European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Hes a filpes vol. 50, no. 244 Friday december 13,1991 authorized unofficial publication for the . Armed forces 350 d 8693 Asmith acquitted of rape jury praised by judge after Quick verdict West Palm Beach a. A William Kennedy Smith was acquitted wednesday of rape in a Case that put America s most famous family under a spotlight of scandal and scrutiny. I the july took Little More than an hour to reject the Alle Lions of a 30-year-old woman who said Smith chased actions _ her toppled her on the Lawn of the Kennedy s oceanfront estate in West Palm Beach and raped her under a full Moon. Smith wished a Merty Christmas to cheering supporters outside the courthouse. A i want to thank the jurors Quot he said. A my life was in their hands and i m so  he also thanked the judge and said a i have an see related stories on Page 9 enormous debt to the system and to  Only one member of the four woman two Man jury who would discuss any details of the Case publicly wednesday night. Lea Haller 37, noted that the dress the woman wore the night of the incident was t Tom or stained. Smith s lawyers had argued that that showed Smith s accuser was t raped. Quot the dress was an Issue for me no evidence on the see Smith on Page 2 supporters clap and cheer As William Kennedy Smith leaves the Palm Beach county courtroom on wednesday Commonwealth coasts to russian approval Moscow apr amid grave uncertainty Over the future shape of the soviet Union the russian legislature thursday overwhelmingly approved Boris n. Yeltsin s plan for a Commonwealth of Independent states. But soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev warned that the Commonwealth would Lead to chaos and said he might re x Yeltsin a who called the plan the last Chance to Stop the nations Quot uncontrolled see related stories on pages 2 and 8 anarchic disintegration a said support by non slavic republics for the Commonwealth was growing. The Commonwealth pact won final approval on a vote of 188-6, with seven abstentions. Under it each member can he an Independent state sharing common defense structures but eliminating nearly All other aspects of Central control thunderous applause followed the vote. Yeltsin the russian federation president strode to the lectern and said Quot i congratulate you on this historic decision and thank you Quot the vote Means the Legislatures of All three slavic participants a Russia byelorussian and the Ukraine a have approved the agreement. The pact was it red sunday by Yeltsin and the other republics leaders. Formation of the Commonwealth effect Trety kills Gorbachev s proposed new Union treaty which would have preserved the Central government As the principal state body. At the same time russian legislators also renounced the 1922 Union treaty that formed the soviet Union. Gorbachev the soviet president indicated to local journalists in the Kremlin that he would resign if the Commonwealth is formed. "1 can see no place for me in it Quot the journalists quoted him As saying. But the Independent inter fax news Agency also quoted him As saying Quot there is Onty one situation in which Iii go if the Union state is Given up for  Gorbachev said in an interview published thursday that he was not seeking a role in the Commonwealth and has not been offered its presidency. A maybe time has come to say that personally i am not going to aspire to a role in the new structures he told the news see approval on Page 2 army training video May reduce Friendly fire cases Washington a the army is making a first of its kind training videotape to help tank gunners avoid Battlefield misjudgments of the kind blame for the most deadly . Friendly fire incident in the persian Gulf War. The tape is one of several training aides Ana other initiatives the army is working on after studying incidents of fratricide during the ground War against Iraq. Senior officers from the army training and doctrine come and the army Laboratory come were scheduled to explain details of their work on the measures at a Pentagon news conference thursday. Thirty five of the 148 americans killed in action in the Gulf were casualties of mistaken fire by their comrades mostly Cannon shots from tanks. In addition 72 of the 467 wounded in action were hit by Friendly fire. The worst incident involving . Soldiers happened in the pre Dawn hours of feb. 27 in a fierce tank Battle with iraqi forces in Southern Iraq. Details of that incident were disclosed by the associated press on sept. 17 from army documents obtained under the Freedom of information act. In that Case . Tank gunners a looking Quot at other . Tanks through Thermal image viewfinders saw flashes caused by relatively harmless iraqi grenades exploding on Armor. The gunners mistook the flashes for Cannon blasts that they assumed were coming from the tanks and so opened fire. Toe result six soldiers killed and 2s wounded. Five m1a1 tanks and five Bradley fighting vehicles were destroyed. Capt. Joe Curtin a spokesman at the training and doctrine come at fort Monroe va., said in a Telephone interview wednesday the videotape being produced at fort Knox ky., is designed to help gunners avoid such errors. The tape is expected to be ready for use in january Curtin said. It includes Battlefield footage shot during the 100-hour ground War in Iraq Curtin see video on Page 2 North South Korea sign historic pact see Page 3