European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 25, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday August 25, 1994 the stars and stripes Page 5 2 held in russian uranium theft Border patrol of future a French customs official tries out a radioactivity de Tector on a Swiss car at the Border crossing in Gou Mois Eastern France on tuesday. Four shipments of contraband plutonium have been seized in neighbouring Germany since May. Moscow a russian authorities arrested two unemployed men and seized 21 pounds of uranium-238 that had been stolen from a nuclear Center official said wednesday. Federal counterintelligence service spokesman Vlad Imir Komarovsky said the stolen material was of Indus trial value and not weapons Grade Quality. Uranium 238 is available for official Purchase in Russia costing $45 to $50 a Pound according to nuclear authorities. It was the latest in a series of cases involving the theft of nuclear materials from russian plants and re search facilities. Russian authorities have conceded that Security is often lax but they deny that any weapons Grade material has been stolen. German authorities have seized four shipments of contraband radioactive material since May including Small amounts of weapons Grade uranium and plutonium and have suggested that the material came from Russia. This week Russia and Germany agreed to co operate to combat nuclear smuggling. In the latest Case counterintelligence agents backed by police arrested the two men and seized their stolen material sunday Komarovsky said. It was not immediately Clear whether the suspects whose names were not revealed had any inside assist Ance and Why they needed uranium-238. According to Russia s state concern Rosenberg atom. The uranium-238 is  produce fuel for nuclear Power plants and is being openly sold by Export organizations such As  Rosenberg atom experts told the itar Tass news Agency that the amount of uranium-238 stolen also was very Small compared with about 330 pounds needed to produce one fuel cassette. Russian criminals have reportedly been stealing and teacher suspended for talking during a ass moment of silence Snellville a. A a teacher has the right to oppose the state mandated moment of silence but he should to deny students their rights in the process administrators and some students say. Teacher Brian Bown was suspended at South Gwin Nett High school on tuesday because he refused to comply with a new Law that says students will sit quietly for up to 60 seconds each morning. Critics say the Law is a thinly veiled attempt to get prayer into the Public schools. All he had to do was stand and be silent Gwinnett county school superintendent George Thompson said. He. Interfered with the students rights to participate in the moment of  Thompson recommended that Bown be fired and the school Board must hold a hearing on the recommendation within 10 Days of the suspension. I think it is divisive when an american government teacher openly violates the Law in front of students Thompson said. It Pould encourage them to do the same  on the first Day of the school year monday Bown continued lecturing on the protestant reformation during the moment of silence scheduled in his first period class. Bown 41, said wednesday that he did not prevent his students from observing the moment of silence. He said he was setting a Good example for them by stand ing up for his beliefs. How could i Ever ask my students to respect me when i refuse to stand up for what i believe is right he said wednesday on Abc s Good morning America. Bown who has taught at the suburban Atlanta school for five years said he would go to court seeking to be reinstated and to overturn the Law which he believes is unconstitutional legislators pushed the Bill in the general Assembly this year. An administrator announces the moment of silence Over the school s Public address system. While some students said they supported Bown s stance against religion in Public schools others said Bown was rude to those who wanted to use the moment to Pray. There were two girls in the class who really wanted to Pray and he just kept talking said Michael Highfill a Sophomore in Bown s first period class. I Don t think he should be fired but he should show respect if Stu dents want to  on tuesday Bown told principal Delores Hendrix that he still would not comply with the Law then left the building. Similar measures Are 6n the books in other states Al though Georgia appears to be alone in strictly enforcing a mandatory moment of silence. Massachusetts Tennessee and South Carolina re quire a moment of silence but they Don t enforce it. Other states allow optional moments of silence. Pipe bomb rips off officer s he Nils Vienna Austria a a pipe bomb exploded Early wednesday in the Southern City of Klagenfurt maiming a police bomb expert and injuring two other officers. -. ". " police had no immediate leads on who left the bomb in front of a bilingual school in Klagenfurt capital of the Southern province of Carinthia which has struggled for decades Over questions of rights for its sizable slovenian minority. Police imposed a news blackout. Police were alerted by a neighbor of the school who said he saw someone leave an unidentified object in front of the building the Austria press Agency reported quoting police. They found a 20-Inch pipe and took it to the Airport. To examine it in an a Ray machine. The 11-Pound bomb exploded As they were putting it through the machine. The blast ripped off both hands of explosives expert Theodor Kelz and both arms had to be amputated above the Elbow a doctor at the Klagenfurt Hospital told state Radi. Kelz s eyes were also injured and required surgery a second policeman Gunther Petritsch had a bomb fragment removed from his shoulder. The third her Mann Nailer suffered a hand injury and temporary loss of hearing later in the morning the Eisnicher department store received a bomb threat from a caller who spoke broken German and identified himself As Branko. The building was evacuated but no bomb was found. Moreover the red Cross office in Klagenfurt received a Call that was recorded and played on state radio you can prepare for something big this is the bomber. There will be More bombs in  smuggling virtually anything radioactive believing there is a thriving Black Market for nuclear materials in the West. Uranium-238, the most common isotope of the element also can be used to produce plutonium but the technology is extremely Complex. Plutonium-239 is the material in Many forms of nuclear weapons and is one of the most toxic substances known. Other officials said the most recent investigation began when 11 pounds of uranium-238 were discovered missing at Arzamas-16, a once secret nuclear weapons design Cen Ter in Central Russia 250 Miles East of Moscow. Arzamas-16 is one of a network of closed cities built Dur ing the soviet Era for the research and development of nuclear weapons. It was involved in the design of Moscow first atomic bomb successfully tested in 1949. Although the existence of the Center is no longer secret Security remains tight arid includes a 60-mile Security zone around the town according to nuclear officials. In 1992, however elite russian commandos seized a nuclear Plant at Arzamas-16 during a training exercise. Act ing As terrorists they broke through defences and captured the factory in 17 seconds the daily Izvestia has reported. The tight discipline of the soviet period is being re placed with increasing bitterness As nuclear scientists the former elite of soviet society face painful economic re forms and defense budget cuts. In june Arzamas-16 scientists reportedly complained in an open letter to authorities that they have not been paid for several months prompting president Boris Yeltsin to Promise financial support. Nuclear scientists make about As much As the average russian worker and their salaries Are far below those of business people and Russia s new Rich. At a top nuclear re search Center Moscow s Kur Chatov Institute scientists Are now being paid an average $100 a month. Drug use reportedly rises in russian Pacific Fleet from the associated press Moscow drug trafficking has been rising sharply in the russian Pacific Fleet and Many Navy commanders try to cover up incidents to avoid punishment a military newspaper reported tuesday. About 40 seamen have undergone drug treatment this year a significant increase compared with last year the daily red Star  offered no figures for 1993. Criminal charges have been filed against several sailors involved in drug trafficking it said. The newspaper said the actual figures appeared to be even higher because Many commanding officers were trying to conceal drug addiction cases fearing  since the soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the russian military has faced a steady increase in crime because of a Lack of funds falling prestige and poor morale. Belgium to Mark liberation Brussels Belgium the festivities marking the liberation of Belgium will include a reconciliation concert with British and German musicians performing Benjamin Britten s War requiem together. Most of the festivities will be held sept. 2-3,50 years to the Day when Allied troops entered Belgium from the South and liberated the capital of Brussels from the retreating German troops. . Troops entered on liberating Southern Belgium while British Canadian and several forces from other european nation swept to the North. The first British troops entered Brussels latesept.3.  a on sept. 23, the former foes will join their creative talents at the St Michael Cathedral in a plea for peace and reconciliation the British embassy said. \ " moroccan bandits kill 2 Marrakech Morocco hooded robbers opened fire on the guests of a major hotel wednesday and killed two Spanish  spaniard was badly wounded. The robbers grabbed about $1,100 from the Safe of the Atlas Asni hotel took another guest hostage and fled in his car. The hostage a moroccan was freed minutes later