Cable briefs

Press, 14 September 1988, Page 12

Cable briefs

Hostage released A West German hostage, Rudolf Cordes, arrived in Damascus yesterday set for a flight home after pro-Iranian kidnappers released him in Beirut from 20 months in captivity, diplomats said. They said Mr Cordes was in good health and high spirits. Syria was to hand him over to West German officials at the foreign ministry later. -r Damascus. Talks pledge South Africa’s President, P. W. Botha, has pledged to revive a dialogue with Mozambique, one of his country’s most strident opponents. Mr Botha held talks with the Mozambican President, Joaquim Chissano, at Songo,* Mozambique, and both leaders expressed determination to revive a non-aggression pact between their two countries. — Songo. Papal message Pope John Paul has backed current moves for a political settlement in southern Africa’s war zones by telling a Zimbabwe audience that the region needs peace and reconciliation. His message set the tone for his five-nation tour of southern Africa, which takes him to Botswana and then on to Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique. — Harare. Stone sacked The Opposition’s controversial finance spokesman, Senator John Stone, was sacked yesterday from the shadow Cabinet, the Opposition Leader, John Howard, said. Mr Howard said the action was taken because Senator Stone had been Unwilling to make an acceptable public statement following remarks on television about immigration. By talking about immigration, Senator Stone had breached a direction that only Mr Howard, the National Party Leader, lan Sinclair, and Immigration Alan

Cadman, should comment on the issue, which has seriously divided the Liberal Party. — Canberra. Rumour worry Burmese Opposition leaders called for an interim Government, and the holding of elections, and the military feverishly tried to squelch rumours that officers would revolt if such a Government was not formed. General Saw Maung, in a nationwide. broadcast, rejected as false leaflets distributed in the capital that said the military would bomb Government buildings unless an interim Government was formed to oversee the elections. State-run Rangoon Radio said security forces would shoot anyone responsible for spreading the rumour. — Rangoon. Seoul accused North Korea yesterday accused the Seoul Government of using the Olympic Games as an excuse to increase police power and restrictions on public demonstrations. — Tokyo. ' First for Seoul South Korea said it had agreed with Hungary to open permanent missions in a major breakthrough that will establish relations between Seoul and a communist nation for the first time. The move to normalise relations stopped short of full diplomatic recognition, but south Korean officials said they expected the two nations to establish diplomatic ties in the near future. — Seoul. Vincennes leaves The , United -States cruiser Vincennes, which shot down an Iranian airliner in July, has left the Gulf region and is heading home in a slight reduction of American naval forces in the area, defence officials said. They said the departure of the Vincennes for her home port of San Diego late last week has left 16 American warships in the Gulf and nine in the

Northern Arabian Sea. The 25-ship fleet com- \ pares with up to 29 American warships in and near the Gulf earlier in September. — Washington. Mine kills eight Tamil separatist guerrillas set off a landmine in Sri Lanka’s eastern province, killing seven policemen and a civilian. The rebels, fighting to set up an independent homeland, blasted the police vehicle at Lahugala, in the eastern Amaparai district, and shot the victims. — Colombo. Hefner retires Hugh Hefner, who founded “Playboy” magazine 35 years ago with a SUS6OO investment, said he was retiring from the board of Playboy Enterprises Inc. He said his daughter, Christie, vicechairman of the company, would be elected chairman and chief executive officer at the annual meeting in Chicago on November 10. — Chicago. Car theft crackdown The New South Wales Government has brought in tougher laws to crack down on the “epidemic” in car thefts. The Government has doubled the maximum penalties and adults convicted of car theft racketing will now face jail terms of 10 years. Joy-riders, regardless of their age, will be jailed for up to five years. — Sydney. Doubts over bases Stormy negotiations over U.S. military bases in the Philippines have led a growing number of Washington and Manila officials to predict' the U.S. presence will eventually be phased out. Talks that began last April are bogged down after sharp disagreement on how much. the United States should pay to use Clark air base and Subic Bay najval station. While the

negotiations cover only the last two years of a 1947 bases agreement expiring in 1991, officials say they have cast doubts over any long-term presence beyond that date — Manila. Drugs seized Iranian agents seized 1.5 tonnes of drugs and arrested 7500 pushers and addicts in Teheran province in the last three months, Teheran Radio said. The haul included 1206 kg of opium and 36kg heroin. It said a crackdown launched in June also caught a band of forgers who printed SUSIOO bills and Afghan money on paper smuggled from Pakistan. All the counterfeit bills were seized before reaching circulation, it said.—Nicosia. No rewards China announced it would no longer reward military defectors from Taiwan. “The system of rewards for military personnel from Taiwan who defect to China’s mainland has been abolished from today,” a People’s Liberation Army spokesman said, quoted by the official New China News Agency. The decision was intended to create a more peaceful environment for improving relations between the two sides, the spokesman said.—Peking. Chinese rocket China has successfully launched a satellite aboard a new generation of rocket whose services will be offered on the international market, official newspapers said. A Long March-4 rocket, launched from the Taiyuan centre in northern China took a weather satellite into orbit from where it relayed clear pictures of clouds above the Soviet Union and Asia, the “People’s Daily” said. A front-page picture showed the 42-metre rocket blasting into the early morning sky — Peking. & it