Show 8A Standard-Examin- Sunday Nov 19 1989 er World Rally European leaders protests discuss changes Communists Bulgarians take to the streets SOFIA Bulgaria (AP) — A crowd estimated at 50000 sloshouted of and burned gans portraits the nation's ousted leader Saturday at the biggest independent protest rally in Communist Bulgaria's history The magnitude of the rally the fact that it was officially sanctioned and the police indifference toward it underscored the fast speed of political change that has gripped this Balkan nation since Todor Zhivkov was removed from power Nov 10 One participant called it a "miracle'' The crowd in downtown Sofia the capital cheered as sociologist Petko Simeonov called for free elections and freedom of speech r At the end of the demonstration they adopted by show of hands a declaration calling for an end to corruption the abolition of censorship release of political prisoners guarantees for freedom of religion and an end to police repression “Todor Zhivkov has left us with empty shops corruption bureaucracy and despair” said Simeonov who is also a leading member of Ecoglasnost an inthree-hou- dependent environmental group He demanded a criminal in banking facility for the develop-meand modernization of Eastern Europe Study the possibility of a Eu- changes surging through Eastern Europe Leaders of the European Community anxious about the events in the Soviet bloc met for three hours at a hastily arranged dinner at the invitation of President Francois Mitterrand “We declare ourselves ready to cooperate in anything that will help the reform of the Eastern countries which are going through a sometimes dramatic economic crisis” Mitterrand told reporters at a news conference after the end of the summit at the management people from Eastern the political and economic vestigation and court action against Zhivkov Similar demands were heard during an official rally in Sofia on Friday The crowd reported by organizers to total some 50000 responded by shouting “Zhivkov to court!” and “Down with Zhivkov and his aides!” Zhivkov was removed as Communist Party chief Nov 10 and as head of state Friday and fast-movi- several of his associates were removed from positions of power They included Zhivkov’s son Vladimir who was kicked out as the head of the culture department in the Central Committee At a Parliament session Friday deputy Slavcho Trnski launched an unprecedented attack on Zhivkov accusing him of indulging in a “flamboyant lifestyle” while Bulgaria fell into economic crisis He said Zhivkov owned 30 homes was “hungry for fame” and retained power for 35 years through a policy of “divide and Elysee Palace “We are ready to contribute by all our means to the installation of a healthy economy which is the sine qua non (essential condi- tion) of the return to democracy through respect for human rights and the organization of free and secret elections everywhere” he said rule” Zhivkov 78 was replaced by Petar Mladenov 53 the former foreign minister who said in a French television interview broadcast Friday that he supports free elections The sudden downfall of the hard-lin- e Zhivkov was yet another major change to hit East PARIS (AP) — Western European leaders decided Saturday night to consider financial and training measures to encourage Associated Press Demonstrators have already put Zhivkov behind bars ern Europe in recent months It followed East Germany’s decision to open the Berlin Wall Hungary’s move toward democracy and the installment of a government in Poland not led by Communists The crowd carried hundreds of banners and sketches some showing Zhivkov behind bars West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl speaking with reporters as he left the presidential palace said there was a “consensus of joy and contentment but also a little anxiety and reserve” regarding the changes in East Germany Mitterrand said he Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey and Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez of Spain had been mandated to carry out three measures: Consider the creation ot a ropean foundation to trajn Europe Open existing European Community programs involving education and training to Eastern Europeans The meeting gave the Europie-a- n leaders a chance to work o)it an approach to the East just tvyo weeks before President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S Gorbachev hold a summit off Malta British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher will meet with Bush this week West German Foreign Minister h Genscher also will travel this week to Washington The Paris meeting comes barely a week after East Germany once one of the most hard-lih- e members of the Soviet bloc lifted travel restrictions for its citizens and began knocking holps in the Berlin Wall amid a wave of reform Since September the bloo’s first government has come to power in Poland and Hungary has instituted democratic reforms Bulgaria’s leadership has been revamped arid thousands of people in that country and in Czechoslovakia are demanding change The summit was expected to touch on the possibility of drawing East Germany into a aid effort spearheaded by the community for Poland and Hun! Hans-Dietric- ist i gary Demonstrators protest police beatings at peaceful rally PRAGUE Czechoslovakia (AP) — Demonstrators demanding an end to Communist Party domination lit candles and placed flowers on bloodstained sidewalks Saturday where police had beaten protesters in the largest such rally in 20 years Six theaters canceled shows Saturday night as actors and students called for strikes to protest police brutality at Friday night’s demonstration in which policemen clubbed hundreds of peaceful protesters Tens of thousands of students marched for five hours to commemorate student Jan Opletal killed by Nazis 50 years ago When demonstrators tried to reach central Wenceslas Square police attacked them with tear white-helmet- ed gas dogs and clubs The human rights group Charter 77 likened the police crackdown to Nazi reprisals during World War II Seventeen demonstrators and seven policemen were officially listed as injured although official media failed to report any injuries suffered by demonstrators The state news agency CTK fire stops rescuers from recovering 92 miners’ bodies Out-of-contr- ol ALEKSINAC Yugoslavia (AP) — A fire roaring out of control in a coal mine Saturday prevented rescuers from recovering the bodies of 92 miners killed in Serbia’s worst mine disaster Authorities arrested four people who had been working on the mine’s conveyor equipment where the fire broke out Friday There have been reports that the fire and gas explosion began after an improper welding job Experts reportedly recommended closing the Aleksinacki Rudnici brown coal mine five years ago because of a series of accidents The republic declared three days of mourning and set up a commission to investigate the disaster The blaze erupted at noon as coal transport equipment was be ing welded in a shaft about 2100 feet deep mine director Branis-la- v Mandusic told the official Tanjug news agency The blaze cut off the main access shaft of the mine Most of the victims were believed to have died from poisonous fumes Seventy-thre- e workers in other parts of the mine es- caped without injury Mandusic said The mine is 125 miles south of Belgrade the capital The fire will have to be extinguished before rescue teams can begin recovering the bodies said a rescue coordinator who spoke on condition of anonymity With the fire still burning temperatures were too high to reach the trapped men rescuers said “Coal dust and methane gas are still burning fiercely and it could take a long time to put it out” said Slobodan Stefanovic who carried breathing equipment The fire was the worst mining disaster in Serbia said the rescue coordinator who spoke anonymously He called the mine “the most inflammable in Yugoslavia due to high concentrations of methane gas” He said that five years ago a commission of experts recommended the mine be closed after a string of fatal accidents that culminated in the death of 38 miners in June 1983 The worst mining accidents in Yugoslavia were both at the Bosnian coal mine at Kakanj aqd both involved methane gas explosions In 1934 a total of 127 people were killed San Salvador residents evacuate SAN SALVADOR El Salva- dor (AP) — Fighting between guerrillas and government troops slackened Saturday and thousands of exhausted residents took advantage of the lull to evacuate their homes carrying small children and packages of belongings “We decided to leave because we couldn’t stand the hunger any more" said Alberto Sanchez a carpenter from the northern Mejicanos neighborhood "The boys (guerrillas) warned us to walk along a narrow path because they said they had the area mined” The refugees crossed into ment-controlled territory at a govern- checkpoint Marti white-owne- d National Liberation Front’s offensive Fighting continued only 800 yards away and flared occasionally along the northern and eastern edges of the city where the rebels held their positions The battle was at a much lower level than earlier in the week “My house is badly damaged” S Africans jubilant BOKSBURG South Africa (AP) — Hundreds of jubilant mixed-rac- e people ended a year-ol- d stores boycott of Saturday declaring victory after the government said it would scrap the segregation law they were protesting Nearly 1000 residents of Reig-e- r Park a mixed-rac- e section of Boksburg crowded into taxis cars and seven banner-drape- d buses for a motorcade through the main business district Grateful white merchants greeted them with welcome signs and free champagne near Mejicanos which has been tom by a week of fighting following the Farabundo said Sanchez He said leftist reb- els had built tunnels and knocked out walls and barricades throughout the neighborhood During the morning hundreds of mourners filed past the caskets of six Jesuit priests and their two housekeepers who were killed Thursday in their residence at Jose Simeon Canas Central American University The Rev Jose Maria Tojeira head of the Society of Jesus in Central America said they will be buried in the university chapel “because that was their wish” as segregation law ends “This is our victory day” said Danny Casscl an organizer of the boycott “We have shown that we cannot be taken for granted" The motorcade ended its procession outside the civic center where in October 1983 the City Council voted to resegregate public facilities that had been opened to all races Control of the council had just been won by the Conservative Party which opposes casing of apartheid laws Under the Separate Amenities Act the council had the right to far-rig- whites-onl- y ht admis- sion policies at Boksburg’s main park library a sports complex and other facilities The move was widely criticized both by groups and the governing National Party yet the government made no move at the time to scrap the act On Thursday however Presi- dent FW de Klerk announced the act would be repealed as soon as possible after Parliament reconvenes in February In response the Save Boksburg Committee decided Friday night to call off the boycott it launched in the industrial city quoted the Interior Ministry as saving that 143 people were taken to police stations Nine were detained on criminal charges and 70 on misdemeanor charges Twenty-on- e people were fined Alexander Dubcek the Communist leader of the "Prague Spring” reforms in 1968 was de- tained during the march and released after three hours witnesses said Observers estimated the size of the crowd at 30000 people It was the largest demonstration August 1969 when crowds in downtown Prague a invasion year after a Soviet-le- d Dubcek’s reforms About 1000 people gathered on Wenceslas Square on Saturday afternoon and walked to Narodni nt : Street where the protesters wefe beaten the day before J In the street they lit candips and placed them and some ers on the sidewalk where stains could still be seen Journalism students and flow-sin- blooil-gathere- ce d ! Mar-crush- ed tin Mejstrika a student from Da- mu a higher school of acting denounced police brutality add demanded strikes of students |