European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 27, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday october 27, 1994 the stars and stripes Page 19peacekeepers Ward off serb attack Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina apr bos Nian serbian forces engaged in a rare tank Battle wednesday with . Peacekeepers. Three Leopard tanks manned by danish peacekeepers repelled a serbian t-55 tank that opened fire near the Northern town of Gra Acac when the peacekeepers tried to reoccupy an observation Post abandoned after recent sniper attacks. A . Spokesman it. Col. Tim Spicer said no peacekeepers were wounded in the a fairly intensive he indicated that the serbs May have suffered casualties but he had no confirmation. Although flagrant attacks on peacekeepers can prompt retaliatory nato airstrikes Spicer said that m this Case . Commanders Felt the immediate re turn of fire by the Danes was the Best response. Bosnian serbs also tangled with the modern danish manned leopards last april when several tanks returned fire with at least 70 shells against serbian artillery positions. Details of damage in that fight were unclear but the serbian guns were silenced. In Sarajevo City officials said wednesday that they would not restart the City s Tram service until the United nations renewed Security measures that had briefly curbed sniping attacks. Peacekeepers provided armoured escorts and Rode aboard some streetcars for a few Days after a sniping attack oct. 8 killed one passenger and injured 11. The Tram line was halted again after nine passengers were injured by machine gun fire late tuesday. . Officials said a fuel shortage caused by a serbian blockade of Supply convoys made it difficult to renew the armoured escorts. Airline Crew held hostage in Russia Moscow apr three Crew members of a passenger Jet seize Day hijackers in russians volatile caucasus Region remained hostages late wednesday after the planets 23 passengers were released and one Hijacker gave up officials said. It was the latest in a string of hijackings in Southern Russia a hotbed of crime and unrest since the collapse of the soviet Union. The hijacking began tuesday night just after the russian Jet left Makhachkala in Southern Russia for Rostov. Two hijackers armed with a grenade and knife ordered the Pilot to return to Makhachkala where they demanded $2 million said Vladimir Komarovsky a spokesman for the Federal counterintelligence service. A a a a a a. A a the hijackers who claimed to have suitcases packed with explosives threatened to blow up the plane unless they were allowed to Fly to Iran the hijackers gradually released the passengers and one member of the four person Crew As negotiations with author ties continued throughout the Day wednesday Komarovsky said. One of the hijackers also surrendered Komarovsky said. Some hostages were let go after authorities delivered $500,000 in . Cur Rency he said. Authorities initially identified the hijackers As ethnic azerbaijanis a 30-year--old Asif Kuliev who surrendered and 22-year-old Elton Makhi zade. Special police and anti terrorist units stood by As negotiations continued into the itar Tass news Agency said the Yak-40 Jet had been refuelled and was parked at the end of a runway at the Airport in Makhachkala almost 1,000 Miles Southeast of Moscow. The Agency said that a an anti terrorist group is ready to storm the Palace denies that Diana is buying . Apartment Church on fire a crowd watches As smoke Billows from the cupola of the 286-year-old.german Church in Eastern Berlin on wednesday. The fire which broke out i late afternoon in the scaffolding encased building was believed to have been caused by a welding Accident. Officials said workers got out of the building safely and no one was injured. The Church located in the City a historic Center about a Block from the Unter Den Linden Avenue is undergoing renovation. Blacks still have Washington apr despite an anti discrimination crackdown by the Clinton administration mortgage lenders continue to reject Black applicants More than twice As often As Whites with similar incomes a regulatory report said wednesday. According to the data for 1993, Banks savings institutions and credit unions turned Down 34 percent of mortgage applications received from Blacks 27.8 percent from american indians 25.1 percent from his panics 15,3 percent from Whites and 14.6 percent from asians. This is the fourth year that the data have been released by the Federal financial institutions examination Council a coordinating body for five Federal regulatory agencies. The rejection pattern in the latest report was Little different from the first year 1990, when.33.9 percent of Blacks were turned Down 22.4 percent of american in. New York a Diana the Princess of Wales May buy a $3.5 million Manhattan apartment a new York newspaper reported wednesday. Quoting unidentified sources the new York Post said Diana is anxious to close a Deal on a 12-room apartment on an upper floor of the ritzy Trump Tower on fifth Avenue one of the City a costliest addresses. She looked at videotapes of floor plans for several apartments in the Trump Tower while she stayed at the Carlyle hotel last week. In London a spokesman for Buckingham Palace denied the report. Norma Foerderer a spokeswoman for Developer Donald Trump the Tow Eros owner and a resident himself declined to confirm or deny the report. An unidentified source insisted to the paper that Diana wants to move quickly. The Post said the Princess was steered toward the Tower by British composer and producer Andrew Lloyd Webber who has an apartment there. Webber reportedly stressed that tight Security and hidden passageways enable residents to come and go unnoticed. Should the Princess relocate to Trump Tower her neighbors would include newlyweds Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley Steven Spielberg Johnny Carson Sophia Loren Elton John and the Sultan of Brunei. Diane 21.4 percent of hispanics 14.4 percent of Whites and 12.9 percent of asians. And As in past years the disparity in rejection rates for Whites and Blacks in 1993 remained wide even when the data were adjusted for income. For Low income applicants a those with less than 80 percent of the median income in their areas a the rates were Blacks 32.3 percent hispanics 28.6 percent american indians 27 percent Whites 19.3 percent and asians 16 percent. Donald Ogilvie executive vice president of the american Bankers association said that the data were a at Best a flawed measures of his Industry a commitment to fair lending. Although the study groups applicants by income it does not take into account such factors As applicants previous indebtedness and credit record. However he pointed out that despite the still diver gent rejection rates the actual number of applications and approved Loans increased More quickly Tor Blacks and hispanics than for attributed that to efforts by Bankers and to Low interest rates in 1993, which made Home purchases More affordable for first time buyers. The association is getting ready to Send each of its members a a fair lending Toolbox a with information on How to improve their lending records. Allen Fishbein general counsel of the Washington based Center for Community change which provides advice and assistance to nonprofit Community groups said lending institutions As a whole appear to be making some Progress but Many individual institutions still had very poor records. A just like politics All lending is local a he said. A too Many lenders still View this As a Public relations problem rather than a need for a substantive fundamental change in the Way they do
