European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 02, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday August 2, 1993 world the stars and stripes Page 11 Holiday puts italian highways in a am i w / i Rome Dpi despite harsh economic times and the fallout from a Long running corruption probe involving top politicians and business leaders up to 27 million italians put their problems behind them Over the weekend and rushed off on Holiday. Officials reported traffic jams that stretched 20 Miles at the Brenner pass at the Frontier with Austria As Northern europeans streamed into la Bel Paese the Bea pitiful country while italians who could headed for beaches and mountains. Police reported 9 million vehicles carrying nearly half of the country s 58 million population were clogging state roads and highways As the summer s most intense Holiday travel period began. Lines of slow moving vehicles stretched for 10 Miles in the direction of the italian Riviera West of Genoa while up to eight Miles of cars trucks and campers were reported at other Points along the Ligurian coast. But the sting from a poor european Economy and the uncertainties of the autumn Job Market May be forcing Shorter Breaks for Many workers according to officials. Authorities in major cities including Rome and Milan said that Many More citizens were opting for weekends away instead of August s traditional month Long break. Rubbish collected in   sign of How Many people arc actually in town was Down less than expected on Winter amounts officials said. F ferries from the Mainland to Sardinia were reported full. Tourist operators on the Island were hoping that augus numbers would make up for poor visitor figures from june and july. The Start of the exodus was marked by a head on collision near Rome that killed six people. On saturday one passenger died and up to 50 were injured when one International train hit another stopped in a Tunnel just past the Swiss Border North of Milan. . Troops to Start withdrawing but War remains cambodians say.  \ -.-. --f,., thar Puok Cambodia Apas the United nations prepares to end its largest peacekeeping operation Ever Battle weary cambodians say the world body has not carried out its main aim Here to end 15 years of civil War. During a five Day trip across the coun try s two tenses provinces villagers expressed dismay that . Forces Are to begin withdrawing this month while the Clatter of Rifle fire and the thump of exploding rockets grenades and mines still Echo across the Countryside. The Khmer Rouge guerrilla group fought the former vietnamese installed government for More than a decade. Now it is fighting the armed forces of the newly elected government. I Don t think the . Did a Good Job Here because they never dealt with the Khmer Rouge said Housum Sarun a 40-year-old Driver in siem reap prov Ince. They did not bring  the last . Peacekeepers Are to leave the country by mid november. The 17-month . Mission was to Monitor a 1991 cease fire called by the country s four factions As Well As to Dis Arm and demobilize the factions almost 200,000 troops. It was then to guide the country through democratic elections last May to end two decades of conflict. But one of the factions the Khmer Rouge refused to Lay Down its weapons. The other three factions followed suit and skirmishes continued. By May the United nations had spent much of its $2 billion budget the big Gest Ever for a peacekeeping operation. And having committed 22,000 personnel and tons of equipment to Cambodia it pushed ahead with the poll. About 90 percent of the electorate turned out to vote and . Officials declared the Mission a resounding Success. But the continued Khmer Rouge at tacks have villagers questioning the Suc cambodian children take a ride on a tracked vehicle during the .-Sponsorcd Festi Val of Freedom and peace in thar Pouk on saturday. Cess of the Mission. The Khmer Rouge now controls 20 percent of Cambodia with a fighting Force of 10,000 men. The guerrilla group killed hundreds of thousands of cambodians during a brutal reign in the mid-.1970s. While the new government s Flag flaps above the capital the different flags of the four factions Dot the Countryside. In the Northwestern province of ban Teay Manchey checkpoints remain on roads Between villages controlled by the Khmer Rouge and each of the three other factions. The latter Are technically United under the newly elected govern ment. Soldiers of each faction keep to their own territory. Villagers get from one zone to another Only by paying hefty bribes to heavily armed soldiers. There has been no change at All said ngeth4 Phon a 49-year-old project chief for the . Agency for International development in the Village of thar Puok in Bantay Manchey province. They have not yet Given up their  Khmer Rouge leaders have recognized the new government and arc holding talks to secure a role in its administration. But the guerrilla group s soldiers in the Countryside said they Are under orders to continue attacks on forces of the former vietnamese installed government. Afghanistan offers Asylum to egyptian cleric Islamabad Pakistan up Afghanistan s prime minister saturday offered Asylum to a Blind islamic cleric who was once linked to the assassination of egyptian president Anwar Sadat and a hush followers have been charged in the world Trade Center bombing in new  Kabul monitored in Islamabad said Afghanistan prime minister Gulrud Din Hematyar offered conditional Asylum to Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman who is in . Custody awaiting deportation. The . Immigration and naturalization service has ordered Abdel Rahman who was residing in Jersey City n.j., de ported on grounds that he failed to Dis close he is a polygamist. He is appealing. We Are offering him Asylum Only if he promises to live quietly in Afghanistan and refrains from political activities Hematyar said. He added that the Asylum offered was made on humanitarian grounds. Hekmat Yar s islamic party has links to several Middle East group who fought against the russians in Afghanistan. The Sheik also is believed to have links with some Abdel Rahman Arab groups in the Afghanistan Pakistan Border City of Peshawar. Several Arab governments have complained to Islamabad that the Sheik s sup porters who now live in Peshawar were involved in terrorist acts in the Middle East. Abdel Rah flan was acquitted in 1981, in the 1979 assassination of Sadat be cause of Lack of evidence. Through a bizarre Chain of oversights he was allowed to enter the United states in 1990 despite warnings that anyone with his links to suspected terrorists should not to be granted a visa. Many of those charged in the bombing of Manhattan s world Trade Center in february worshipped at the new Jersey mosque where Model Rahman preached. The cleric was to be tried in absent a in Egypt on april 6 of this year on charges of causing a 1989 riot. But on april 4, egyptian presiden Hosni Mubarak said he would note quest the extradition of Abdel Rahman whose sermons in . Mosques have often called for the egyptian Leader overthrow. 2 bodies boost toll of quake Tokyo a the death toll from a devastating earthquake that hit Northern Japan on july 12 reached 200 sunday As divers found two More bodies police said. A hokkaido police official said 39 others were still missing from the earthquake that measured 7.8 on the Richter scale. The quake triggered fires and Waves included one believed to have been about 100 feet High. He said one body was found Sun Day in a River on Oku Shiri Island off Japan s northernmost main Island hokkaido and the other in a fishing port on the same Island. Officials said 10 bodies remained unidentified. The police official who spoke on condition of anonymity said 68 divers five ships and two planes continued to search for victims off Oku Shiri on sunday. More than 50 police officers patrolled the coast of the Island for possible bodies washing up on the Beach he said. Meanwhile Katsunori Takaha Shi of the hokkaido Prcic Cturkal government said it has received 844 million yen $9 million in contributions for Relief efforts. Dozen killed in Forest fire on greek Isle Athens Greece a. A tree hopping Forest fire swept through parts of i Karma Island off the turkish coast killing12 people and seriously injuring three police announced sunday. Five of the dead were found trapped i their car saturday night after they tried to escape the engulfing flames and smashed into a Wall. Police said the fire had been brought under control but not until it gutted thousands of Square meters of Forest land. On the nearby dodecanese Island of Samos within sight of the turkish main land firefighting aircraft dumped tons of sea water on a Forest fire to keep it from spreading out of control. No one was re ported killed or injured. Later Strong swirling winds fanned the Blaze As it spread into a Pine Forest near a  in the southwestern part of Samos. Police said that All of the dead and injured were islanders and that no foreign nationals vacationing there were threat ened by the Forest fires