European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 stars a n d s t r i be s sunday March 25 2007 Nakasone denies he ran Brothel a japanese Leader accused of using sex slaves in Wii by Joseph Coleman the associated press Tokyo a former japanese prime minister and elder states Man on Friday denied setting up a military Brothel staffed by sex slaves during world War ii de spite writing a Memoir that critics say shows he did so while in the Navy Yasuhiro Nakasone who served As prime minister from 1982 to 1987 and was known for his Friendship with the presi Dent Reagan described the facility he set up As a place for civilian engineers to relax and play Japa Nese chess i never had personal knowl Edge of the matter Nakasone told reporters at the foreign Cor respondents club of Japan when asked about wartime sex slaves euphemistically known in Japan As Comfort women i Only knew about it from what i read in the newspaper he said adding that such enslavement was deplorable and that he sup ported the japanese govern ments 1993 apology to victims historians say As Many As 200000 women most from Korea and in the frontline brothels victims say they were forced into the brothels by the japanese military and were held against their will the us House of representatives is considering a Resolution that Calls on Japan to make a full apology for the brothels and prime minister Shinzo Abe stirred criticism earlier this month when he denied there was evidence the women were forced into service a Nakasone Memoir published in 1978 said that when he was a sub lieutenant in the Navy Mem Bers of his 3000man Navy unit in wartime Philippines and Borneo began attacking women while others took to gambling at one Point i went to great pains to set up a Comfort station to keep them under control he wrote the essay was in an anthology of War accounts the Eter Nal Navy stories to hand Down to the younger Genera Tion in the 1990s former philippine sex slaves cited the Memoir As fur ther proof Nakasone was involved with enslavement bolstering their demands that Tokyo compensate the victims the Japa Nese government in 1995 set up a private fund for the women but never offered direct government compensation a Nakasone spokesman in 1997 told the associated press that the Brothel was operated by local business people and that the prostitutes worked there voluntarily and had not been forced into sexual slavery but on Friday Nakasone was vague about the activities at the facility skirting a question about whether prostitutes were Active there the engineers wanted to have a facility to relax and play go so we simply established a place so they could have that Nakasone said explaining that the de someplace for rest and entertainment Nakasone government As All japanese governments until the 1990s denied any official involve ment with the wartime brothels Yasuhiro Nakasone the former prime minister is known in Japan for his nationalist stance in 1985 he was the first japanese prime minister to visit a Tokyo War shrine after it began honouring executed War criminals visits to the shrine by japanese leaders incense its neighbors such As China whaling ship returns to Japan amid controversy Junji a tugboat sails past japans whaling ship Nis Jhin Maru at a pier in Tokyo Bay following the whalers return from the Antarctica on Friday by Hans Greimel the associated press Tokyo a japanese whaling ship that triggered a High seas showdown with environmental groups and suffered a deadly fire returned to port Friday with a catch of 508 whales despite hav ing to Cut its annual Hunt Short after the Accident the Homecoming however was dogged with questions As authorities prepared to investigate the below deck Blaze that killed a sail or and crippled the ship As Well As the anti whaling protests that had earlier tried to Block the Hunt journalists were being barred from the Tokyo wharf where the processing ship Kisshin Maru was expected to Dock with its Crew of 149 japans fisheries said it would hold a news conference later this week after the investigation has progressed the ship slipped into port flanked by about 10 patrol boats for Security but there was no immediate sign of protests in the area the Nissin Marus return brings an Early end to this years Hunt in the icy Waters off Antarctica which had been scheduled to continue through the end of March it was the first time in 20 years that Japan had to abort its whaling mis Sion still the six vessel Fleet Man aged to kill 508 whales out of a tar get of 860 after scientific re search is conducted on the Ani Mals the meat will be sold to mar Ket where it is snapped up As a Culi nary delicacy by the japanese the fire aboard the Kisshin Maru broke out last month killing one Crew member and leaving the ship unable to sail under its own Power for 10 Days the Accident prompted Strong protests from the new zealand government and from the Environ mental group Greenpeace Over potential Oil and chemical spills the Kisshin Maru was eventually repaired and Able to return to Japan study alcohol tobacco deadlier than some drugs the associated press London new landmark research finds that alcohol and tobacco Are More dangerous than some illegal drugs like marijuana or ecstasy and should be classified As such in Legal sys tems according to a new British study in research published Friday in the lancet Magazine professor David Nutt of Britain Bristol University and colleagues proposed a new framework for the classification of harm Ful substances based on the actual risks posed to society their ranking listed alcohol and to Bacco among the top 10 most dangerous sub stances Nutt and colleagues used three factors to de Termine the harm associated with any drug the physical harm to the user the drugs potential for addiction and the Impact on society of drug use the researchers asked two groups of experts psychiatrists specializing in addiction and Legal or police officials with scientific or medical expertise to assign scores to 20 Dif Ferent drugs including heroin cocaine ecstasy amphetamines and Ltd Nutt and his colleagues then calculated the drugs Overall rankings in the end the experts agreed with each not with the exist ing British classification of dangerous substances heroin and cocaine were ranked most dangerous followed by barbiturates and Street methadone alcohol was the fifth most harmful drug and tobacco the ninth most harmful cannabis came in Lith and near the Bottom of the list was ecstasy court finds teen guilty in Berlin slashing court convicted a teenager Friday of attempted murder for attacking dozens of people with a knife during a Drunken rampage in the German capital and sentenced him to More than seven years in juvenile detention the court found the 17yearold guilty of attacking More than 40 revellers with a fold ing knife on May 26 As people were making their Way Home from the festive opening of ber Lins new Central train station the trial of the youth a minor whose name has not been re leased in keeping with German privacy Laws took place behind closed doors in a juvenile court he was handed a sentence of 7v2 years in juvenile detention the teenager who was 16 at the time was arrested after 90 minutes of random violence that turned to chaos As emergency workers struggled to reach Vic Tims among the crowds s Korea oks use of human eggs in cloning Seoul South Korea decided Friday to allow the continued use of human eggs in cloning research despite a scandal involving a prominent scientist who admitted to forging work and ethics violations in acquiring eggs the proposal by the National life ethics commission comes after last years downfall of Hwang Wolosuk a scientist once regarded As a National hero for internationally hailed work in cloning and Stem cell research that was later shown to be falsified Hwang claimed to have cloned human embryos and extracted Stem cells from them which initially raised Hopes of providing new cures for previously untreatable diseases some of the eggs for his re search were donated by female scientists on his team raising questions about the ethics of obtaining them Britain to withdraw 600 troops from Bosnia banja Luka Bosnia Herze Govina Britain was to begin withdrawing some of its 600 troops last week from the Europe an unions peacekeeping Force in Bosnia the Force said the first group of Welsh guards was to leave the North Western town of banja Luka where British troops were based on Friday afternoon said the peacekeeping Force known As Euford the withdrawal of British forces is part of the reduction of the International peacekeeping Force in Bosnia Euford said in a state ment the Force is being reduced from 6000 to 2500 troops As the situation in the Balkan country has been largely stable Congo issues warrant for former senator Kinshasa Congo congos chief prosecutor issued an arrest warrant Friday for a former War lord and senator who took Refuge inside a foreign embassy while his personal army and govern ment troops fought in the capital former warlord Jeanpierre Bemba said he would not surren Der but had ordered his troops to Stop fighting from the associated press