European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 22, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The site and ripes vol. 53, no. 127 500 monday August 22,1994 d 8693 a a act Board dumps Chavis financial sexual allegations propel ouster Benjamin Chavis accompanied by his wife Martha addresses a news conference saturday in Baltimore after being fired As executive director of the a act. From wire reports Baltimore Benjamin Chavis besieged by allegations of personal misconduct and financial mismanagement was ousted saturday night from his Post As executive director of the a act. This decision was not easy nor was it pleasant chairman William Gibson said after a meeting of the 64-member Board that lasted More than eight hours. The Resolution to oust Chavis who headed the a act for 16 months was said to have passed by a wide mar  said Earl Shinhoster who is National Field Secretary will begin serving immediately As interim executive director until a permanent replacement for Chavis is found probably in 30 to 60 Days. Chavis emerged from the a act Headquarters later with his wife and other supporters. I m obviously somewhat shaken Chavis said. However i stand tonight As a Freedom fighter. I am undaunted unbowed and  Chavis freewheeling style of managing the a act s Jiconey and his own reputation put him into the fight of his life with the civil rights group he was hired to Revita Lize. The combination of personal financial and political factors swirling around Chavis 46, brought the a act to one of the severest crises it has faced during its 85 year history. The immediate cause of the meeting and the crisis atmosphere within the organization was the disclosure see Chavis on Page 2 crime Bill hammered out Wei. W $ .,w.-? As rival plan takes  Washington a House and Senate negotiators agreed on a $30.2 Bil lion crime fighting package Early sunday but its passage was threatened by a stripped Down alternative that would Knock out a ban on assault style weapons. Despite a surge of support for the alternative which also would wipe out funding for crime prevention programs majority Leader Richard Gephardt d mo., predicted the House would vote late sunday for the Compromise sparing president Clinton a second embarrassing loss on the Bill. Clinton held up crossed fingers when asked while jogging sunday morning about the prospects for House passage of the Compromise anti crime package. The Bill s not going to fail Gephardt said sunday on Abc s meet the press Only hours after a second night of mar athon bargaining ended at 3 . Gep Hardt said americans want both Tough punishment and the slimmed Down crime prevention measures preserved in the Compromise. Negotiators Cut about $3.3 billion from a $33.5 billion anti crime package that had been negotiated last month by House and Senate conferees. Some $2 billion in cuts came from crime prevention programs. The House was scheduled to Convene in the afternoon for a rare sunday ses Sion. House Republican whip Newt Gin Grich of Georgia said the Compromise was much improved because of the in fluence exerted by 35 to 40 moderate re publicans whose willingness to bargain thrust them into a crucial role even As members of the minority party. Yet Gingrich said he favored the alter native stripped Down version since Many of the prevention programs in the House Senate Compromise would duplicate see Bill on Page 2 zairian soldiers fire warning shots into the air sunday As rwandan refugees try to enter Zaire at Bukavu. Refugee mobs Force reopening of Zaire Border Bukavu Zaire a authorities opened a new Border crossing sunday after angry rwandan refugees overwhelmed . Peacekeepers and stormed a Cross ing abruptly closed the previous Day. Zairian paratroops beat them Back with canes and fired into the air authorities later agreed to open a new checkpoint six Miles farther South. Zaire suddenly barricaded a Bridge leading to the refugee choked town of Bukavu on saturday trapping tens of thousands of refugees on the rwandan Side. It feared that the flow of refugees was out of control an that adding More people to Bukavu us squalid Camps could cause deadly epidemics. Relief workers said authorities were concerned that if they reopened the Bridge at the South end of Lake Kiva refugees would Stampede across it. And Many would be trampled to death. Instead under mounting pressure from . Officials and rising tension among the refugees Zaire opened a larger Bridge a two or three hour walk to the South. Relief workers said getting the refugees to move South would stretch them out along the Piid and de fuse tension at the closed Bridge. By dusk Only a few thousand refugees had begun walking in a driving rain toward the newly opened fron tier. Only a handful mostly people with their own vehicles had crossed the newly opened Bridge by dark. French foreign legionnaires withdrew from the closed Bridge about 6 30 . Sunday. Less than an hour later a crowd of refugees surged through around see mobs on Page 2