European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 a the stars and stripes tuesday August 21,1990 news updates russian communists Moscow apr the head of the russian Branch of the communist party said 162,750 members quit in july the Sovic Skaya Rossiya soviet Russia newspaper reported sunday. That is about 1.5 percent of the 11 million communist parly members in Russia the largest Republic in the soviet Union. The figures were announced by Ivan Poloz Kov a hard liner who was elected in june to Lead the russian Branch. Poloz Kov said he was concerned by the number of drop outs particularly since 90,000 of them were the very factory workers that the communist party claims to represent. Many had predicted mass defections after the russian party con Gross in june which was dominated by hard liners opposed to Many of the democratic and Market oriented reforms favored by Mikhail s. Gorbachev Plo training Berlin apr after heavy criticism from jewish groups East Germany a defense minister said sunday no will halt army training of members of the palestinian lib cration organization. Defense minister Rainer Eppel Mann said he was stopping the training on monday but he said the government must make a declaration of principle to end the training permanently. He said the East German army was currently providing training to 31 Plo members 29 libyans and 130 yemenis. He said none of the trainees were involved in terror training. West Berlin s jewish Community on Friday sharply criticized the training program and demanded it be stopped. Community Leader Heinz Gal Ziniski said it was unbelievable that the practice of training the Plo had not been discontinued after the former communist government was toppled last year. Solzhenitsyn Case Moscow apr russian prime minister Ivan Ilayev has urged exiled writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn to accept his restored soviet citizenship and return Home As a Ilayev a guest according to Media reports monday in a letter published on the front Page of Sovic Skaya Rossia newspaper Ilayev said Solzhenitsyn s Home Poming was Quot one of those moves that our Homeland needs As much As air. A the interests of the state and its future destiny compel me to ask you and your family to accept an invitation to be my personal guests at any time you choose Quot wrote Ilayev Premier of the largest soviet Republic. Solzhenitsyn 71, is one of 23 people whose citizenship has been restored by president Mikhail s. Gorbachev. The Nobel prize winning Solzhenitsyn was arrested for treason in february 1974, forced onto a plane to Germany and stripped of his citizenship. He now lives in Cavendish vt., and says he wont return unless All his books have been published in the soviet Union and Are widely available. Correction an article last week incorrectly listed the Hometown of a . Air Force Exchange Pilot who died when two Royal air Force tornadoes collided maj. Dennis Wise was trom Farly Iowa. 2 air Force i in smuggling charges by Dave Diehl . Bureau two air Force firemen from Raf Grenham common have been charged in a Federal indictment with trying to use the military mail system to smug Jpe steroids to the United states. Staff sol. John Larkin and senior airman quince Scalf both of the 501st civil engr so fire department were arrested on base june 30 with about $51,000 Worth of the drugs according to an official with the air Force office of special investigations. The two allegedly were involved with former British bodybuilding Champion Ronnie Davies and his Fiancee Tanya Anne Weaver according to the indictment issued by . District court in Columbus Ohio. The four were conspiring to smuggle about $1 million Worth of anabolic steroids to the United slates according to a statement issued by the . Attorney in Columbus. Weaver was with Scalf and Larkin when they were apprehended with the package of steroids the indictment said. Davies 52, the owner of a gym in Birmingham England and Weaver 29, who also goes by the name of Tanya Holmes Are British. The indictment said Davies also intended to have air Force members at Grenham common smuggle the drugs into the United states in household goods shipments Davies according to assistant . Attorney Brad Barbin was the ringleader of the scam that would have involved smuggling through the Apo up to $ i million Worth of the drugs this year. Davies who was arraigned on june 30, is free in Ohio on $20,000 Bond and is under 24-hour supervision said an Osi official in Newark Ohio. He faces up to 13 years in jail and $750,000 in fines if convicted of All three counts against him including smuggling and distribution charges Scalf is named in three of the five counts in the indictment including two that allege he imported steroids to the United states on May 3 and May 30. If convicted of smuggling and attempting to distribute the drugs Scalf could draw a 15-year prison term and face up to $750,000 in fines the Osi official said. Larkin and Weaver who Are charged with conspiracy to smuggle the steroids face up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 if convicted he said. In an agreement Between air Force Legal officials and the . Attorneys office in Columbus Scalf and Larkin will be tried in Federal instead of military court. The two have not been arraigned and Are still on duty at Grenham common a base spokesman said. The four were caught in what was an amp elaborate four month sting operation involving the Osi and . Customs agents in England and Ohio the Osi official said. All the crimes alleged in the indictment occurred during the Spring and summer of this year. To run a Gdansk Poland Fuji a Solidarity Leader Lech Walesa affirmed monday he will run for president of Poland and said the administration of Solidarity prime minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki has distorted some of the ideals of the movement. In the first of a series of interviews to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the founding of Solidarity on aug. 31 1980, Walesa left no doubt he will seek to replace Wojciech jani2elski, the former communist party Leader As president setting up a possible confrontation with Mazowiecki. Quot i am the moral president now Quot he declared saying it was he who brokered the process last year that installed Jaruzelski and Mazowiecki As Well As putting his former advisers Adam Mich Nik and Bronislaw Seremek in prominent positions in parliament. A fall of them were installed by me a he said. Quot i gave them too much and now 1 am being overthrown. Previously Walesa had said he would run a if the circumstances required  aides now say he will begin his Campaign in Earnest in september. Jaruzelski a presidential term expires in 1994, but he has suggested he would step Down next year because of the changing political circumstances. However Mazowiecki a former Walesa adviser who openly split with Walesa last Spring and his supporters Are reluctant to see the Strong willed Union Leader in a position that could influence the operations of the parliament and the army As Well As the government. Walesa said when Solidarity was founded 10 years ago he had two goals to overthrow communism and to build a new political system. A the first goal was achieved and the second is being implemented Quot he said a i swore to achieve these goals. These Are the reasons for my moral right to struggle for these  asked whether he Felt Mazowiecki and his supporters had betrayed him he said a i will show these elements during the election Campaign Quot adding he would not give details now. He concluded a the government of Mazowiecki needs to be needled and 1 am doing  v Walesa and Mazowiecki broke ranks Over the Pace of political Reform and specifically Over the continuing presence in the state bureaucracy of thousands of former communist a apparatchiks Quot who hold managerial jobs and Block attempted reforms. The split not Only has divided Solidar Ity into two warring Camps but it also threatens the administrations Tough economic stabilization plan which has slashed inflation but brought unemployment nearing the 1-million Mark in this country of 39 million. Oil Rig with 49 men adrift in Stormy North sea Copenhagen Denmark apr an Oil Rig carrying 49 men broke Loose from a Tow vessel during a storm in the North sea monday and floated out of control West of Denmark Navy and Oil company spokesmen said. The danish Navy said it sent six helicopters and several ships to the area to Rescue the men if they had to abandon the Rig. It said the men 48 norwegians and a dutch citizen stood on deck dressed in survival suits. Sustained winds of 70 Miles per hour and higher gusts to Hurricane strength were reported in the area. Waves were 26 feet to 33 feet. Phillips Petroleum spokesman Sander Hull Gjertsen said in Stavanger Norway that the situation was stable. A there is no immediate danger Quot he said. A was far As we know All is Well on Board a said Anders band Andersen of the norwegian Rescue Center near Stavanger. No injuries were reported. The radio communications station at Farsund Norway reported that radio Contact with the Rig was broken. The rigs three legs each 440 feet Long were raised in the air adding to the dangers for helicopter operations. When lowered the legs secure the Rig to the sea Bottom. A the British liner Queen Elizabeth ii paused in a voyage to Oslo. Donate Rescue ship movements until the Dan Norway to Coor ish vessel Omega arrived in the area. The 13-year-old Rig named West Gamma can House up to 458 men in Small Cabins on several stories. It is 230 feet Long air Force no Dies in two car Accident Span Dahlem a West Germany a amps a a 26-year-old air Force noncommissioned officer was killed and two other people were injured in a two car Accident in front of the base Golf course. Siat sgt. David Betzel died of head injuries after he was thrown Friday night from a car driven by staff sgt. Mark if Smith 26. Both were assigned to the 52nd aircraft generation so at Span Dahlem base spokeswoman Iris Reiff said that Smith s northbound car skidded Oil the Roadway about 9 10 ., Over corrected and then Slid sideways into the southbound Lane of Highway b-50. His car was hit in the front wheel area by an oncoming car driven by a German. Smiths car was split in half by the Impact. Betzel Smith and the German whose name was not available All were wearing Seatbelt but the Impact of the crash broke the scat restraints Reiff said. Smith also was thrown from his car and suffered multiple Breaks in his left and 215 feet wide and was designed As an accommodation Rig for workers on of pumping stations in the North sea. The Rig was being towed when the storm developed from Norway a a Koftuk Oil Field Southwest of Norway to a West German pumping station named by 1. It broke Loose 117 Miles West of the danish port of Esbjerg. Danish Navy radio operators said the German pumping station reported the incident at noon. By 3 ., the Rig was reported floating 15 Miles Southeast of the pumping station. Bull Gjertsen said rescuers had an estimated 20 hours to get towline aboard the Rig and take the men off before the Rig would come dangerously close to land or North sea Oil platforms. Arm. He was reported in stable condition monday at the air Force Hospital at in Burg a. The German Driver was taken to a local Hospital in Pitburg with head cuts but no information was available monday about his condition. Base authorities Are investigating the crash. A memorial serv ice will be held at 3  Tuesday at the Span Dahlem base Chapel for Betzel a native of Sheffield. Ohio he is survived by his wife