European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 23, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday september 23,1990 panel backs 20% cutback in logging to save owl Washington apr a White House task Force on Friday recommended a 20 percent reduction in Northwest logging to help save the Northern spotted owl from extinction Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan and agriculture Secretary Clayton Yeutter announced. A White House source said president Bush is prepared to accept the recommendations As a balance Between Protection for the threatened owl and the economic needs of the Timber dependent Region. A the decision was made by the task Force. The president was informed of the decision and supports it a the source said speaking on condition of anonymity. Lujan and Yeutter said the task Force recommended that allowable harvests in Northwest National forests be reduced from the 3.85 billion Board feet Congress approved for this year to about 3 billion Board feet in 1991, the actual amount of Timber Cut would be closer to 3.2 billion Board feet because of a carryover of 200 million that was approved for this year but will not be Cut before the next fiscal year begins oct. 1. The plan called for no logging in conservation areas set aside for the owls habitat. Those areas were outlined in april by a panel of government scientists Lujan and Yeutter said. The recommendations would reduce logging More than the Timber Industry would like but less than the level environmentalists Are seeking to protect the rare owl. A this is not a perfect answer because a perfect answer does not exist a the two Cabinet secretaries said in a statement. A we have balanced these very sensitive competing interests in a rational Way a Yeutter said. Quot the owl is considered an indicator species for the Overall health of the old growth Forest ecosystem of plants and wildlife. The White House task Force has been working on the Issue since june when the . Fish and wildlife service declared the owl was threatened in Oregon Washington and Northern California. Iraq reportedly has bomb with atomic like Shock wave Page 24 the stars and stripes news briefs Bush nominates Mcpeak for of chief of staff Honolulu apr president Bush on Friday nominated Gen. Merrill a. Mcpeak to replace the air Force chief of staff who was fired for revealing . Military strategy in the Middle East officials said. Mcpeak 54, has been commander of Pacific air forces since july 1988. In that Job he oversees More than 60,000 people and . Air operations from Japan to the United states. The Vietnam Veteran is based at Hickam fab in Honolulu in a statement Mcpeak said he was honoured and looks Forward a to the Challenge of leading our air Force in these important  if confirmed by the Senate Mcpeak will succeed Gen. Michael Dugan who was fired last week for publicly discussing . Military operations in the Gulf including contingency plans to bomb Iraq and target iraqi president Saddam  to hold election for president by december Warsaw Poland a parliament late Friday overwhelmingly approved a Resolution calling for popular presidential elections no later than december Ana saying its own term of office could end in March. By a vote of 252-17, the Sejm or lower chamber passed the general statement of intent following a sometimes heated two Day debate of Poland a political Calendar. Fifty deputies abstained. Specific legislation including a proposed constitutional amendment to shorten the term of president Wojciech Jaruzelski is to be passed at the three Day parliamentary session that begins thursday. Polish newspapers Friday mentioned nov. 25 and dec. 2 As two possible presidential election dates. Under the pending legislation the Sejm speaker would set the exact Day. Jaruzelski the former communist party Leader elected to a six year term As president by the parliament in july 1989, formally requested wednesday that his term be shortened to satisfy Public demands that he step Down and allow direct presidential elections. Solidarity chairman Lech Walesa is the Only announced candidate to replace him so far. But Walesa a former adviser prime minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki is under pressure from supporters to run As the representative of his faction of the now split Solidarity  from Page 1 Iran on saturday for talks. Diplomats expected the discussions to focus on the standoff in the Gulf and on Western hostages in Lebanon where both countries Are influential. It was Assad a first visit to Tehran since Iran a 1979 islamic revolution. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in an interview published saturday said Iraq annexed Kuwait because of the . Military buildup in the Middle East. A Kuwait is now ours a the Istanbul daily Mill yet quoted him As saying. A we might have refrained from taking such a decision if the . Troops were not massed in the Region with the threat of invading  Iraq confirmed saturday it has closed Down military sections at 10 embassies ordered the military attaches and their aides expelled and restricted the movement of the remaining diplomats. Hamburg West Germany apr Iraq has a bomb whose Shock wave is comparable to the Power released by a Small atomic bomb the West German newsmagazine Der Spiegel said saturday. Iraqi facilities Are also producing highly concentrated prussic acid that is capable of destroying Gas masks used in Case of a Poison Gas attack Spiegel said. The technology for both weapons was provided by West Germany and other Western companies the Magazine reported. Iraq was the first third world nation to gain Possession of a bomb that releases a Shock wave nearly equal in destructive Force to that of a Small nuclear device Spiegel said. The bomb was developed by the West German armaments concern Messerschmidt Boelkow Blohm mob Spiegel said. The device was delivered to Iraq via Egypt it added. Spiegel also said West Germany a intelligence service had informed american officials that Iraq was producing highly concentrated prussic acid at three facilities in Samarra. The acid can destroy Gas masks used to counter an attack by chemical weapons. American and British troops in the Gulf already have begun receiving Gas masks with a different filter that is resistant to prussic acid Spiegel said. Two other iraqi facilities in Samarra Are producing Poison Gas the Magazine said. The Samarra facilities were built with help from West German and French firms Spiegel said. It quoted a secret documents As the source of its Story but gave no other details. Spiegel reaches Newsstands on monday but the Magazine provided excerpts of its Story to other Media in Advance. Group urges Souter s rejection Washington a a Liberal Legal affairs group called Friday on the Senate to reject the nomination of David Souter to the supreme court. The Alliance for Justice a coalition representing a variety of interest groups including several feminist organizations said Souter a Senate judiciary committee testimony raised Quot troubling questions about his judicial philosophy. A the Alliance is convinced that judge Souter will not protect the rights of those suffering discrimination on the basis of race gender ethnicity religion sexual orientation or literacy a the group said in a statement. On thursday the Liberal americans for democratic action called for Souter a rejection. In three Days of testimony Souter carefully avoided controversial issues. For example he refused to answer questions related to whether he would overturn the 1973 supreme court ruling in Roe is. Wade which legalized abortion. A the spoke volumes but said Little a the Alliance for Justice said. New York state attorney general Robert Abrams also has called for Souter a rejection because he a has not been forthcoming on the abortion Issue. A the american Public have a right to know the nominees views. Judge Souter a evasive answers Are not reassuring and should not be acceptable a Abrams said in a letter to sen. Joseph Biden d-del., the chairman o the committee. Nan Aron the director of the Alliance figured prominently in the successful Effort by Liberal groups to Defea the 1987 nomination of Robert Bork to the High court. Souter is not expected to suffer the same Fate. So far no one in the Senate has come out against his  from Page 1 and economic situation As a unstable a Gorbachev opposed introducing a state of emergency throughout the soviet Union saying such a move would be a premature. However he warned that it might be necessary to declare presidential Rule in certain regions and suspend some elected institutions. A the situation has come to the Point that if it is required we must do this. Despite Gorbachev a Appeal for urgent action to tackle the soviet unions grow ing economic problems the supreme soviet postponed an expected vote on an emergency package of economic measures until monday. It has spent the past two weeks debating rival proposals for dismantling the system of Central planning in favor of a Market Economy. A draft Resolution approved by Gorbachev endorses a Radical blueprint for a transition to a Market Economy within 500 Days As the basis for a new economic program. But it also suggests that the 500 Day plan As it is known should be amended to reflect the More cautious approach of the Federal government headed by prime minister Nikolai Ryzhkova and comments by deputies. Gorbachev who appears to be wavering Between his political support for Ryzhkova and his conviction that drastic changes Are needed in the soviet economic system flatly rejected Calls for the resignation of the prime minister. He said that it would be irresponsible to a Start reshuffling at this historic time when we have important things to  the russian republics legislature formally adopted a Resolution thursday demanding Ryzhkova a resignation and the formation of a government of National Unity. Last weekend tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in front of the Kremlin accusing the prime minister of acting As a Brake on Reform. Gorbachev did not make Clear which regions of the country might be Brough under presidential Rule if the political and economic situation continues to deteriorate. But he revealed that he had seriously considered imposing a state of emergency on the Baltic Republic of Lithuania earlier this year after it declared its Independence from the soviet Union. Some deputies applauded when Gorbachev said that he would have been acting within his constitutional rights had he dissolved the republics legislature for its Defiance of Moscow. He refrained from taking such a step because he a must Fust exhaust All other Means at the presidents disposal for a political solution