European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 3, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes world wednesday february 3,1993marines head Home with Fly George Esper the associated press Mogadishu Somalia a it was a bittersweet flight Home with a Jumble of memories and feelings that needed to be sorted out. As 473 . Marines headed Home monday they left Somalia with mixed emotions. Sure it was time to go. The brass said they were no longer needed. But who would care for the somalis whom they were sent to help the soldiers who replaced them they hoped. For. Some what they saw was a cultural Shock just As piercing As any Bullet. 1 the marines who departed monday were not the combat troop that breathe excitement and adventure but the Bonind the scenes logisticians a engineers heavy equipment operators truck Drivers and electricians. V ,. They Are rarely in the headlines. Just the same their commander said they were visible to the somalis. Most were Happy to be going Home. But there was no backs lapping. No nigh fives. Their Joy was subdued. A few wanted to stay. All of them like Lance Chi. William Case 20, a heavy equipment operator from St. Martinville la., Learned More than they could in a semester at any school. They saw the effects of famine disease civil War and lawlessness that struck Down an estimated 350,000 somalis last year. A i Learned a lot a said Case who worked on improving the roads. A it showed me a lot about a country like this. A i just wish we could help them out a lot More get them Back on their feet. It s pretty sad to see people living like this. But we got to go 1 guess. The army a taking Over. I Hope they do the same thing we did. We helped them out As much As we Case was so moved by the dirt poor somalis that he gave them some of his rations and water in violation of orders. A i tried As much As i could a he said. It. Col. Gary Holmquist 44, commander of the 1st combat engr in 1st Marine div said his marines cleared hundreds of mines and built roads during Ivi weeks in Somalia. A there arc plenty of mines in the country especially along the Border a said Holmquist of Bemidji Minn. A but the main service routes for the coalition forces and what they re using have been cleared out and the roads have been improved.�?�. A a just How much Good had his marines done a a in be seen dramatic changes in the country the Way the people respond the Way the markets have opened up and the Way gunfire has diminished a Holmquist said. 1 a being an Engineer unit we re Here and its very visible that we can do things to help. When you push a Bulldozer Down the Road and make the Road better or you get rid of some bad ordnance the people realize right away that we re doing some Good. I think we be had significant Impact. We be done quite a Holmquist said he was leaving 115 of his marines in Somalia for a month or so. A but its time for us to go a he said. A a in a excited right now a said Boodt 19, an electrician from Kalamazoo Mich. A a we re All looking Forward to going Back. It was a learning experience. This is my first time out in the Field. It was a great a a american a going to be pleasant a said sgt. Gregory Terry 29, of Orlando Fla. A but id like to stay As Long As i can until the Job is done. I done to think its quite done yet. They re still having these warlords fighting. I think we can stick around until we get them All arrested and put away. Then these people can Start living Normal lives.�?�. . Marine Jeff Johnson of Trinity Texas who sprained his ankle while playing volleyball movies slowly toward the customs Hall at Mogadishu Airport studies refugee status in sex Bias cases by the new York times Toronto a Canada will consider granting refugee status to women who arc persecuted because of their sex. In connection with what is seen Here As a landmark change in Canadas immigration rules the government said last week that it had Given permission for a saudi woman to remain in Canada after she said she would be in grave danger if she returned to saudi Arabia because of her views on the status of women there. The woman told immigration officials that she had tried to go without a veil in saudi Arabia to travel alone and to pursue a University education in a Field of her Choice but was threatened with punishment if she persisted her attorney said. The woman a name has not been published. Her attorney asked that she not be identified because of fears of reprisal against her parents in saudi Arabia. A spokesman for the saudi embassy in Ottawa said he did not think it was a a dangerous for the woman to live in saudi Arabia adding that not All saudi women Wear veils. The woman did not respond to a request for an interview. But she told the Canadian press that she was a excited and Happy and relieved at the decision. The immigration and refugee Board had turned Down her first request for Asylum and she has been hiding in Montreal for 21 months. The changes in refugee standards announced by Bernard Valcourt the minister for education and immigration were also welcomed by feminists and human rights groups which have sought such action for years. A Canada May be leading the world in finally realizing that women suffer violations on the basis of their sex and that the Well founded fear of those violations constitutes grounds for Asylum Quot said Dorothy q. Thomas director of the women a rights project of human kazakh president seeks closer ties in nato visit rights watch in Stein a political science professor and specialist on the Middle East at the University of Toronto said the implications were a if taken literally the decision could mean that any woman who leaves saudi Arabia is a potential refugee a she said. De Broadbent president of the International Center for human rights and democratic development in Montreal called Canadas action a a Clear move in the right direction a adding a there is no turning Back on the principle that our refugee policy must recognize the full Equality of men and a Brussels Belgium apr Kazakhstan president Nur Sultan a. Naza Bayev met monday with the nato allies the first head of state of a Central asian Republic to visit the Western military quite recently this would have been unimaginable Quot said Naza Bayev whose nation was formerly part of the soviet Union. A it is Clear evidence of the profound changes that have taken place in the he said in a speech to the 16-nation North Atlantic treaty organization that Kazakhstan wanted to strengthen peace and stability in Asia through a special conference of nations in the Region. He expressed concern about domination by a single military political Alliance. A it has the potential to create the prerequisites for some Stales to dictate to others a he said. He called for closer economic ties among the former soviet republics. A it is no secret that the roots of All conflicts and wars lie in economics and truly preventive diplomacy must be aimed primarily at eliminating the economic causes of conflict and War a he said. He also said the Central asian republics were not Basing their ties with other countries on religion. But they were developing relations with Muslim countries. A this is vital to muslims in our Region from the Point of View of spiritual Contact. And in terms of potential advantages accruing from links with the Rich countries in the islamic world a he said. Kazakhs make up about 40 percent of the republics population and Are mostly Muslim. Ethnic russians make up about 37 percent and there Are ukrainian and German minorities. Kazakhstan belongs to the alliances. North Atlantic cooperation Council which was set up More than a year ago to bring the groups former adversaries in Eastern Europe closer. As part of that Naza Bayev asked for natos help in training officers for the country a new armed forces and said he was interested in efforts to convert defense industries to civilian uses. Cracks found in nuke Suwon Ocean Moscow apr russian naval experts have found two cracks in the Hull of a soviet nuclear submarine sitting on the Ocean floor off Norway a coast but insist it is not leaking radiation a news Agency reported monday. The Navy also believes the submarine Koms molets can be safeguarded from radiation leaks without a costly risky operation to retrieve it said Valentin Yashenko head of the department for submarine use. The submarine is resting in about 4,900 feet of water in the Barents sea. It caught fire and Sank about 310 Miles North of Norway in 1989, killing 42 of the 69 sailors aboard. Since then norwegian officials and activists have labelled the sunken vessel As a potential threat to the environment and the country a important fishing Industry. Norwegian experts said they think the reactor and two nuclear tipped torpedoes aboard contain 28 pounds of deadly plutonium. Russian scientists and military experts travelled to the area last week to examine the submarine and Waters around it. They planned to Check for changes in the Hull which could help determine what to do with the submarine. The experts were members of a special panel set up to identity and dispose of soviet nuclear Ana chemical weapons lost or dumped at sea. The Koms molets is their top priority. The itar Tass news Agency did not say when a Yashenko a remarks were made. It quoted him As saying that there Are two cracks in the Hull of the submarine but that experts found no change in the level of radiation in the water from the last inspection in 1991. Even if there is a leak Yashenko said it russian naval scientists insist it would pose no serious threat of contamination. He did not elaborate
