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Show Thursday. July 16 1998, THE DAILY HHRALD. Provo. Utah - Page AI3 Airport workers charged with corruption bail. The corruption case followed a string of problems since the $20 billion Chek Lap Kok airport opened July 6, and seemed certain to increase growing criticism of the government and airport management. The new airport replaced Hong Kong's venerable, downtown Kai Tak airport amid great expectations. But it has been plagued by problems including flight delays and poor services. On Wednesday, officials from Hong Kong and the neighborof ing Chinese province Shenzen agreed to help ease the cargo backlog by opening the province's Huangtian airport to Hong Kong cargo flights. "The central government will cooperate fully with the Hong The Associated Press HONG KONG S r Four air- port workers were charged Wednesday with bribery and corruption for covering up shoddy construction of facilities connected to Hong Kong's new airport railroad. Two engineers and a project foreman allegedly falsified measurements and fabricated delivery statements, and a fourth suspect is charged with trying to bribe a building inspector $25,600 so he wouldn't look into the cover-uthe Commission Independent Against Corruption said. The four were the only ones charged among 17 people arrested Tuesday in connection with the construction scam. The remaining 13 were released on cargo-handlin- p, KOICH1RO HONMAThe g Kong government until the problems are solved," Chen Zuo'er, China's deputy director of Hong Kong and Macau affairs, told Hong Kong's commercial radio. Stephen Ip, Hong Kong's secretary for economic services who helped work out the deal, told official Hong Kong radio it would take air cargo arriving at Huangtian an additional four or five hours to reach Hong were up to full capacity. The government expressed disappointment that it would take so long. The deal to open Huangtian airport was a rare case of the prosperous territory seeking help from the mainland to solve its problems. Ip said Chek Lap Kok has been handling about 1,700 tons of cargo a day, about a third of the normal load. Because of Kong. safety issues, the government The first priority still was for won't consider reopening the old Kai Tak airport, he said. Hong Kong's main cargo handler to straighten out its probMeanwhile, Hong Kong's lems locally, Ip said. Mass Transit Railway Corp., But Hong Kong's main air which operates the airport railcargo handler, Hong Kong Air road, said the line is safe. It said said the alleged shoddy conTerminals, Cargo Wednesday it would be another struction for which the arrests month before operations at the were made was not on the railproblem-plague- d new airport road, but adjacent sites. Associated Press Next In line? Japanese Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi is surrounded by reporters outside his home in downtown Tokyo Wednesday, after he emerged as a possible successor to Prime Minster Ryutaro Hashimoto. Favorite emerges to succeed outgoing Japanese premier By JOJI SAKURAI Associated Press Writer TOKYO Japan's foreign minister, known more as a consensus-builder than a leader, emerged Wednesday as the fawrite to replace Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. ' Keizo Obuchi became the clear front-runnafter he endorsement the of his gamed the largest poetical faction Liberal irn the ruling Democratic Party and a prominent rival appeared to step aside in his favor. Hashimoto's announcement Monday that he was resigning over the party's crushing defeat in weekend elections left a power vacuum as the Liberal Democrats struggled to restore trust in their ability to lead Japan out of recession. Voters were angered over Hashimoto's failure to fix the er economy. A decision by the LDP is not expected until Tuesday, but party leaders were busy meeting behind closed doors to discuss a successor. Analysts say Obuchi's wooden personality and prominent role in Hashimoto's Cabinet could make him an unpopular choice with the Japanese public. There are also concerns that Obuchi's lack of economic expertise and his reputation as an politician would do little to win confidence in financial markets. In the past three days, Japanese stock prices have been rising on the theory that the election results would jolt Hashimoto's successor into taking more aggressive action to pull the economy out of its slump. Tokyo's main stock index gained 0.76 percent Wednesday. Gains have been limited, however, by nagging worries that economic policy will be held hostage to the same type of political haggling that dogged the outgoing "i- old-gua- 7 rd Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama, tipped as a leading contender, did not oppose Obuchi's candidacy at a meeting of LDP politicians Wednesday and Japanese newspapers took that as a sign he was taking himself out of the running for prime minister. The national broadcaster NHK reported that another influential LDP faction also had thrown its support behind Obuchi. The party was expected to schedule a vote of its lawmakers in both houses of Parliament to formally select a new party head on Tuesday. The full Parliament will likely vote on the new prime minister before the end of the month. While the conservative ruling party suffered a setback in Sunday's elections for the upper house of Parliament, it still has a comfortable majority in the more powerful lower house. That means its party president is assured of becoming prime minister. Younger LDP members favor Health reportedly Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a party maverick who has called for radical economic reform -measures such as privatizing the postal ministry. Koizumi said Wednesday he would wait and see if he has a chance of winning the top post before deciding whether to enter the race, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Another possibility is Yohei Kono, the only former party head who has yet to serve as prime minister, but analysts say he lacks the political clout to take on the job. Critics have urged the party to be open in its selection of a new premier. "A debate (on succession) which evokes the people's sympathy will restore confidence in the Liberal Democratic Party, but such trust is not born in smoky back rooms," the newspaper Mainichi said in an editorial published Wednesday. ; Save up to 30 on a large selection of Dr. Martens shoes for men and women from July 1 7 through August 2. 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The killing was not believed to be political, Deputy Interior Minister Demuri Murgujiya said. Investigators believe that Wewiorska, a secretary for the head of the U.N. mission in Georgia, apparently came home and J; v f eight killed by mine in Georgia Mil jr fa U.N. worker is shot to death, A TBILISI, Georgia (AP) Polish woman working for the United Nations in Georgia was shot to death at the entrance of her apartment in the capital, officials said Wednesday. " Also, eight civilians were n killed when their cart hit a land mine in the of province breakaway Abkhazia, news reports said. Abkhazian officials blamed militants in the separatist region, the Interfax news agency reported. The U.N. worker, Maria Magdalena Wewiorska, 31, was k shot at range on Tuesday evening, said Maya g?. ",: ' |