European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 4, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Muraff maari crisis in the Gulf i related stories and photos pages 3, 7 and 28  authored unofficial publication for the . Armed forces i Ibabes a a vol. 49, no. 263_. Friday january 4, 1991 ass Sec d 8693 a ?5< daily and sunday army copter Crew shot Down slain in Al Salvador Washington a the Pentagon said thursday the three crewmen of a . Helicopter hit by rebel gunfire in Al Salvador were killed after they landed their Craft. ,. Defense department spokesman Pete Williams said the United states has evidence that the three servicemen were alive when the helicopter landed and were not found dead inside the aircraft As guerrillas stated. Williams said each of the three victims had a gunshot wound in the head and there was no evidence that they had fired their Capo nor the m-60 machine gun aboard the uf-i-.1h Huey transport helicopter. A my understanding is that All three had gunshot wounds to the head two of these had no other apparent wounds a he said. Williams Quot declined to explicitly accuse the guerrillas of having killed the three. He said he could not Rule out the possibility that they were killed by the salvadoran armed forces who found the bodies and took them to san Salvador. A earlier a . Military source said the Crew was shot to death by rebels. Quot Williams said a team of . Military forensic specialists flew to Al Salvador from Miami to examine the dead. A Silvio Mendez a peasant who lives 200 Yards from where the helicopter landed said when he reached the aircraft that one Crew member was dead and two others were seriously injured. Mendez told an associated press photographer that he watched As the two americans died. He added that the guerrillas did not obtain medical treatment for., the wounded men. He said one of the wounded kept saying a Magua Aguay the Spanish word for water. A a a in a later radio interview however Mendez said he saw the wounded men and then briefly left. When he returned the two men were dead. He did not say How the men died. The helicopter was shot Down by Small. Arms fire about five Miles North of Lolotai que in Eastern Al Salvador the . Military authorities said. An a photographer who visited the crash site said the helicopter Early crashed and did not land safely. He said the helicopters Blades had been hit by Rifle fire. Wednesday attack came five Days after the rebels announced an end to their offensive. White House spokesman Marlin Fitz water said an investigation was under Way but that a there is some evidence that they were killed directly by gunfire a presumably after the Craft came Down. Col. Miguel Borja Gomez director of the military Hospital in san Salvador said the bodies were in the Hospital morgue awaiting autopsies by american forensic examiners. He said the bodies had Many Bullet wounds. The Pentagon confirmed that the three .�?~army Crew members assigned to the 4th battalion of the 228th aviation regt and based in Panama were killed. It said the victims names were being withheld until relatives were notified. A the aircraft was on a routine Mission returning Fawn san Salvador to Soto Cano a Hon Miras the . Statement said a broadcast by the rebels radio Ven Ceres said a guerrilla unit shot Down _ i copter at around a 30 . Near fhe Village of Lolo Tique about .75 Miles East of the capital. In the broadcast the Faramundo Marti Bona i liberation front rebel Organiza said the guerrillas did not know they were shooting at a . Helicopter. A House speaker Tom Foley from left Senate majority Leader Cor Mcmitchell and House majority Leader Richard  talked to reporters after the meeting. Bush goes extra step with new meeting offer Washington a president Bush facing deep divisions in Congress Over War in the persian Gulf uttered wednesday to a go the extra Miles by sending Secretary of state James Baker to Geneva for talks with iraqis Loreign minister in a one last attempt at peace. Iraq said it was studying the Oiler. Bush proposed that Baker meet with foreign minister Tariq Aziz Early next week Days before the Jan. 15 . Deadline authorizing military Force against Iraq unless it ends its takeover of  White House said any meeting would be intended Only to underscore the . Determination that Iraq withdraw completely. _ a no negotiations no compromises no attempts at face saving and no rewards for aggression a Bush said. He outlined his proposal to leaders of the House Ami the Senate As lawmakers returned to Washington Tor the opening of the new Congress. 1 he leaders decided Congress would remain in session throughout january cancelling a planned three week recess to Monitor the situation. _ the Pentagon meanwhile said it was ready to begin vaccinating . Troops in see Bush on Back Page inning to feel effect of embargo by Patrick e. Tyler Baghdad Iraq not a after four months of Trade embargo Iraq is encounter chg increasingly set Erious shortages ii the government food rationing program that has helped Iraq sustain its Defiance of the . Demand that it end its occupation of Kuwait. A in Many ways they have Felt the effect of this pm Bargo a one senior envoy said of Quot the iraqis. A psycho logically speaking it has  for now the envoy said he could not predict that the embargo would compel president Saddam Hussein to pull his forces out of Kuwait by any certain Date in the near future. If the minimum Quality of life a can be secured by to lib government they can endure Quot the envoy said adding that this remained an open question. Since september iraqi families  declines of 25 percent to 50 percent in the amount of Basic food items they Are Able to get in government stores by redeeming the ration coupons issued to each family iraqi residents and foreign diplomats said. A food Coupon that allotted 17.b pounds of  hour for each person per month last september  be redeemed today for Only Al pounds of flour. 1 he sugar ration of 3.3 pounds per person per month has been effectively Cut tu_j.15 pounds per month. Redemption of Tea coupons have slipped from about 4.5 ounces per person to about 1.8 ounces. With government food supplies severely reduced More and More iraqi families Are being forced into the open food Market w Here prices of Basic foods Are seven times higher than they were at the outset of the crisis. A sanctions Are working no matter what anybody says a one asian ambassador said noting that Baiev like eggs and fresh milk either have disappeared or have been priced beyond the reach of most iraqi families. A the country has had no income in the last five months so there has Gotlobe a limit to their  the strongest indication of a looming food crisis was a recent government announcement that All excess supplies of sugar and flour on the open Marl it were to lie confiscated by iraqi author c.   rationing program. And last week government agents actually swept through food stores in Bach  confiscating the scarce Staple foods that were in p t vate hands and for Sale at wildly inflated free Market prices a number of iraqi w witnesses Saul. A of Basic Lood groups meat has Sull ered the least puce inflation but still prices have almost doubled foreign diplomats said meat paces have been Modr died somewhat by an increase air the Slaughter of iraqis sheep herds last fall but with the end of the Slaughter season prices Are expected to move up More rapidly in coming weeks As supplies tighten. I he Price of iraqi Sumer cigarettes previously produced with local tobacco  some american Leaf has leapt from halt an iraqi Dinar to 3.5 dinars a sevenfold increase. _ a p. _ the government mobilization of the agricultural sector to Blunt the Impact of the embargo has resulted in an Overall poor per Lorn dance with no improvement ingrain production m sight because of tie Lack Quot Iff rain in november the planting month diplomats said. Iraq imported 1 percent of its Basic Gram needs Fie fore the tits. A a but a Majit expansion of pc re table Nnaji planting in. Soo embargo on Page 3