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Show AJ World Monday, December 24, 1990 The Daily Herald, Provo, Utah Uminfiedl - Soldiers outnumber Bethlehem tourists Hues of berets dominate colors of Christmas , - As UNITED NATIONS (AP) the United Nations takes a stronger role in world affairs, hopes are rising that the General Assembly will become more efficient. The assembly, which ended its fall session last week, is to many minds long overdue for reform. officials say the sessions . U.N. are too short, that delegations are dealing with too much nonessential business and a crush of unnecessary paperwork. Though the Security Council gets most of the limelight at times of international crisis, the assembly, which includes all 159 member states, handles much of the organization's business. Timing is one important area. "The timing of the U.N. General Assembly sessions was originally determined with an eye to sailing schedules of the Queen Mary," for says the undersecretary-genera- l General Assembly affairs, Ronald Spiers. "It is now anachronistic." The assembly still ends its fall meeting at the same time it did at the United Nations' founding in BETHLEHEM, Occupied West Bank (AP) The main colors of Christmas Eve in Bethlehem this year were purple, red, black and the hues of the berets of green hundreds of soldiers dispatched to provide security in the holy town. Only a few dozen tourists were seen as the Roman Catholic Pa- triarch of Jerusalem, Michel arrived in Bethlehem at Sa-ba- h, ; . Nylons midday to open the Christmas season in the Holy Land. A light drizzle fell as a procession of priests led Sabah through Manger Square and into the Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto where tradition holds that Christ was born. A strike called by the leadership of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip closed all shops and restaurants in Bethlehem. There were no holiday decorations, as officials of this town of 40,000 canceled most celebrations in solidarity with the revolt. The Tourism Ministry predicted that fewer than 7,000 people would visit Bethlehem this year, down from 10,000 last year. Tourism in Israel has been cut in half by the Persian Gulf crisis, and many of the Arab hotels in Jerusalem that cater to Christian pilgrims are shut because of too few guests. I- - V. v. jl I 1945. ' it. AP Laserphoto A Palestinian boy points a toy gun at bis brother as they play under the bell tower of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Sunday. Bethlehem's Palestinian mayor, Israelis and Palestinians, and Elias Freij, issued a statement peace amongst all the Arabs." praying for "peace on earth and Freij, however, blamed the lack of tourists on a U.S. State Depart- toward all people and peace in the Holy Land between to travel to the Middle East. Before the uprising, thousands of pilgrims would gather for day festivities in Bethlehem and elsewhere. ill ment warning for Americans not "What kind of General Assembly is this, which works for three months and hibernates during the remaining nine months?" asks Gui-d- o de Marco, Malta's foreign minister, who is president of the assembly this year. Spiers, the top American in the world body, says in a working paper that the assembly "needs to be viewed as a year-roun- d body; not in continuous meeting, but always available at call, not constrained by considerate Slovenia votes to secede from Yugoslovia .'LJUBLJANA, Yugoslavia (AP) With voters in westward-lookin- g Slovenia urging secession by a nearly margin, officials today looked ahead to talks that may decide whether the republic will break away from Yugoslavia. r "Within the next six months, will decide whether to i Slovenia i stay in Yugoslavia or become an independent European country," Slovenian President Milan Kucan Said. In Sunday's plebiscite, 88.2 percent voted for secession, and thou- the results in the ; sands celebrated Slovenian capital of Ljubljana by dancing in the streets and uncork- : ing champagne. I Four percent voted against seces-;Sioand the remainder of the 'ballots were invalid, according to 'final unofficial results provided by j political parties. ' In the spring, Slovenia and Croatia ousted Communists in landmark multiparty elections. Both republics have threatened to secede unless Yugoslavia becomes a loose -- n, confederation of states. That put them on a collision course with Serbia, the largest and most powerful of the multi-ethncountry's six republics and seat of the federal capital, Belgrade. Serbia, where authorities have been more resistant to Western-styl- e reforms, advocates a strong federal government. Federal authorities have threatened armed intervention if any republic moves to secede. They say all the republics must agree to any secession. nt ic Less-develop- Serbia's Socialists named long-rulin- g the re- Communists won 87 seats of 96 parliamentary seats filled in a first round of republic-wid- e elections on Dec. 9. In addition, Serbia's president, former Communist Slobodan Milosto the state's evic, was ed presidency with 65 percent of the vote. A second round of voting was held Sunday to fill the remaining 154 seats in the Serbian parliament and prominent Socialist candidates, including Premier Stanko Radmi-loviwere reportedly upset, according to unofficial results. First official results of the vote were expected Tuesday, electoral officials said. The turnout was reported at about 60 percent. Montenegro, the smallest republic, also had runoff elections Sunday, but no results were available. The League of Communists is in power there. The Slovene plebiscite law sets a transition period to bring armed forces, customs and border authorities under Slovene control. A new constitution, a separate currency and the issuing of Slovenian passports would follow, said the republic's Premier Lojze Peterle. Negotiations on secession could start with the republic's share of Yugoslavia's $9 billion hard currency reserves and its $17 billion foreign debt. Turnout in Slovenia's plebiscite was reported to be around 90 percent of 1.5 million eligible voters. c, six-mon- th "This democratic decision by the Slovenian people, which gives us the right to determine our own destiny, will not be to the detriment of any other Yugoslav nation," said Kucan. The Central Intelligence Agency recently predicted that Yugoslavia may disintegrate within 18 months and civil war could break out. The Yugoslav presidency last week said Slovenia's referendum was unacceptable. Defense Minister Gen. Veljko Kadijevic has threatened intervention by the federal army to preserve the federation. Janez Jansa, Slovenia's minister in charge of the local territorial defense, said his people would fight. Slovenia, which neighbors Aus2 million of Yugoslavia's 23 million people, but accounts for about 17 percent of the country's economic output and 30 percent of its exports. tria and Italy, is home to tions." De Marco says it should expand its calendar of meetings to focus on foreign affairs in the September-Decembsession, and add assemblies on humanitarian affairs in March and an economic and social session in May and June. Spiers advocates a general de er bate in November, with assembly;, committees churning out the work of the body from January until the following autumn. , J as-- J De Marco says thrice-yearl- y semblies would enable the General; Assembly to focus its work on' specific themes, attracting like-- j minded government ministers cont. cerned with those areas, This would pave the way for advances in social, economic and humanitarian areas like the break-- ; throughs announced every fall in; the political sphere, when foreign ministers congregate in New York! J every September. resolutions the remaining1 Among on the current agenda are retreads; of declarations; re-- j dundant anti-Isrameasures; the! on the Drinking Water Sup-- j report ply and Sanitation Decade; and measures to be taken against Nazi,! activities fascist, and Spiers says that rather than car-- ; ry over items from year to year they should die out and be ap-- . proached anew each session. Each year, the whole assembly is obligated to devoting time to such, matters as appointment of new members of the Economic and Social Council, auditor's reports oa U.N. activities and a host of other issues that could be disposed of at the subcommittee level, or simply shelved. "We don't need so many resolutions," said de Marco. "We need fewer, stronger, much more topi-- ; cal, and much more effective reso--; lutions." Spiers and de Marco have been discussing their ideas separately with committee chairman, U.N. ok ', ficials and ambassadors. "I've been finding very positive reaction among the delegations,", de Marco said. "Wherever you meet delegations; you find that they are all discuss ing this matter," he said. 1 id el ', neo-fasci- st ', Surrendering drug lords to have luxurious jail cells BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Jail cocaine cells for surrendering smugglers will be endowed with kitchenettes, private baths and individual patios, a Bogota newspaper reports. Citing Justice Ministry official John Jairo Mejia, El Tiempo said in Sunday's editions that each drug trafficker's cell will contain 290 square feet. A common outdoor "green zone" will surround the prisoners. Colombian drug bosses have said between 200 and 300 traffickers are willing to surrender to authorities in exchange for lenient judicial treatment. Besides an end to extraditions to the United States, the traffickers are demanding specially prepared jails protected by the army and police. Five traffickers have already turned themselves in, including Fa-- ; bio Ochoa, the youngest of three brothers who help run the Medellin-cocaincartel. Mejia denied reports that traf' fickers would be given luxury jail ceiis. "We are not talking about suites," El Tiempo quoted him as saying. at After spending spree with ransom money, seven Canadians arrested in kidnapping NORTH VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) Seven people accused of kidnapping a multimillionaire's daughter were arrested soon after they hired a limousine and went on a wild spending spree (with ransom money, police said. Cynthia Kilburn, 30, had been freed unharmed the night before. Among the places where her alleged abductors shopped was the department store where one of them had picked up the ransom a day earlier, police said. Security guards there recognized the man and alerted police. ; Three men and four juveniles one of them a girl were arrested ; Saturday and early Sunday. Charges were expected to be filed today, Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. Kilburn was abducted Friday morning by several people who burst into her North Vancouver home, police said. The intruders left her twin son and daughter tied up and alone in the house. Kilburn's husband was not The ...w ahrliirtnrQ MMMMw.w.v tnlH the limn driver SaturdayJ . mum ma were last year ot high their celebrating they school with a $20,000 spending spree. jjj." V a home at the time. Kilburn was released blindfolded but unharmed on a North Vancouver street 14 hours later after her father, Jim Pattison, paid a ransom. Police would not say how much he paid. Pattison, 62, chairman of the 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver, is the sole shareholder of Jim Pattison Group, a conglomerate that owns auto dealerships, supermarkets and radio stations. The group had revenues estimated at $2 billion last year. The abductors had telephoned Pattison and directed him to leave ransom money at a downtown Vancouver department store, RCMP Constable Sheila Armstrong said. "Store security got a good de scription of the person who picked up the money," Armstrong said. On Saturday the pickup man, accompanied by another person, returned to the store to shop, store security officers told police. The limoupair had a chauffeur-drive- n sine waiting outside. bulletin was put out An for the limousine, and two suspects were arrested when police spotted the car in a West Vancouver shopping center. Five others were arrested elsewhere, Armstrong said. all-poi- RCMP also recovered a large sum of money and other items. The abductors told the limo driver Saturday they were celebrating their last year of high school with a $20,000 spending spree. Guerrillas play St. Nick, hand out hijacked goods In Philippines : MANILA, (AP) what they termed "Operation Yule-tid- e Seizure," Communist rebels commandeered a dairy truck, drove it to a Manila slum and j t handed out butter and cheese. : The driver, Marcus Cordero, said ';three armed rebels flagged down Ihis truck in suburban Quezon city 4nd ordered him to drive to the Mesa district. ;Santa I 1 1 When they arrived, crowds of ; people from a squatters' neighbor-- l hood had already lined up to re , -- ceive about $1,140 worth of butter and cheese. Residents of the neighborhood said the rebels tipped them off in advance of Friday's incident to be The driver ready for and a companion were released unharmed. "gift-giving- ." In a statement to news organizations, the Alex Boncayao Brigade, Manila wing of the communist New People's Army, claimed responsibility for "Operation Yuletide Sei zure." "We undertook this action knowing that in these crises-ridde- n times the Christmas season has brought nothing but bitterness and additional pressure to the impoverished," the brigade said. "We stand by the legitimacy of our actions in the context of the people's protracted war against imperialism and its local minions, the bureaucrat capitalists," the bri- gade said. Poland (AP) The is no fashion plate, Lech Walesa knows what color he" doesn't like: red. 'Avoiding that Communist favor-ite was Walesa's only request to "his new clothing coordinator, Krystyna Wasylkowska of ;the Polish fashion house Moda ska. who by Otherwise, Walesa reporters' count had at most three ,"ibut v;.' .? ; suits as he led Poland out of Communism, met foreign leaders and spoke to governments worldhas turned his wardrobe wide entirely over to Ms. Wasylkowska. "He is an easy customer. He told me he would leave everything to me," the designer told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper. Moda Polska, a state-owne- d clothing enterprise, was chosen to outfit the president by his staff, which rejected a German offer in favor of the "Made in Poland" label, Ms. Wasylkowska was quoted as saying. For her part, Walesa's wife, rarely in the spotlight during her husband's decade of activism, made a fashionable entry as First Lady at her husband's inauguration Dan-ut- Saturday. LEO ROWFN Flntnc-lnpctlo- iPolamfs new president wants anything but red J,! ; president arm's WARSAW, nrtcw - a, n L.A. BOWEN Foundar 1M1 Commtrcltl Llrwi ,SA I Ii LAYNE BOWEN I I LANDON BOWEN unionwr Credit X V Four Generations Say Thank You' ..... ... Wp- uich trt avnraee- nur annratltltn ... U u-- ii ot our siaiT io an our friends BKibiauvn uii ueiicm and customers who have made 1990 a successful year and we hope you w,- will enjoy a m prosperous new year. BOWEN-LEAVIT- T 1385 W. 1600 N. INSURANCE . OREM 226-SAV- E |