European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 24, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 b the stars and stripes thursday december 24, 1992 at a glance 1 american children in Europe like these youngsters in Taipei Taiwan have Santa Claus on their minds. Sec their letters on Page 11. Pos in China North korean officials have confirmed that . Prisoners of War were taken to China during the korean War and never returned a . Senator says. A Page 5 cigarette Butts found cigarette Butts were found at a Virginia Coal mine where an explosion killed eight miners. A Page 6 air Deal dropped British airways has Given up its attempt to buy a major share of  Page 12index Abby Ann Landers 17 classifieds.20-24 comics.17-19 commentary.15 faces a no places.16 letters.14 military.10 Money matters.12 sports 2532 to listings .31 weather .13 1 to our readers the stars ail stripes Oil christinas Day will lie a combined Issue for dec. 25 and 2h. The newspaper will double up on the comics crosswords Ann Landers and tear ahoy so you wont miss any of your favorite features. All stripes bookstores will be closed on Christmas Day but you can still gel your combined edition from newspaper vending machines. T Here will he no newspaper Dee 2<i because of the Christmas Holiday. T he stars and stripes will resume publication sunday dec. 27, 1 correction because of a source error an article wednesday incorrectly reported the status of col. Joseph r. Nowland and that of an administrative investigation. The 7th signal brigade commander was removed from his command Friday. And the investigation is ii or. Turkey to debate about future of operation provide Comfort by Gary Miller Mediterranean Bureau the turkish parliament is scheduled to debate today on whether to again extend operation provide Comfort the Turkey based humanitarian Effort in which More than 1,800 coalition service members Are participating. The operation has been extended previously by the parliament the last time in the summer of 1992. More than 70 coalition aircraft also arc involved in the operation which is scheduled to end dec. 31. During 1992, coalition aircraft have flown 14,000 missions in support of a . Resolution Banning iraqi aircraft from flying above the 36th parallel. A operations have been fairly constant with the routine Transfer of people through Here a said . Air Force maj. Mike Waters. A a we re programming into next year in Case the operation should be extended a added Waters the director of the provide Comfort combined information Bureau. The operation based at in Ciurlik a near turkeys second largest City Adana began in april 1991, shortly after the end of the persian Gulf War. The turkish National  a chaired by president Turgut Ozal and including the prime minister several Cabinet members the chief of the turkish general staff and other senior military officers a has recommended that provide Comfort be extended for six months according to turkish government officials and press reports. A a there a no real Good alternative a Waters said of provide Comfort. A if the Powers that be determine that this operation is to be continued the Only place it can be accomplished from is  provide Comfort began As an Effort to Aid iraqi kurd flooding into the mountains of Southern Turkey after their failed rebellion against iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Besides provide comforts base of operations at in Ciurlik a few service members also Are assigned to military coordination centers in Kirin Ciurlik Turkey and Zachko in Northern Iraq the . Element of the provide Comfort coalition also is responsible for purchasing and trucking $43 million in Aid for Northern iraqis which was appropriated by Congress for this fiscal year Waters said. The food and supplies purchased at in Ciurlik Are trucked to the iraqi cities of Dahouk Erbil and As Sulayman Yah where they Are turned Over to . Officials Waters said. Waters said not All of Northern Iraq is under coalition control Only a Security zone that the combined task Force established in May 1991 a an area just North of the 36th parallel that is 50 Miles deep and 160 Miles wide. Other areas North of the 36th Are controlled by iraqi forces or kurdish resistance fighters Waters said. The 75 coalition aircraft flying missions Over Northern Iraq include e-3 airborne warning and control system planes f-16 fighting Falcons f-111f aardvark fighter bombers French Mirage fighters and British  Page 1 warily but we have to consider mines hostile threats regardless of who put them there a Peck said. A we have a Good idea where the minefields Are a but that a not to say we know where All the mines  Robert b. Oakley the . Special envoy to Somalia was in Barbera on wednesday but arrived after the explosion. The town is one of the hardest hit in Somalia. About 1,000 marines were expected to move in today to secure the town for food distribution. Philip Johnston in charge of humanitarian assistance in Somalia for the United nations said Barbera a a 6,000 residents Are in a reasonable  but he said that a mile out of town is a Camp with 9,000 to 10,000 people in a very Tough shape  there Are half a dozen Relief agencies in Barbera and in the past two weeks the death rate has plummeted from about 300 a Day to roughly 45 a Day. Most of the deaths now Are from disease rather than hunger. The town has a dirt Airstrip that turns to mud when it Rains so Aid workers say it is important for troops to secure roads for Overland Relief shipments. A the Security environment has improved but a degree of danger exists for everyone a Johnston said. Pressure also was growing on the .-led Force to turn its attention Back to Mogadishu where the Northern suburbs Are Rife with gunmen. In another development a 20-truck Convoy carrying 300 tons of food for Bai doa and the surrounding Countryside left Mogadishu on wednesday morning bus from Page 1 weekend at Camp David my before going on a three Day Hunting vacation in Texas and the new years trip to Somalia. On Christmas Day he plans to make Telephone Calls to the troops. The Relief official hailed the presidents decision to go to Africa. A a we re elated to hear that president Bush is going because we think that world attention needs to be kept on Somalia Quot said William d. Novelli executive vice president for care Usa in new York. A the situation is still very dire. This can be a real morale Booster for everybody Over  some 8,400 . Troops Are now on the ground there and 9,000 sailors and marines Are at sea off Somalia. It was undecided whether first lady Barbara Bush will go to Somalia an aide said. Bush and his wife spent thanksgiving with . Troops in the saudi arabian desert in november 1990 As the military readied for the persian Gulf War. Scowcroft and Fitzwater will also make the journey to Somalia. After returning from a three Day Hunting vacation in Beeville Texas Bush is scheduled to leave Washington on dec. 30 to make the 17-hour trip to East Africa. Bush will arrive in Mogadishu on the afternoon of dec. 31 and ring in the new year with the troops Fitzwater said. He will spend that night at an undisclosed location and visit Relief centers before leaving on the evening of Jan 1, Fitzwater said. 2 germans jailed for attack on Hostel Berlin up1 a a court in the Western German City of Hagen found two men guilty in a Molotov cocktail attack last year on a Hostel for foreigners and sentenced them wednesday to prison terms of at least three years each. The men aged 19 and 20, received prison sentences of three years and three years and nine months respectively after being found guilty of hurling three Molotov cocktails at a Hostel for foreign Asylum seekers in the Ruhr Valley town of Hagen. �?o1 hey wanted to terrorize the Asylum seekers in a most loathsome manner a judge Peter Rohs said. A none of the 54 people in the Hostel was injured in the september 1991 at tack. The court found the two men guilty of arson and illegal Possession of a weapon a but not of attempted murder As demanded by prosecutors. A 19-year-old Man involved in the attack received a 14-month probation sentence and two others aged 19 and a it were found not guilty by the court. Rhein main Relief flights to Sarajevo resume Rhein main a Germany Sims Hercules Tian Snori r,.,1. Rhein main a Germany a amps a Airlift operations from Rhein main a to Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina resumed this week after being halted for three weeks because of hostile fire. The operations Are in support of . Peacekeeping missions in the Tor mar yugoslav Republic. . Officials suspended flights into Sarajevo on Dee. 1 because a . C a u fires  received Small arms said Lech. Sgt. Sandra Whipps a spokeswoman for the command information Bureau at Rhein main. However flights from Rhein main into split and Zagreb a to sail Ostia continued Shi w Lipps  two to to leave l1.meal-., 1 \. 1, a  1 wee . Flights div earning list split. Toniu. E Ich Zagreb and Sarajevo. Units flying from Rhein main in support of the . Efforts include a the 37ih Airlift so from Rhym main. A the 40ih and 41st Airlift Sis from the 3171 h Airlift Wing at Pope af13. It a and the 167th Airlift group an air  guard unit from Martin Bun.