European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes tuesday january 18, 1994 at a glance figure skater Nancy Kerrigan exercises her right knee As she takes to the ice for her first practice since she was injured in a Jan. 6 attack in Detroit. She skated publicly for an hour at an ice rink in her Home town of Stoneham mass. See Story on Page 7. In a deep freeze a storm spread nearly 2 feet of Snow on top of layers of ice across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys closing major highways and tearing Down Power lines. Pages youngsters at risk an estimated 22 million american children aged 12 to 17 smoke cigarettes and 9 million children under 5 live with a smoker raising their risk of health problems a report says. Pages Neo nazis convicted a German court monday convicted two Young Neo nazis of beat ing an american luge racer in an at tack that caused outrage in the United states. Page 9 a buyer s Market smaller Down payments and the lowest interest rates in 30 years enabled Many people previously locked out of the housing Market including singles to buy their first Homes a report said. Page 14 Index Abby Ann Landers 21 classifieds. 22-24 comics 18-19,21 commentary. 13 computers 10 crossword 21 faces n places. 20 focus 15-17 Horoscope 24 Jumble. 24 letters 12 Money matters. 14 sports 26-32 to listings 31 weather ,. 11 Boutros Ghali holds Parley on nato strikes at be Geneva a . Secretary general Boutros Boutros Ghali closeted himself with top aides monday to discuss invoking nato airstrikes against serbs. Islamic countries strongly endorsed the strikes. Boutros Ghali met with his advisers even As leaders from the former Yugo Slavia were gathering in Geneva for an other round of talks today aimed at Stop Ping the fighting it Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin who like his american counterpart Charles Redman works on the sidelines of the negotiations said he was telling All the warring sides in Bosnia that the time had come to sign an agreement. We Don t see any Prospect for efforts to Settle this matter militarily Churkin said. Boutros Ghali met for 45 minutes with key foreign ministers of the 51-coun try organization of the islamic Confer ence who later issued a declaration de manding Protection of. Muslims in Bosnia. . Spokeswoman Therese Gas taut described the meeting As very positive and said the Oil ministers assured Boutros Ghali of their full support for his efforts in Bosnia. The Oil statement urged nato to commence airstrikes against serbs rapidly and said further . Approval was in needed because the Security Council had already authorized the action. The Oil ministers express the Hope that unlike previous such threats this decision will be fully and expeditiously in  president Clinton and other govern ment leaders of the North Atlantic treaty organization last week asked that . Forces urgently draw up plans to use airstrikes if necessary to open Tula air port to humanitarian flights and to ensure rotation of . Forces in the Serbi an surrounded enclave of Srebrenick. Bogota official survives bomb attack Bogota Colombia a colom Bia s finance minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt monday when a bomb triggered by Remote control exploded As he drove by perforating his a Mored car and wounding a bodyguard. Leftist rebels claimed responsibility forthe attack. The bomb placed at the base of a Streetlight near an overpass in downtown Bogota shattered windows As far As 100 Yards away Flung a Light pole across the Road and damaged a passenger bus. Rudolf Hommes the  finance minister was shaken but unhurt. The assassination attempt shows colom Bia is not yet free of its political violence which has killed a Justice minister an attorney general supreme court judges and presidential candidates despite the death of drug lord Pablo Escobar. Escobar who was killed by Security forces dec. 2, had waged a War of bomb Ings and assassinations that killed hundreds of people. The National liberation army said in a Telephone Call to run radio that it had attacked Hommes because of unemployment in Colombia. The unemployment rate is about 9 percent. Hommes has been criticized by colom Bian rebels for his policies aimed at privatization of state firms free Trade and less government regulation. He had also recently earned the ire of Trade unions for approving a new minimum wage with out consulting them. The attack was Well planned. The would be assassins triggered the bomb As Hommes drove from Home to his office in his armoured Bow. The blast wounded a police escort Riding a motorcycle and directed a Shower of shrapnel at the car. The officer was the Only person reportedly injured. We realized it was a bomb and i said keep going keep going " Hommes told run radio. He and his Driver had to abandon the car one of its tires flattened two blocks away. The whole left Side was dented the left rear riddled with chunks of shrapnel. Holes had been gouged into the left passenger window but the bulletproof Glass and the Armor plat ing prevented shrapnel from penetrating the Interior of the car. If it was t armoured he would be dead said police officer Ricardo Montoya. Police col. Alfredo Rodriguez said the bombing was clearly an assassination at tempt against Hommes. The bomb was made of 11 pounds of shrapnel studded dynamite the colonel said. Dod from Page 1 thing to live for. So they Felt that suicide sible so they can get to the next one. Tir o f or to 4 n a a n�iai.fl.a-l_99 4.1__ realize that a number of other lawmakers were getting similar complaints. Every Case is a Little different of course loud said but generally All the families Felt that somehow the investigations were inadequate or incomplete. Somehow they were flawed in that important evidence had been overlooked or left  loud said the lawmakers saw enough of a pattern to Call for action. They want these deaths investigated again loud said. Last month the Philadelphia inquirer reported that its research disclosed 40 cases of soldiers deaths where military investigators concluded they were suicides even though evidence indicated some of the soldiers had been killed. A number of those cases occurred at european installations. The newspaper said it checked documents in the 40 cases after being contacted by soldiers families. Self inflicted deaths Are the third leading cause of death in the military behind accidents and ill Ness according to the defense department. The 1982 starting Point for re viewing cases was a Compromise among lawmakers loud said. Congressman Pallone wanted to go Back As far As the Mitl-70s," loud said. The most consistent family concern he said was that the deceased showed no suicidal signs before the death. The families All said that their loved ones were Young on top of the world excited to be in the military and had every was not the True cause of death the congressional aide said. Many families he said believed their relatives were slain. Loud said he has heard theories from families who accuse investigators of con suicide among service members the number of self inflicted deaths of . Military personnel from 1982 to 1993 Tot a member  suicides Force 1982 243 2,108,612 1983 235 2,123,349 1984 215 2,138,157 1985 273 2,151,032 1986 262 2,169,112 1987 263 2,174,217 1988 291 2,138,213 1989 221 2,130,229 1990 250 2,043,705 1991 232 1,984,967 1992 217 1,807,177 1993 123" 1,788,570 Rascai 93 suicide deaths in the first six months Rotl if a r\ims1r\rtr it 1 4a of. American military suicides from oct. 1,1979, through March 31, 1993, anywhere they occurred United states 2,869 Germany 223 United kingdom 38 Korea 30 Japan 28 at sea 20guam 13 Philippines 12 Spain 10saudi Arabia 8 Panama 7 puerto Rico 7 Italy 7 Turkey 5 Portugal 2 Somalia 1 Greece 1 Iceland 1 Kuwait 1 Belgium 1mar piracy of information operations and reports incompetence and  i won t give credence Toof them at this  loud said the number of new investigations could be As High As 90. More families Are coming Forward it s been a snowball effect. We think the final number will be quite High he said. And there s More at stake than peace of mind for the families. In the Case of some suicides there is a loss of All veterans benefits including burial and headstones. In suicide cases the department of veterans affairs conducts a sanity investigation spokesman Ken me Kinno said. If the individual is found to be sane at the time of death the death is classified As wilful misconduct and All benefits Are lost Mckinnon said. It s a lot like a line of duty investigation in the military he said referring to a probe conducted to determine whether a sickness injury or death was incurred in the line of duty. The defense department does not conduct such investigations said a Dod spokesman it. Col. Doug Hart. The same benefits apply Jin a suicide As in any other death he said. Should the new investigations re sult in a change in the cause of death the new Law puts some requirements on the defense depart ment and separate services that Are not currently covered. For instance details on Hows a i Liioi Julica Ciaria w � death certificate will be changed Are still sketchy said defense department spokeswoman Susan Hansen. No current Overall he said the general feeling is guideline exists so directions Are still that the investigators Are simply Over being written she said. Street to Lidny dam Piaf the si6 or re the guidelines must be finished by july win to Wrin in plate Job Jey just 15 and be implemented by the services by Ani 10 wrap up a Case As quickly As pos oct. 1