European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 3, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 b the stars and stripes sunday March 3, 1991gorbachev s birthday brings Little fanfare Moscow Chi a soviet president Mikhail Gor Bachch celebrated his 60th birthday saturday with Little of the official adulation accorded previous soviet leaders. And some of the a a greetings a were in fact downright irreverent. 1 a there was no mention of his birthday in the con my nist party newspaper pravda a marked contrast to the old soviet Union in which leaders birthdays were occasions for fawning Praise on the front pages of official newspapers. Rab Ochaya Tribuna the communist workers paper did carry a fairly traditional birthday greeting to Gor Bachch on the front Page saturday and printed several letters from readers praising the soviet president. But the Liberal evening newspaper Vecher Naya moskva used the occasion to poke fun at Gorbachev with a not too reverent look at years past a something unthinkable before Gorbachev a glasnost reforms. The papers Friday evening edition was dominated by a Box at the top of the front Page with Brief excerpts of Gorbachev a speeches beginning in 1972 when he raised the a a advances of the soviet Economy under Enid Brezhnev during what is now commonly referred to As the Quot Era of  upon Gorbachev a ascension to Power in 1985, the new communist party general Secretary was shown painting a Rosy picture of what he called the a highly developed soviet Economy and declaring the a biggest social problems have been  the obvious contrast was drawn on current assess ments of the soviet Economy which,.ruined by 70 years of communism is in a dangerous downward spiral. Gorbachev is. Also struggling to contain ethnic strife separatist movements and other social problems throughout his vast country. A. Vecher Naya moskva illustrated the shift from Gorba Chov a a optimism before he took Power to his now gloomy speeches with three pictures. The first shows a Youthful looking Gorbachev with his wife Raisa. The second depicts the soviet Leader dwarfed by a huge bust of Vladimir Lenin at the front of a Kremlin meet ing Hall a the final picture shows a tired and dejected looking Gorbachev holding his hands to his head As if fighting a migraine headache. A. Komsomol Skaya pravda the Young communist league daily that of late has been More and More Crit ical of Gorbachev declared a one Day moratorium on fault finding and limited itself to a Brief greeting above a picture of the soviet Leader As a boy with his grandparents in the Village of Privol Noe. The four lbs journalists talk with the Media in Baghdad Iraq after their release saturday. From left Are Bob Simon Peter Bluff Juan Caldera and Roberto Alvarez iraqis a photos from Page 1 enc he said is that during a cease fire a i me is agreed upon to separate the two armies. A  the current situation simply represents an end to the offensive Campaign on the part of coalition forces now resting in defensive positions. _ _ meanwhile the red Cross said Iraq has announced it is ready to Exchange prisoners of War the British government reported saturday. The red Cross said the iraqis will make that Clear during Delta offers special to military families Atlanta a Delta air lines on Friday announced a new a Welcome Home Tare for All Active duty . Military men and women and their immediate dependents in Celebration of the return of the . Armed forces from operation t escort storm. _ this program will allow round trip 7t Ravel at fares-70 percent below Normal coach fares to Over 230 cities served by Delta and the Delta Connecticu carriers in the United states including Hawaii Alaska Quot and puerto Rico. Quot a Welcome Home fares whip be available to All Active a qty military personnel and their immediate family dependents. _ family members need not travel with the military  Are no restrictions on Days of travel or length of stay. Travel is available through sept 30, 1991. Della s a Welcome Home fares will be available for Purchase March 2. They Cun be arranged through any travel agent or by tailing Delta reservations offices or any on base scheduled airline traffic office overseas travel outlet. A a a their talks with Allied genesis sunday. The drama of the pow Issue was played out on . Television saturday when the networks showed lbs to correspondent Boh Simon and his three Man Crew after iraqi authorities freed them from nearly six weeks of Captivity a i. Thank god that the four of us Are alive a Simon said in an emotional lbs broadcast from. Baghdad after they were freed at the soviet embassy. Even As Iraq released its first War Cap lives another report indicated that some Allied pos May have been killed in Cap levity. A ranking military officer in saudi Arabia said the allies believe iraqis tortured and killed two airmen being held Cap tic. Both were believed to be britons. In Washington defense Secretary Dick Cheney said saturday hat he Hopes to bring . Troops Home from the persian Gulf in less time than it took to get them there. Cheney said he Hopes to have a plan for withdrawing the troops from the Gulf in place a within the next week or  in an appearance on in no so news maker saturday a Cheney signalled for the first time that the removal of the . Troops May be Shorter than the seven month buildup that put them in place. White House chief of staff John Sununu asked if the first combat troops could be Home within a week said a a it a  7 v7. 7 a i think it will be measured in Days a Sununu said on in no so Evans a amp  a. 7 in addition to the occasional clashes in Kuwait and Southern Iraq the wars aftermath has plunged the Southern iraqi City of Basra into chaos.. Military sources described a a total breakdown of civil control in iraqis second largest City but said there w As no Clear indication of rebellion against Saddam. They said Aerial surveillance revealed a City clogged by throngs of people its Central Square and main streets in a gridlock a and nearby roads lined with hundreds of tanks trucks and other military vehicles parked haphazardly. The roads North to Baghdad were jammed with people trying to get out of Southern Iraq where . Troops occupy some areas one officer said. Meanwhile an iraqi opposition Leader claimed that Quot More than 90 percent of the army and its commanders had rebelled against Saddam. Hassan Al Naqeeb a retired army general in Riyadh said that the opposition might set up a a National salvation government in Basra. A Saddam has not addressed his people since tuesday when he announced in a radio message that All iraqi troops would leave Kuwait by the end of the Day. . Officers in Riyadh said they did not know where Saddam was a or As one official put it a Saddam has shown up in More places than  on the Battlefield . Command spokesman Neal reported two engagements in which iraqi and . Forces exchanged fire in the last 24 hours. A on Friday members of the 82nd airborne div using information from a captured iraqi battalion commander clashed with iraqi troops and rounded up More than 1,000 prisoners Neal said. At 7 30 . Saturday an iraqi armoured column opened fire on members of the 24th inf div Mech. The . Soldiers returned fire. They destroyed Oraf delays Washington a amps the air Force has postponed the Start of unannounced random weight checks while of facials review the policy. The new program was to go into effect in mid february but service officials recently announced a delay because of a need for further review. A i done to know the rationale for the policy postponement said capt. Sylvia Freeman an air Force spokeswoman. Captured about 140 tanks and other vehicles and took a number of prisoners Neal said. A a a a a commanders of the 24th Southwest of Basra believe the iraqis got lost said army Brig. Gen. Steven l. Arnold assistant chief of staff for plans and operations for the . Central come when the iraqis opened fire Apache helicopters and two task forces from the 24th struck Back and there was a a pretty Good fight a he said. A it looks like we destroyed about 60 vehicles and captured another 80 tanks and armoured personnel carriers a he said. In an interview. Several of the captured tanks were t-72s,. Iraqis top line Armor bought from the soviet Union. There were no reports of . Casualties. A a a a. A a a a there have been other minor violations since the cessation of hostilities mainly by iraqi units who had not received information that the War was Over. A senior defense department official in Washington said thursday that if would Lake a major incident such As a scud mis sue firing or other attack involving iraqi National command instructions to void the cease fire. N _ _. Elsewhere on the Battlefield two More americans were killed by land mine explosions and a scattered skirmishes continued Neal said saturday along with no notice weigh ins the new policy would have changed the Way body fat is measured on service members who done to meet weight standards. The a a Pinch test method would have been replaced by a tape measurement which facials said would be More accurate. Those who exceed body fat standards Are entered into the weight management program. Freeman did not know whether the new program would go into effect