European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 11, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 b the stars and stripes . Friday december 11, 1992 Barr won t name counsel to investigate Loans to Iraq Washington a attorney general William Harr rejected demands for an Independent counsel in the iraqi loan scandal wednesday declaring that the Justice department had been vindicated and a had nothing to hide in its prosecution of the Case. Barr based his decision on the recommendations of a special investigator who earlier wednesday reported that he had found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the prosecution of a $5.5 billion loan scheme to Iraq. In Clearing the department Lacey levelled searing criticism at the Media for its reporting on the Case and faulted the Cia for a a blundering by failing to provide prosecutors with All the relevant intelligence it had. He also accused the agriculture department of trying to slow the departments prosecution to enable the administration to extend $1 billion in credits for farm products to Iraq in the fall of 1989. Lacey said the agriculture department overlooked by the associated press homicides Are up this year in Chicago and los Angeles. Hut Overall the recent increase in killings seems to have stopped a or at least slowed. Washington d.c., new York City. Houston and metropolitan Miami a cities notorious for their High murder rates a report homicides Down or on a Par with last sear. The same goes for Many More cities from Honolulu and Anchorage Alaska to Bridgeport Conn. Murders Are Down this sear in Philadelphia san Diego and Dallas. Increases were reported in los Angeles Chicago Phoenix Detroit and san Antonio but those cities were still below records. I he Fri s latest tally found a 3 percent decline in homicides nationwide the first six months of this year compared with that period in 1991. W Here the number of murders has fallen police and politicians credit programs that target drug dealers set curfews and enlist Community help. Sheer Force also helps they say like the 3,000 Ness police officers on the beat in new York City. But criminologists say that while such Ett Orts help the decline was expected. Homicide rates it turns out Are pretty constant. What was recently up was Apt to come Doss. Many lass enforcers agree Ssith Buffalo n.y., homicide chief Charles Fieramusca. A if someone slants to kill someone cops on every Street Corner Are not going to  Fieramusca said. A maybe you can present it from happening today but they re going to kill  the a homicides this sear in Bettalo were Ssell be loss the record of 82. Evidence from prosecutors in Atlanta Soho found that iraqi officials were involved in abuses of the Tarm credit program. Members of the Blouse judiciary committee branded Lacey a recommendation a Whitewash. Lacey seas appointed by Barr on oct. 16 in response to Strong pressure from democrats for an Independent counsel to probe the loan scandal amid criticism Over the Bush administration s support for Iraq until its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. He seas assigned to investigate allegations that the administration embarrassed by this policy deliberately botched the prosecution of a Case involving $5.5 billion in off the books Loans to Iraq by the Atlanta Branch of an italian government Bank Banca Nazionale Del Lav Oro. Lacey said he had not found any evidence that the White House sought to influence the  Man slain on Florida vacation fort Myers Fla. A a German tourist seas shot to death during an apparent robbery attempt in this Florida resort police said. Police said Rudi Ohlott 54, and his Fiancee. Karin Funke also of Braunschweig Germany were approached by a youth 011 a bicycle tuesday evening. The couple Soho did not speak English did not understand the teen Ager. W witnesses said the youth fired at them twice before Riding off. Ohlott died that night at Lee memorial Hospital a nursing supervisor said. Funke 45, was unhurt. Other types of crime How Ever Are on the Rise. Quot murder is the most serious crime and people see it As an indicator if crime is going up or Down. That s wrong Quot said William Wilbanks a professor of criminal Justice at Florida International University in Miami. The murder rate the number of killings per 100,000 people has stayed around 9 to 10 for the last 30 or 40 Sears Wilbanks said. Besides Domestic clashes Otti vials say factors contributing to homicides include unemployment Competition in the illegal and unstable drug business and easy Access to guns. Killer Bambi Bembenek on parole after 10 years from wire reports Milwaukee a convicted killer Lawrencia a a Bambi Bembenek has won her 10-year fight for Freedom but her plea bargain leaves unresolved the question of whether she committed the murder. The former police officer and Playboy club waitress was freed on parole wednesday after pleading no contest to a reduced charge in the 1981 slaying of her then husbands sex wife Christine Schultz. Bembenek 34, gained Folk hero status with claims she was framed by police and later won International attention with a prison escape that ended when she was captured in Canada. She was convicted of first degree murder in 1982. That verdict was reversed wednesday and she pleaded no contest to second degree murder. The judge reduced her life prison sentence to 20 years and she was released on time  walkers dangerous Nashville Tenn. A the american medical association on wednesday said baby walkers arc dangerous and should be banned. A baby walkers Are becoming a lethal form of transportation. Kids Are dying a said or. Robert Mcafee an Ama trustee from South Portland Maine. The device lets children sit with their feet touching the floor. It has rollers on the Corners so children can propel themselves across the floor before they Are Able to walk. Baby walkers cause More injuries yearly than any other baby product said the american Academy of paediatrics. Infant injuries from walkers Rose 45 percent from 1986 to 1991, from 19,997 to 28,913. Six children in walkers have died in the United states Between 19s9 and 1991, Ama research  Gardenia Dies at 70 Philadelphia a Veteran actor Vincent Gardenia was found dead in his hotel room apparently the victim of a heart attack at age 70. Jeffrey Richards a spokesman for the comedy breaking legs in which Gardenia was touring nationally announced the actors death wednesday. One of the Best known and most versatile character actors of the american stage screen and television Gardenia won a Broadway Tony award in 1972 for his supporting performance As Harry the elder brother in Neil Simon a prisoner of second Avenue. He was nominated for a Tony in 1979 for Best actor in a Gardenia musical ballroom opposite Dorothy Loudon. He received an Oscar nomination for his performance in the 1973 film bang the drum slowly and in the 1987 film Moonstruck in which he played Cher a father. He won a 1989 emmy award for Best supporting actor in the Hob television special age Ola friends with Hume Cronyn. He twice won the obie award for Best off Broadway actor and was cast by Joseph Papp in his London production of buried inside  acquitted in beating Washington a three police officers were acquitted wednesday on charges of beating the son of former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young during an arrest last year. Officers Randal Parker 27 Gregory Wise 26 and Albert Henley 24, were each acquitted on one count of simple assault in an allegedly unprovoked attack 011 Andrew a a boy Young Iii on sept. 8, 1991. The District of Columbia Superior court jurors took two hours to reach their verdict on the officer police said Young then an 18-year-old Howard f University freshman was pulled Over after officers saw him speeding. 1 hey said Oung had been drinking and took a wild swing at them. A paramedics try to save Rudi Ohlott a German tourist who died tuesday night after being shot in fort Myers Fla. Killings leveling off in Many cities