European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 5, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Inside stripes. Y a a newsmen in Gulf facing fitness test. Page 3 a jobless rate soars to 6.1 percent. Page 6 a 2 charged in bus Accident that Hurt 31  8 a Gretzky scores. His 700th  21 a uthoriz�0 unofficial publication for the . Armed forces Good morning vol. 49, no. 264 saturday january 5, 1991 25� daily and sunday d 8693 Iraq accepts . Proposal for peace talks next week by the associated press Iraq on Friday a amp a cd a . Offer to hold direct talks in Switzerland next wednesday on the persian Gulf crisis and France on Friday offered a peace plan promising International talks on Mideast issues if Iraq pulls out of Kuwait. The iraqi acceptance came a Day after president Bush offered to Send Secretary of state James Baker to Geneva for talks with iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz. Aziz said the Baghdad government had informed Washington of its acceptance of a the proposal to talk the official iraqi news Agency said. The foreign minister said Iraq would use the talks to stress its commitment to the palestinian Peoples rights to a Homeland. The French peace plan presented during a european Community meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg Calls for a european iraqi meeting in Luxom Bourg a French official said on condition of anonymity. It also guarantees Iraq it will not attacked if it agrees to withdraw from Kuwait the official said. A the ministers in a special closed door session Friday also agreed to ask Aziz to come to Luxembourg next thursday to Dis cuss a peaceful Way out of the Gulf crisis. The proposed meeting would take place one Day after Azizo a meeting with Baker. In Washington president Bush on Friday hailed the talks As a a useful  but the president again stressed that a there can be no Compromise or negotiations on International demands that Iraq withdraw com see talks on Back Page waen c  comrades a soviet shoppers snatch up american Candy bars in Moscow on Friday after standing in line for hours in a snowfall. Mars inc., the . Candy Naker put More than 23 tons of snickers Milky Way Mars and Raider Candy bars on Sale for rubles for the first time in the soviet Union. Postal panel recommends 29-cent first class rate Washington a the postal rate commission on Friday recommended a 4-Ccnt increase in the rate for first class mail to 29 cents a letter. The . Postal service had requested that the first Clas rate be raised a Nickel to 30  a however the Independent rate commission said 30 cents was not justified and scaled that Back by a Penny a change that the commission said would save mailers $800 million per year. Rates for third class advertising mail would Rise 25 percent under Tjie decision rather than the 17 percent increase proposed by the Post office. In addition to the 29-cent first class rate the comm  recommended that a new 27-cent rate be introduced for the Public when it uses specially prepared reply envelopes that contain coding making it easier for the Post office to handle. The commission also recommended a 19-cent rate for Post cards a Penny Short of the postal services request. The last time the postal rate commission differed from the Post Ollices request was a decade ago when it recommended an 18-cent stamp instead of the 20 cents that had been requested. In that year the postage rate eventually did Rise to 20 cents but in two Steps. The matter now goes Back to the governors of the . Postal service who May accept the recommendation reject it and ask Tor reconsideration by the rate commission or put the rates into effect under protest. If there is major disagreement the postal service can adopt the commission plan and seek a reconsideration of its original request As happened in 1981. In the final event the Board of governors of the postal service can decide to overrule the rate cominis Sion and impose its own rate decision in members agree to do so unanimously if the process follows its Normal course the current the current 25-cent letter rate could be replaced by Early february 25-cent letter rate could be replaced by Early february alter a lifetime of 2 years and 10 months. When he asked for the increase in 1980, postmaster general Anthony prank said he expected the Agency to lose $1.6 billion that year. But staff cuts and increased use of automation kept the loss  that Hie Post office ended the last fiscal year $874 million in the red. However the Law that established the postal service a and ended its taxpayer subsidy a requires it to break even Over time. Rate increases have been in a three year Cycle in recent years. The postal service operates at a surplus in the year after a rate hike Breaks even the following year and posts a loss the third year when it asks for higher rates. While Public attention focuses on the charge for sending a first class letter the real Battles Are fought Over second and third class rates. Advertising firms charities and publishers of magazines and newspapers inundate the rate commission with pleas to hold Down their portion of the rate hike technically each class of mail is supposed to pay its own Way but breaking Down the share of the Overall costs and overhead for each Type of mail is Complex and leads to Many disputes. At the same time mass mailers can get discounts for doing some of the Post offices work. For example Jower. See postal on Back Page deny slaying copter Crew san Salvador Al Salvador apr leftist rebels deny . Allegations they murdered three american airmen after forcing their helicopter Down with gunfire saying the three died of wounds incurred when the copter was hit. A forensic team from the . Armed forces pathological Institute prepared to perform autopsies Friday on the Crew said . Embassy spokeswoman Pamela Cory Archer. Bush administration and congressional sources said the deaths wednesday might hasten the release of More than $40 Mil lion in . Aid  salvadoran army. A decision is expected next week. The rebel Faramundo Marti National liberation front which contends it inadvertently shot Down the aircraft thursday night said its combatants found one of the victims dead at the scene and tried to get first Aid to the others. The state department earlier thursday said circumstantial evidence showed that rebels fatally shot the Crew members after the men safely landed the us Lri Huey helicopter. More Han 73,000 salvadorans and 30 americans have been killed in fighting Between the rebels and a series of .-backed governments in Al Salvador a 11-year-old civil War. The communique by the rebels known also by their acronym Feln said guerrillas shot at the unmarked helicopter because it flew Low Over a meeting they were holding with civilians in a combat zone. The rebels said in their communique that they try to avoid attacks on americans. 4�?~they the victims were Given Basic first Aid and turned Over to the local population to be taken to the san Miguel Hospital but they did no to survive. There Are dozens of witnesses to this situation in the civilian population a the communique said. 1 the Pentagon said the victims were members of the army a 4th in 228th aviation regt and were returning to their base in Panama after flying a routine Mission to san Salvador. The . Southern come in Panama Friday identified the victims As it. Col. Quot see rebels on Back Page