European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 15, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Theofas vol. 50, no. 275 350 wednesday january 15,1992 d 8693 awas iraqi virus Story contaminated Washington a did . Intelligence agents sabotage iraqis air defense by infecting a crucial computer network with a a a virus transmitted by a Printer smuggled into Baghdad . News and world report says senior american government officials told the Magazine that the operation did take place and that it worked. Trouble is a computer Industry publication inf world sketched out a strikingly similar scenario in a column that ran in its april 1,1991, Issue. That article was an april fools joke dreamed up by writer John Gantz. The main author of the . News and world report article Brian Duffy said a i have no doubt that . Intelligence agents carried out such an operation. But he said the similarities with the inf world article were a obviously  Duffy said the Magazine was rechecking its sources to determine whether details from info world a spoof a a leeches into our  in an article in its Jan. 20 Issue published monday . News said it had Learned from unidentified . Officials that intelligence agents placed the virus in a computer Printer being smuggled to Baghdad through Amman Jordan. It said the Printer described As French made spread the virus to an iraqi mainframe computer that the Magazine said was critical to iraqis air defense system. The inf world article was not labelled As fiction but the last paragraph made Clear that it was an april fools joke. Gantz said that his article was a totally a spoof and that he had no knowledge of any such intelligence operation. The . News report is part of a lengthy collection of stories that it said would be published in february by times books random House As a Book titled Triumph without Victory the unreported history of the persian Gulf War. Steve Wasserman editorial director for times books said publication would go ahead As scheduled feb. 10. A we stand by that Story a Wasserman said adding that the similarity with the fictional account was a one of those curious and slightly irritating  rejects Call for reshuffle Moscow apr president Boris Yeltsin rejected stinging criticism tuesday from a top lawmaker who called Nis Cabinet unqualified and urged it to resign. A any Leader sometimes has his emotional outbursts a Yeltsin said before leaving on a tour of Bryansk. A a government is not a pair of gloves. It is easier to pass Laws than to implement  on monday Ruslan Kha Bulatov speaker of the russian legislature urged Yeltsin a government to resign calling it a virtually  in the harshest criticism yet of the reforms by a russian official Kha Bulatov accused the Yeltsin government of implementing a uncontrolled anarchic and runaway Price increases which Are not allowed to happen anywhere else in the  a it is a a Ood time now either for the president to replace the actually inoperative government or else for the supreme soviet to do it in compliance with the Constitution a Kha Bulatov was quoted As telling visiting italian parliamentarians. Kha Bulatov was not calling for Yeltsin a resignation but rather that of his Cabinet which is composed of free Market reformers. Government officials went on the offensive later saying they would not resign and Labelling Khas Bulatovs a criticism a a irresponsible so soon after the economic reforms were launched Jan. 2. Khas Bulatovs a Deputy Vladimir Shumaiko told the legislative leadership monday that Russia faces growing social tensions because of the Price liberalization the russian information Agency reported. In other developments tuesday a the president of Kazakhstan decided to freeze the prices of bread and milk in response to a the mass discontent in the former soviet Republic Over the recent economic reforms. A Coal miners in Kazakhstan a Karaganda Region went on strike to protest the recent Sharp increase in prices Moscow radio reported. A pravda predicted that prices would continue to soar unless the government intervenes. A people go to see Yeltsin on Page 2 Mikhail Gorbachev arrives at his Moscow think tank for a meeting with former Secretary of state Henry  restrict forced separation of mid careerists by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a defense department officials have told the services that they cannot Force mid career personnel out of the military until they Are first Given the Chance to sign up for one of the two new voluntary piece of guidance contained in a from Pentagon manpower chief Christopher Jehn to the services on How they Are to use the two plans to trim their personnel Levels Over the next few years. The memo also says that service members targeted for separation will be Able to pick either plan. The pay options authorized by Congress late last year Are called the voluntary separation incentive Vii and the special separation Benefit sub. Both payments use a formula based on final Basic pay and years of service but the Vii is an annual payment to be stretched out Over twice the number of coming Friday years of Active service while the sub is a Lump sum payment that has a lower Overall value than the Vii. The services Are now in the process of drawing up their own implementing instructions for using the two pay plans based on the defense department guidance including which Job skills Are Likely to be targeted. In a recent interview Jehn said the two plans will generally be offered to people in skills that Are either overpopulated or no longer needed in the smaller see rules on Page 2 in Europe