston apr the Lens cover on the Hubble space Telescope opened Friday after a morning of worrisome problems and Mission control told the discovery astronauts they no longer Are needed to Rescue the $1.5 billion instrument. A a you be been released from Hubble support its on its own a Mission control told the astronauts when the aluminium aperture door opened. A thank you sir that a great news a said discovery a commander Loren j. Shriver. A there Are handshakes and smiles All around up Here a said Steve Hawley who had been at the controls when the Telescope was released into its own orbit on wednesday. A a in la bet its just that Way Down there  the successful opening of the Lens cover paved the Way for the astronauts to return to Earth on sunday. They had blasted into space tuesday after a two week delay and dispatched the Telescope from its payload Bay wednesday. A the Hubble is open for business a Mission control told the astronauts. When the door opened two of Hubble a four position stabilizing gyroscopes stopped working later engineers got them Back on line. The motion of the Lens cover knocked out the gyros said Dave Drach Lis of the Goddard space flight Center in Maryland that too kept it in the Safe Mode. A the Orbital verification team is continuing to Monitor the status of the Telescope and is in the process of making plans for the gradual step by step return to the timeline a Drachlis said. Nasa announced that a at this time the Telescope is Safe  the space shuttle discovery which carried the Telescope to orbit was 50 Miles behind the Telescope ready to lend a hand if needed. Later in the Day the ship was to do an engine firing that would set it on a preliminary path for Home. That path would take the discovery two Miles below the Telescope. The Lens cover a 10-foot diameter a a aperture door a covers the opening to the telescopes shield. When it is closed the Telescope is Blind. The Lens cover had been closed a except for a tiny wedge shaped opening a Ever since the $1.5 billion Telescope was dropped overboard by the discovery Crew on wednesday. Now that it has been opened Starlight can strike the Lens for the first time and it can go about its business of photographing and analysing the uni-1 verse in ways never before  from Page 1 package a Cheney said. A there Are 535 members of Congress and it does no to make a lot of sense for me to run around trying to anticipate in our Long Range planning what May or May not be our future funding Levels based on the comments of Les Aspin or anyone else. A i am not going to change the planning assumptions that i have from the president every time a member of Congress makes a  Cheney said he expects the House and Senate to make considerable adjustments to the administrations defense budget plans but he refused to speculate on what those changes might  Congress is just slightly More predictable than the soviet Union a he said. A if they be got a better plan let them put it out there. If they be got the votes to give us a different set of requirements then produce them. Work in Congress on the defense budget for Tuscai 1991, which begins oct. 1, probably will not berth shed before november or december Cheney said Nei noted that lawmakers have relatively few working weeks left before the new fiscal year begins and Many will be preoccupied with election campaigns. ,1 if Congress does no to approve a budget before the Hasral year begins lawmakers would have to resort to using or uni is known As a continuing Resolution a Stopgap mechanism designed to keep the government functioning temporarily a at the previous year budget Levels. Benefits from Page 1 comment on Montgomery a letter and said Derwinski is preparing a response. Pentagon officials said about 1 million service members have signed up for the new i Bill since 1985. Montgomery wants Derwinski to ask for the in a crease rather than have the committee insert the inn l into the fiscal 1992 budget because its easier to doa that Way a House staffer said. If the veterans affairs committee went ahead wit an increase on its own funds earmarked for other Grams might have to be used to pay for it the Sta l said. Also the tight budget climate makes it Phuc it difficult for Congress to add anything to the Admi to ration a budget that is not requested she said