Cable briefs

Press, 5 April 1989, Page 10

Cable briefs

Haiti ‘quiet now’ An uprising by members of an elite Haitian army battalion, who threatened on Monday to burn down the capital, appeared under control yesterday and a senior Government official said the rebels had returned to barracks. "Everything is quiet now and the rebel soldiers are off the streets," he said. Port-au-Prince remained tense and uncertain following the abortive coup attempt on Sunday and Monday’s rebellion. “It is too soon to say the whole thing is over," one Western diplomat said. — Port-au-Prince. Fiji strike condemned Fiji’s post-coup interim Cabinet yesterday condemned a threat by the trade union movement to stage a national strike protesting economic policies and alleged Government corruption. Although small groups of workers have staged strikes and other industrial action in recent months, the latest threat is by far the biggest since the two coups in 1987. Last week the Fiji Public Service Association and the Fiji Trades Union Congress endorsed calls for the strike, which would follow a series of rallies and meetings across the country. — Suva. Phobos-2 hopes fade The Soviet Union’s unmanned Mars space probe Phobos-2 was lost and hope of re-establishing contact was fading fast, experts said yesterday. A spokesman for the Moscow Institute for Cosmic Study and Research said he had "nothing good to say,” but added, “We are still hoping.” Contact with the spacecraft was lost on March 26. — Paris. N.A.T.O. chief’s vision The West has a unique opportunity to reshape relations with the East and peacefully influence change there, N.A.T.O. Secretary-General, Manfred Woerner, said yesterday. In remarks prepared for delivery to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Alliance’s founding, Woerner laid out a vision of a Europe in which “military forces play no role other than guaranteeing, the sovereignty of States.” Defending N.A.T.O.’s reliance on nuclear deterrence over four decades, Mr Woerner said, “We have transformed the ultimate warfighting weapon into the ultimate instrument of peacekeeping.” — Brussels. Kosovo purge Authorities in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo have ordered one of the biggest purges since World War II following riots by ethnic Albanians in which at least 24 people died. The purge will not only hit ethnic Albanian politicians and officials but also intellectuals throughout the province, officials said yesterday. — Belgrade. Tanker runs aground A tanker carrying 1200 tonnes of fuel oil ran aground yesterday in the Rhine River and spilled an undetermined amount of its cargo, halting ship traffic for hours. The Rhinetank 24 threatened to break up after it was severely damaged on a stone embankment near the city of Oppenheim, about 40km southwest of Frankfurt, authorities said. Crews surrounded the vessel with oil containment booms and began transferring the oil from the damaged tanker to another ship. — Weisbaden. Chemicals blacklist The United Nations is drawing up a blacklist of dangerous chemicals to control their movement across national boundaries, the Asia-Pacific chief of the United Nations Environment Programme said yesterday. Mr Nay Htun said that chemicals banned or restricted by 10 or more countries would be placed on the list and importers and exporters obliged to advise on their movements. He estimated the blacklist would initially have 80 chemicals on it, with three or four more added every year. — Singapore.