European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 12, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 a the stars and stripes saturday october 12,1991yeltsin Back after Black sea vacation Moscow apr russian president Boris Yeltsin returned to Moscow late thursday after a 17-Day absence from the capital during which his government was swept by charges of infighting the soviet news Agency Tass said. Yeltsin a plane touched Down just before 10 . At Moscow a Vnuk ovo 2 Airport according to Tass. It gave no other details. Yeltsin has been in the Black sea resort of Sochi since late september recuperating from a heart condition. His office confirmed that he started his vacation sept. 23, but gave no other information. In Yeltsin a absence the russian government has been beset by internal feuding and has lost some momentum for change gained following the failed aug. 18-21 Putsch against soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev. Speculation about the reason for his absence arose when some officials including then prime minister Ivan Ilayev soviets establish formal ties with 2 Baltic states Moscow a the soviet Union officially established diplomatic relations Friday with Lithuania and Estonia two of the three Baltic republics that gained Independence after the failed August soviet coup in Moscow. Soviet foreign minister Boris Pankin said at a news conference that diplomatic ties with Latvia would be established later. The Kremlin recognized the Independence of Lithuania Latvia and Estonia on sept. 6. The three countries were forcibly incorporated into the soviet Union during world War ii. The Baltic republics spearheaded the drive for Independence from the Central government. Most of the 12 remaining soviet republics Are seeking some form of Independence or autonomy. Pankin and his counterparts Algir Das Saudargas of Lithuania and Len Nart Meri of Estonia signed the documents formally establishing relations. A web of issues must be resolved before the Baltic states Are completely free of the soviet state. Pankin said preparations were under Way for negotiations on a variety of issues. The most pressing problem is the withdrawal of soviet troops. The Baltic have demanded that All troops leave by dec. 1. Complained about Yeltsin a presidential decrees that ended communist party control of most soviet government functions on russian territory. The officials demanded the repeal of some of Yeltsin a decrees. Ilayev resigned during Yeltsin a absence to concentrate on his duties As chief of a new National committee to manage the Economy during transition to a confederation. Russian vice president Alexander Rutski said thursday during a russian parliament session that he had been unable to reach Yeltsin by Telephone in the last two weeks Tass reported earlier. Rutski told the parliament that supreme soviet chairman Ruslan Khas Bula Tov also had been unable to reach Yeltsin. Yeltsin won Praise at Home and abroad for standing up to the coup plotters who tried to intimidate tens of thousands of muscovites who came to guard the russian parliament and its leaders. Former East German Leader Erich Honecker left is interviewed in Moscow by a unidentified German to reporter. Honecker defends Border guards who killed fleeing East germans Berlin apr former East German Leader Erich Honecker in an interview broadcast thursday said the Border guards who fatally shot people escaping to the West were just doing their duty. Honecker who has been charged with issuing the shoot to kill orders said he would return to Germany Only if the government promised not to prosecute him. A i do not intend to make myself available to the Angels of revenge a he said. German Justice minister Klaus Kinkel rejected that demand saying the 79-year-old Honecker must be brought to Justice for the a unjust regime he led for 18 years. Honecker secretly flew to Moscow on March 13, apparently with the Aid of the soviet military. During the interview on Germany a main Ard television network Honecker said he was invited by soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev. For months after his escape Honecker shunned publicity. More recently he and his wife Margot have been talking and making front Page news across Germany where Many people View him As the embodiment of All that was wrong with the 40-year regime. Honecker denounced the prosecution of former Border guards who gunned Down East germans escaping to West Germany. A they weren to doing anything other than faithfully carrying out their duties according to their military oath a he said. A every state has the right to decide its own internal and external  hit Church whisk away relic of St. Anthony Padua Italy up a bandits stole a famous relic of St. Anthony of Padua and its Gold Container from the Padua Basilica late wednesday in a Brazen raid witnessed by half a dozen pilgrims in the 13th-Century Church Church officials said. Three hooded and armed men dressed in wind Breakers and jeans seized the Chin Bone of the Saint and its 11-Pound Gold and jewel encrusted Container shortly after 6 . After smashing the Glass of the Niche in a Chapel behind the main altar where it was kept with other relics of the Saint. Five Rome students led by a roman priest watched helplessly As the bandits held them at gunpoint. After putting the relic and Pedestal in a plastic sack the bandits fled and escaped in a stolen automobile waiting outside the Basilica police said. St. Anthony of Padua who was born in Portugal in 1195 and who died in Padua on june 13, 1231, was renowned As a worker of miracles and is revered by roman catholics All Over the world. The Padua Basilica of St. Anthony in which he is buried is visited by some 4 million pilgrims each year. Thousands of worshippers from Italy and All Over the world take part in annual ceremonies in the Northern City on june 13, the saints feast Day. Police said preliminary investigation indicated the bandits were local criminals and speculated that they would try to obtain a Ransom for the return of the relic which was part of the saints jaw Bone and contained a few Teeth. The theft recalled a similar robbery 10 years ago when bandits seized the body of St. Lucia from a Church in Venice some 25 Miles East of Padua. 1 he bandits demanded Ransom Money from the Church for the return of the body but nothing was paid. Later the body was found abandoned on a rubbish dump. Other relics of the Saint in the Basilica which the bandits did not touch included his Tongue which was found still red when the saints body was examined 32 years after his death a Finger and a few locks of his hair. 1 Dies 1 missing in Himalayas Katmandu Nepal up a Spanish climber was killed and an icelander is missing after climbing accidents in the Himalayan mountains in the past week raising to at least nine the number of mountaineers killed in the current climbing season the tourism ministry said Friday. Manuel radiola 37, of Spain tumbled 2,600 feet on oct. 2 during a descent of the worlds fifth tallest Peak the 27,765 feet mount Makalu and later died the ministry said. One of a five member catalan team radiola had reached the Peak during a 10-hour assault from the West pillar with expedition Leader Carlos Valles 33, and spent 30 minutes at the Summit before descending. He slipped at an Altitude of 27,230 feet the ministry said. The icelandic climber Ari gunners son 31, a Sailor from a Kureri slipped 650 feet off the 23,494-foot mount Pumo i Early monday afternoon after climbing it with three britons the ministry said. The Leader of the nine member team Malcolm Duff 38, his wife Elizabeth 44, and Mark Warham 29, successfully scaled the Peak the same Day. After spending about 70 minutes at the Peak the Sailor slipped and is presumed dead the ministry said. Kuwait s Oil fires decreasing Kuwait up Kuwait said thursday that More than 80 percent of its Oil Well fires had been put out and predicted that those still burning would be extinguished by november four months before a deadline set by kuwaiti authorities. A spokesman for the state owned Kuwait Petroleum corporation said More than 600 Well fires have been put out since the fires were set at the end of the persian Gulf War. Kuwaiti authorities predicted ear Lier this year it could take a year or More to control the fires in an estimated 732 Oil Wells. The spokesman said about 130 Oil Wells still burning were the most difficult task for the More than 24 firefighting teams in the emirate. Most of Kuwait a estimated 900 Oil Wells were set afire by retreating iraqi troops in the final Days of the Gulf War causing what some experts called an environmental catastrophe