European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 3, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday August 3, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 9 up near s by Amy Geiszler Jones . Bureau More than 30 years ago Fri Thor or. Eydal lived at the base of mount Straum Nies in an isolated windswept area in Iceland that was used As an air Force radar site. The site some five to 10 acres on the far North Edge of the Island nation could have been described As an eyesore even 31 years after the air Force vacated it. Pieces of Wood and building material were strewn about a Landfill site needed to be covered up. But Access to the site was an obstacle. No roads led to the Mountain and no port welcomed those coming by sea. The Only Choice left was dropping onto the Mountain from the air. Last week the 38-year-old icelander did just that returning to the Mountain just a few Miles South of the Arctic Circle. His trip came Courtesy of the . Army which hauled icelandic teams to the Mountaintop swirling with fog to clean up its littered Peak 1,450 feet above sea level. Two army ch-47 Chinook helicopters and about 35 members of the Pennsylvania army National Stuard provided the Airlift for the two Day exercise late in july codenamed Northern neighbor. The group ferried everything from the 50-member cleanup Crews to tractors and other construction equipment. The helicopters and their Crews were already bound for Iceland to participate in another exercise Northern Viking a biennial event that tests . Ground forces ability to defend the Island nation. Iceland a nato member has no military forces. Northern Viking 91 started tuesday Sas Sharon Kilday and ends next wednesday with about 700 reservists from stateside army Navy air Force Marine and coast guard units. The Chinook helicopters were scheduled to take part in the exercise for the first time to move troops and supplies into Remote areas of Iceland. The Iceland ministry of foreign affairs which acts As a defense Liaison Between the icelandic government and the . Military asked the army last year to extend the chinooks stay to help with the Northern neighbor exercise because of the aircraft s hauling capabilities. A you could t dovetail two missions to work better Quot said maj. Jim Phillips a Chinook Crew member and officer in charge of Northern neighbor and Northern Viking. 1 in about 40 trips the chinooks carried the people and cargo needed for the cleanup from the town of is Fjor Dur about 31 Miles South. When the site was abandoned in 1961, a the air Force walked out with the equipment they wanted and left behind the rest for the icelandic government for disposal Quot said Eydal now the Deputy Public affairs officer at Nas Kef Lavik located about 160 Miles South of the Mountain. The icelandic government agreed to accept the site As is and then apparently forgot about it. The few local residents abandoned the area Between 1940 and 1950, Eydal said because of the isolation coupled with harsh living conditions. The average temperature in Northern Iceland in january is 39 degrees fahrenheit and Snow Falls on the Barren land about 100 Days out of the year. Eydal lived at the base Camp called Lutrar facing the Bay of Aalvik for Quot five years while his father worked for the 934th aircraft warning so which manned the radar site. The air Force started1 installing the radar equipment in the fall of 1956, and the radar was operational Between january 1958 and August i960, said Eydal. A the thing of it was that no one really paid attention to environmental issues at the time Quot said Eydal who during the cleanup acted As a Liaison Between the government of Iceland and the Iceland defense Force which is the primarily american t military Force stationed at Nas Kef Lavik. The area around mount Straum Nies including the old base Camp is now a nature preserve open to camping enthusiasts who like the idea of really roughing it. Some of the More adventurous hike up the Barren Mountain. The cleanup done in temperatures ranging from 40 to 60 degrees fahrenheit took Only 70 hours that surmised Eydal who had imagined the of Ort would take weeks. The Only hazardous material removed were a few Lead acid batteries. The flying afforded the Chinook air Crews a a priceless training said Phillips who described his View of life Mountain and its rugged almost Majestic environment As a spectacular and kind of  for Eydal the trip was a like coming Home after All these  pact Manila Philippines apr the . Embassy said Friday that close ties with the philippine government will be endangered if that nations lawmakers reject a pact that would allow the . Navy to keep its Subic Bay base. A this is not a threat a . Embassy spokesman Stanley Schrager said. A this is  the remarks signalled a new Effort by . Diplomats to secure passage of the proposed Accord under which the americans would give up Clark a in september 1992, but keep Subic Bay naval facilities for another 10 years. In return they would pay the philippine government $203 million annually. Both bases were heavily damaged when mount Pina Tubo a Volcano 10 Miles West of Clark erupted in june. May Hurt ties . Warns the agreement was reached july 17, but must be ratified by two thirds of the 23-member Senate. Sixteen senators oppose the agreement complaining that the compensation figure is too Low and the 10-year Extension too Long. Some filipinos consider the american bases an infringement on National sovereignty. But Friday the philippine ambassador to Washington Emmanuel Pelaez predicted a turbulent times ahead for his country if the base pact were rejected. He said that rejection would be a signal to . Businesses that the Philippines is not a Safe place to invest. The current base agreement expires sept. 16, and the government of president Corazon Aquino has said the americans will have to leave Clark and Subic if the Senate does not approve the Extension by then. In his statement Schrager said a we Are partners in this Security relationship and this relationship ensures . Support for continued stability in the  Deputy assistant Secretary of state Kenneth Quinn said the United states would vacate Subic As soon As possible if the Senate rejects the treaty. A president Bush and Secretary James a Baker i Are not going to be vengeful the newspaper Malaya quoted Quinn As saying. A but obviously our withdrawal will have some  although the $203 million annual compensation figure has been criticized As too Low Schrager noted that Overall . Aid to the Philippines would total $3 billion for the 10-year period. His Ltd Germany asks turks to clarify hostage report Bonn Germany up a the German government on Friday asked turkish authorities to clarify a report that 15 German tourists were taken hostage a apparently by kurdish rebels a while hiking in Southern Anatolia. The turkish daily genes said the tourists among them four children und two women were climbing the 9,600-foot mount Negrut when they were captured. The paper said the 15 were apparently taken by kurdish nationalists. It said that another five germans who were in the group had managed to escape and had reported the incident at a police station. A we have no confirmation. We have asked our embassy to seek clarification from the turkish authorities Quot a German foreign ministry spokesman said in Bonn. The Negrut Mountain is renowned for its historic ruins and huge statues from the reign of King Antiochus i. The Mountain is situated in Southern a tuckered out Hitchhiker takes advantage of some Shade Chaft Enburg Germany earlier this week. A packed Rucksack Anatolia an area the rebels claim is part under a tree right next to a Busy stretch of Highway near As provides him with a Pillow. Of what they Call Kurdistan. Catching some Roadside a Zzz ass Jim Der him