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Press, 23 January 1984, Page 8

Cable briefs

Envoy shot The Libyan ambassador to Italy, shot "and wounded in an attack outside his Rome flat, was in critical condition yesterday after surgeons removed two bullets from his body. Doctors said that Ammar Taggazy, aged 43, hit three times in the abdomen, head and shoulder, was suffering brain damage from a bullet still lodged in his skull. The head of the Libyan People's Bureau in Rome since August 1980 was attacked by two unidentified gunmen, described by witnesses as elegantly dressed and aged apparently between 25 and 30, in the car-park of the fashionable north Rome block of flats where he lived.—Rome. Bridge opened Leftist guerrillas blasted a power station with bazookas and automatic rifle fire, leaving the eastern half of El Salvador without power today. Meanwhile the President, Dr Alvaro Magana, inaugurated a new United States-made Bailey bridge set up across the Lempa River, restoring an important link between the eastern and western sectors of the country destroyed when guerrillas blew up the Cuscatlan Bridge on January I.—San Salvador. Singer dies The famed rhythm and blues singer, Jackie Wilson, whose hits included, “Reet Petite,” and “Higher and Higher,” has died, aged 49. The cause of death was not disclosed. Wilson had battled back from a coma he lapsed into in 1975 after a heart attack suffered while performing in a New Jersey nightclub. Wilson, born in Detroit, was as well-known for his acrobatic dancing on stage as he was for his frenetic, high-pitched singing style.—Mt Holly, New Jersey. Ferry sinks Several hundred people escaped without injury after the sinking of a vessel competing in the Sydney Harbour Ferry race yesterday. The people were on board the small ferry, the Karrabee, when it began to sink as it pulled into a quay.—Sydney. Embassy refuge American officials maintained a news black-out yesterday on six East Germans who entered the United States Embassy to seek asylum. The six said in a letter addressed to President Reagan they would start a hunger strike as “our last desperate possibility to signal our will to resettle in a democratic country.” The six, aged between 19 and 43, said they could not endure the lack of freedom in East Germany and that they had repeatedly been refused permission to leave legally and two had served jail terms for trying to flee.—East Berlin. Food price protests Polish trade union leaders had strongly attacked food price rises imposed by the Communist Government and demanded a voice in important economic decisions in future, newspapers report. The increases, averaging 10 per cent, will be introduced on January 30. They were lowered as a result of union complaints that they would inflict hardship on the old and needy. The Communist Party newspaper, “Trybuna Ludu” reported that representatives of all Poland’s unions met in the southern city of Kracow to work out a strategy to increase their political influence. The unions, set up after the Government banned the Solidarity free trade union in 1982, have used the food price issue to assert their independence from the authorities.—Warsaw. Belfast killing A gunman has shot dead a Northern Ireland soldier on the doorstep of his home on the outskirts of Belfast. The wife'of the 30-year-old fulltime member of the Ulster Defence Regiment saw the killing when her husband went to answer a knock at the door. The gunman escaped in a waiting car.— Belfast. Aust, warning The Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Bill Hayden, has delivered a stern warning to Vietnam over the

prospects of a new Vietnamese dry-season offensive on the Kampuchean - Thai border. Australia hoped Vietnam would not repeat its 1983 dry-season attacks in the region during the 1984 dry season. Last year’s raids had caused civilian casualties and incursions into the sovereign territory of Thailand. he said— Canberra. Kiessling inquiry The West German Parliament has ordered an inquiry into the sacking of General Guenther Kiessling after Opposition allegations that the affair had pitched the country and its Armed Forces’ into a crisis of confidence. An Opposition Social Democrat security expert, Mr Hans Apel, argued that the Defence Minister, Mr Manfred Woerner, had chased the general “like a dog" from his post as a deputy to N.A.T.O.'s Supreme Commander in Europe. Mr Woerner agreed to the convening of a special Parliamentary committee next Thursday. The committee will have full powers to call witnesses and demand documents—Bonn. Fire charges South Korean officials say charges have been brought against eight hotel staff members and three Government officials over a hotel fire that killed 39 people in the city of Pusan on January 14. They were charged with negligence, bribery, and violating construction laws.—Seoul. Blunt's fortune A former Soviet spy, Anthony Blunt, left an estate worth about SI.BM, his laywers said. The bulk of the estate went to William Gaskin, aged 63, who lives in the apartment he shared with Professor Blunt until his death in March last year.—London. Soldier feared wife A 21-year-old United States soldier faked his own kidnap because he was afraid to face his wife after failing to meet her as arranged. Corporal Liam Fowler told the United States Army’s criminal investigation department and the German police that he faked the story because he was afraid of difficulties with his wife after failing to collect her on time. Corporal Fowler said that picking up money from a bank and doing two errands had made him late in meeting his wife, who is also employed with the Army.—Stuttgart. Suicide verdict A United States Army Reserve general found hanging in a stairwell committed suicide because of money problems and probably had wanted to spare his family by making it look like a terrorist killing, says the Bexar County Medical Examiner. Major-General Robert Ownby, who was 48, was found dangling from a second-story landing in a headquarters building at Fort Sam Houston on January 11, his hands bound behind his back with a belt. A typewritten note pinned to his sweater said that he had been sentenced and executed for crimes against the people of the world. General Ownby was buried last week with full military honours, leaving a wife and three children.—San Antonio, Texas. Soviets accused President Hossain Muhammad Ershad closed a Soviet cultural centre and expelled 12 Russian officials from Bangladesh recently for meddling in the country’s internal affairs. He took his decision, he said, after gathering evidence about their activities. Twelve Russians, including several diplomats and the chief of Aeroflot in Dhaka, left Bangladesh between December 26 and January 3. The Soviet Embassy, the biggest foreign mission in Bangladesh with more than 100 diplomats and staff, was later asked to reduce its size and close down its cultural centre. Informed sources said the Soviet diplomats were charged with meddling in Bangladesh’s internal politics and contributing to anti-Government violence in November.— Dhaka.