Cable briefs

Press, 9 May 1985, Page 6

Cable briefs

Kanak killed A Kanak youth was shot dead in a street battle between local Kanaks and white settlers in the New Caledonian capital, Noumea, doctors said yesterday. At least 65 people were hurt, more than 10 seriously, in fighting that started after Right-wing demonstrators broke up a Kanak rally. The violence was the worst since mid-January, when a militant Kanak leader, Eloi Machoro, was shot dead. — Noumea.

Heart man critical An artificial-heart recipient, William Schroeder, who a month ago was well enough to leave hospital, has been readmitted in critical condition with a brain haemorrhage. Mr Schroeder's condition had stabilised and his vital signs were normal yesterday, said Donna Hazle, a spokesman for Humana Audubon Hospital. “He is awake some of the time. He is breathing on his own at this time,” she said. A cat scanner — a device that uses computers to make detailed X-ray pictures of the inside of the brain — revealed that Mr Schroeder had suffered bleeding in his brain. — Louisville.

$2.2M for Mengele

Israel has offered a SUSI million ($2.21 million) reward for information leading to the capture of Josef Mengele, the Nazi concentration camp doctor called the “Angel of Death.” The Justice Minister, Mr Moshe Nissim, said that the money would be paid if Mengele, accused of participating in the murder of 400,000 Jews at Auschwitz camp during World War II was caught within two years. The West German Government has offered more than SUS3OO,OOO ($663,000) for information on Mengele’s whereabouts. Million-dollar rewards have been offered by “The Washington Times” newspaper and the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre. — Jerusalem. Powers extended The Zimbabwean Parliament has extended for six more months a 20-year-old state of emergency that provides for indefinite detention without trial for people accused of subversion. The lower House of Assembly, recalled after a three-month recess, voted 63-14 to approve the extension. Voting with the Government were 11 white Parliamentarians who broke away from lan Smith’s Conservative Alliance party to form an Independent group. Six Alliance members, including Mr Smith, and eight from Joshua Nkomo’s Z.A.P.U. party opposed the extension of the emergency, which had been due to expire on July 26. The powers were first imposed by Mr Smith’s white minority Government in 1965. — Harare.

Rebel chief defects Nicaraguan Right-wing guerrillas murdered, raped, and kidnapped civilians, one of their leaders says after accepting a Sandinist Government amnesty. Jose Efrain Mondragon, known as Commandant Moises, said on his arrival at Managua that he had deserted the United States-backed guerrillas because he had witnessed numerous crimes. In Honduras, where his former Nicaraguan Democratic Force comrades have their bases, he had seen several Nicaraguans killed for refusing to fight, he said. Mondragon and nine other guerrillas deserted in March and took refuge in the Mexican Embassy in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. — Managua. Funds drive

The “Washington Times” has launched a fund-raising campaign to collect SUSI 4 million ($30.94 million) for Nicaraguan rebels fighting the Leftist Sandinist Government. The newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Arnaud de Borchgrave, in a front-page editorial, said that the newspaper’s owner, the Unification Church, run by the Rev Sun Myung Moon, of South Korea, had contributed SUSIOO,OOO ($221,000) to the fund. Two weeks ago the United States House of Representatives rejected President Reagan’s request for SUSI 4 million in aid to the anti-Sandinist guerrillas. The funds would provide only “humanitarian” aid such as food, clothing, and medical supplies. — Washington.