Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.inter From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: inter Mon, Mar 23 1992 Date: Mon, 23 Mar 92 05:45:26 EST Message-ID: 03-23 0000 DECISIONLINE: International News USA TODAY Update March 23, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ARAB LEAGUE MAY BRING SUSPECTS: Arab League diplomats have suggested that suspects in the Lockerbie bombing might be handed over to the United States and Britain through League officials in Cairo. Sunday, the League asked Western nations to delay a Security Council vote this week to cut Libyan air traffic and weapons. Libya won't directly deliver two men indicted in the 1988 Pan Am bombing that killed 270 people. U.S. REMAINS SKEPTICAL OF IRAQ: U.N. inspectors began checking to see if Iraq had destroyed forbidden missile equipment this weekend. Team leader Derek Boothby said inspectors had "an active day in the field" trying to "verify" Iraqi claims of earlier destroying Scud equipment. Despite Saddam's seeming cooperation, U.S. officials are still skeptical of Iraqi intentions. U.S. WANTS TO USE IRAQI MONEY: U.S. officials hope to announce this week that Western nations will tap up to $2 billion in frozen Iraqi oil sale money, using it to pay for humanitarian aid, Kuwaiti war reparations and costs for inspecting Iraqi arms. The money would come from oil payments made to Iraq but frozen by U.N. sanctions after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August, 1990. CAMBODIA HEAD VISITS U.S.: The United States, looking for ways to prevent Cambodia from sliding back into civil war, Monday welcomes Prime Minister Hun Sen, a government head Washington tried to undermine for more than a decade as a Vietnamese stooge. The six-day visit of Hun Sen will give U.S. policymakers a chance to re-examine international efforts to end factional fighting in Cambodia. FRENCH VOTERS TURN TO RIGHT: France President Francois Mitterrand's Socialists captured just 20% of the vote in regional elections Sunday as disillusioned voters shifted away from mainstream parties toward extreme-right and environmental movements. The extreme-right National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen could gain up to 14%. That would make the Front Europe's biggest ultraright party. SALE TO CHINA BEING PROBED: A U.S. fact-finding team opened investigations Sunday into accusations that Israel sold Patriot missile technology to China. The 15-member team, mostly U.S. Army missile specialists, will count missiles during their brief mission. ALBANIANS VOTE: Albania, Europe's poorest country, voted Sunday. Albania's Socialist Party seems to be heading for a crushing defeat by the opposition Democrats. "This marks the end of communism and the beginning of democracy in Albania," said opposition leader Sali Berisha. THAI MILITARY GETS SUPPORT: In the first general elections in Thailand since a 1991 military coup, pro-army parties captured more than half the seats in parliament's lower house, preliminary results show. But voters also gave strong support to two parties which campaigned hard against the idea of appointing a non-elected military man as prime minister. BUSH CALLS FOR RUSSIAN SUPPORT: President Bush and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl agreed Sunday that Western help for the republics of the former Soviet Union must go beyond relief aid. Bush said the United States, Germany and other industrialized countries should "take the lead in expanding financial support through the international financial institutions." BRITISH LABOR PARTY LEADS POLLS: Prime Minister John Major heads into the second week of British election campaigning with his Conservative Party two to four points behind in the latest polls. But Britons appear far from ready to hand the April 9 election over to Labor. "Labor seems to have made the better start, but I wouldn't be counting chickens yet," said Brian Gosschalk, director of Political Research for MORI polls. RUDDER FALLS OFF JET: A 5-foot-by-10-foot rudder piece fell off British Airways' Concorde jet during a flight from London to New York City Saturday. No one was hurt. The jet landed safely at Kennedy International Airport. It was the third time since 1989 that Concorde rudders have disengaged. British Airways officials inspected all seven of their Concorde jets after the incident. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Monday at 3276.39, after closing up 14.99 Friday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 226.96, up 0.71. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 402.03, down 0.14. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 624.28, down 1.68. International News Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM