Cable briefs

Press, 28 May 1984, Page 10

Cable briefs

Saudi talks A Syrian Vice-President, Abdel Halim Khaddam, and the Foreign Minister, Mr Farouk Share, arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday for talks with King Fahd on the crisis prompted by attacks on oil tankers and other shipping in the Gulf. The official Syrian news agency said that the two, who made a 24-hour visit to Teheran earlier this week, were carrying a message from President Hafez Assad to the Saudi Arabian monarch on “Syria’s efforts to de-escalate tension in the Gulf and prevent expansion of the Gulf war.” — Damascus. Colonel posted The head of El Salvador’s Treasury Police, who has been publicly linked to the country’s notorious death squads, has been given a posting abroad. The Army Chief-of-Staff, Colonel Adolfo Blandon, said Colonel Nicolas Carranza had been named military attache at the Salvadorean Embassy in West Germany. — San Salvador.

Novel bid A bid by Irish peace campaigners to prevent President Ronald Reagan from bringing a briefcase containing codes for firing nuclear missiles when he visits Ireland has been turned down by the High Court. James Maher had argued that the presence of the case, which goes everywhere with the President, increased the risk of a retaliatory Soviet strike on Ireland and constituted a danger to the life of himself and his family. A spokeswoman for the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said the plaintiff was considering taking the matter to the Supreme Court. — Dublin. Rebels offer Leftist Salvadorean guerrillas say they will be prepared to negotiate with the President-elect, Jose Napoleon Duarte. The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, the guerrilla umbrella organisation, said that Mr Duarte would have to choose between increasing subordination to the United States and acceptance, of a “real negotiated solution.” Guerrillas battling the United States-backed Government have proposed participation in a provisional Government. Mr Duarte has said that he will not negotiate powersharing or talk with rifles on the table. — San Salvador. Granny slashed A 99-year-old woman who is nearly blind and partially deaf was slashed in the throat by a knife-wielding intruder who broke into her home in east London. Amy Hammond needed 24 stitches for several knife wounds to her throat and also suffered cuts and bruises on her face. She was found lying in a pool of blood in her small flat by a neighbour. — London. Actress marries The actress, Debbie Reynolds, has married Virginia real estate developer, Richard Hamlett, in a private ceremony at Miami Beach. “They met in Reno six months ago,” an aide said. “She was performing for a charity at the time. He asked her to dance and they’ve been dancing ever since.” It is the third marriage for Ms Reynolds, aged 52, and the second for Mr Hamlett. — Miami Beach. Pumps didn’t work An inquiry into a fire last month at the Falkland Islands’ only hospital, in which eight people died, has been told that two water jumps needed to light the ilaze failed to work The fire superintendent, Patrick McPhee, told the four-mem-ber commisson of inquiry that it had taken 15 minutes to get a third pump working. He agreed with commission members that his volunteer force was insufficiently equipped. A 40-year-old hose carrier, a 20-year-old LandRover, and a converted Argentinian fuel carrier had iieen his only means of getting water to the blaze, he said. Port Stanley. '