| Show Afghans Begin Unilateral Truce Soviet-Back- ed By Andrew Rosenthal Associated Press Writer KABUL Afghanistan — The communist government began a unilateral cease-fir- e Thursday in hopes of ending the long war with Moslem guerrillas and enticing them to its program of amnesty and reconciliation Leaders of the main insurgent groups have publicly rejected the cease-fir- e Afghan leader Najibullah says it will last for six months if the guerrillas observe it and can be extended He did not say whether the estimated 115000 Soviet soldiers who help fight the insurgents were covand Kremlin ered by the cease-fir- e officials have not said specifically what their men will do The civil war began after a communist coup in April 1978 and Soviet troops arrived in December 1979 In his speech Wednesday night Najibullah said the Soviets would remain as long as the fighting continued and the insurgents received aid from the United States and other countries Kabul was on its customary war footing Wednesday in the hours be About 50 foreign journalists were flown in from Moscow on Wednesday for the occasion about half of them from nations outside the Soviet bloc Two dozen more are to arrive Thursday on a flight from New Delhi India and the visit is to last until Monday On Wednesday night Najibullah urged the nation on television: “Please unite to support the ceasefire If there is shelling and gunfire we cannot hear each other’s voices” Najibullah who has only one name said the government will pull all its forces back to permanent bases beginning Thursday fore the unilateral truce began at midnight Afghan soldiers lined the dusty streets of the capital which sprawls across a valley ringed by the peaks of the Hindu Kush They guarded the entrances to hotels and all other public and government buildings s All were Many were asarmed with Kalashnikov AK-4sault rifles and other Soviet-mad- e automatic weapons dun-color- teen-ager- 7 Two helicopto d camouflage-painte- ter gunships rose from the airport g flares as drop red the Aeroflot jetliner carrying the reporters made its spiral descent into the valley from 15000 feet missile-deflectin- Flares are dropped for all arriving aircraft in case insurgents fire at soldiers when the journalists were driven into town after being greeted by a dozen Afghan officials lined up on the tarmac Afghans on the sidewalks stared at the long cavalcade of buses and Soviet-mad- e Volga sedans them Despite government programs for sexual equality and establishment of No Soviet troops or military hardCounsuch as the ware could be seen at the airport cil ofgroups Women most Afghan women Ranks of missile-firin- g helicopters seem to follow a traditional secluded painted with the Afghan army star and subservient role in this Moslem within two circles are stationed nation Most people on the street there were men and many of the women See A-- 2 Column 1 Kabul’s streets were free of Soviet Vol 233 No 93 Reagan OK’d Mission to Iran 1 Los Angeles Times Service - : President ReaWASHINGTON gan last May 15 personally authorized a clandestine trip by US offi- cials to Tehran and approved a document outlining the “pillars and principles” of American policy toward Iran that was delivered to Iranian officials during that visit congressional sources said Wednesday Thirteen days later a US delega- - gime of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini apparently had been seeking such an assurance in exchange for help in winning the release of Ameritercan hostages held by rorists in Lebanon tion headed by Robert C McFarlane Reagan’s former national security adviser arrived secretly in Tehran with a planeload of weapons for Iran Also in the US delegation was Lt Col Oliver L North The 3V2-pa- single-space- d accounts where Iranian arms money was deposited Some money was forwarded that day to the Contras the sources said pro-Irani- On the same day that Reagan docu- ment that was delivered by the Americans declared that the United States recognized the Iranian revolution “as a fact” sources said The re au- thorized the U S delegation to travel to Iran according to congressional sources several key financial transactions were made in the Swiss bank Earlier according to sources a group of private investors led by Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi had put $157 million into the Swiss bank accounts as money to guarantee that the United States would be up-fro- nt paid for its arms It is believed by committee members that these investors expected to make a profit after the Iranians paid for the arms but instead suffered a loss of at least 38 million due to the diversion of money to the Contras the document last November from Vice Adm John M Poindexter then Reagan’s national security adviser Europeans Hole Up To Escape the Cold century’s coldest winters Wednesday deaths climbwith weather-relate- d ing beyond 180 and hundreds of thousands of people staying home from work At least 180 people were reported dead victims of the cold or accidents k wave of bliztriggered by a zards and record low temperatures across the Continent Many of the deaths came in avalanches caused by record snowfalls in the Soviet Union It snowed on the French Riviera and polar bears in Antwerp zoo in Belgium were taken indoors because of the intense cold A bear escaped from Frankfurt zoo by walking over a frozen moat Firefighters in Hamburg could home bum only watch a two-wee- two-fami- ly In Poland the official PAP news agency reported 27 people including six children have died in fires caused by the “intensive use of extra electric heaters and coal stoves” since the savage cold snap began Fresh heavy snowfalls and bitterly freezing temperatures afflicted most of the Continent from Siberia to the Atlantic causing food and fuel shortages in snowbound communities and immobilizing transport The storm spread west to Ireland for the first time blanketing the east coast with snow freezing household heating oil and marooning vehicles and livestock Temperatures fell to minus 6 e London weathermen said the A-- 2 Column 4 - retail sales soaring 44 percent higher in December than in November the second-best monthly increase in 20 years the Commerce Department said Wednesday Auto sales business shot up 162 o percent in December while sales grew 09 percent the agency said in its advance report on monthly retail sales For the year sales totaled $1445 trillion up 52 percent over 1985 non-aut- White House spokesman Larry Speakes said the reported $1263 billion in sales during the month “helps complete an economic picture of an extraordinarily strong December” and means the economy will keep growing in 1987 But private economists pointed to technicalities that inflated results "It’s a large increase but it way overstates the underlying trend in - lawmakers publican investigating including some of President Reagan's strongest supporters in Congress now say they believe the president should take full responsibility for his administration's mistakes apologize to the American public and appeal to the people to forgive him One of those legislators Rep Henry J Hyde of Illinois said he had suggested to David M Abshire the president’s new special counsel that Reagan should use his State of the Union message Jan 27 to make such the Iran-Contr- affair a statement Another staunch Reagan ally Sen Orrin G Hatch of Utah said he had made a similar recommendation to the White House although he would not say to whom he spoke Other Republican legislators said in interviews that the preside: t could limit the controversy and ret in public support f he came forw rd and explicitly accepted full blame for mistakes it selling arms to Iran and allowing proceeds to be diverted to the Nicaraguan rebels They include Sen Warre i B Rud-maof New Hampshire v ce chairman of the new Senate committee investigating the matter and Sen William S Cohen of Maine a member of both the special committee and the intelligence committee After Cohen said in a speech on the n —UPlReuter French cemetery worker fires up a way to melt the frozen ground for burials — a A on-Se- Car Buyers Drive Retail Sales To Second-Highe- st Jump in 20 Years Tribune Wire Services By David E Rosenbaum New York Times Writer WASHINGTON Many of the Re- a down because a fire hydrant was frozen Year-En- d A WASHINGTON spurt of auto purchases sent His Allies Want Him To Ask Forgiveness Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee first learned about Deaths Top 180 By United Press International Europe slid deeper into one of the Hatch Others Seek Apology From Reagan The first three months of the year are typically a slow period as consumers recover from holiday buying binges and postpone major purchases until spring But this January was expected to be even slower than usual because many buyers who normally would have purchased cars in 1987 did so in 1986 lured by widespread financing incentives from August to October and by the 1987 elimination of sales tax deductions sales Economists said a tax on a $12500 auto would total $625 producing a federal deduction that for the eversge person would cut such an auto’s price by 2 percent or consumer spending” said Lawrence Chimerine of Chase Econometrics in Bala Cynwyd Pa "It was influenced by the big bulge in auto sales and probably some household items” “As a result some of the spending was borrowed from the future so we’ll probably see a drop in spending this month” he said “It means the consumer still wants to get out of bed and spend” added Cary Leahey an economist at Brothers in New York “However it’s difficult to imagine consumer spending remaining quite as strong this year” People bought autos in December because they wanted to be able to deduct the state sales tax from their 1986 income tax The new tax law eliminates the deduction Domestic car sales by US automakers fell 384 percent in early January from a year ago as dealers began paying the price for December’s buying companies reported Wednesday deep-discou- Shear-son-Lehm- $250 December’s estimated sales of $1263 billion 44 percent over November’s totals followed two months of declines It was the second-biggejump since the Commerce Department started tracking retail sales in 1967 st tax-fuel- I Tax Official Says Plan Not Boon For Big Families Parker By Douglas L Gov Tribune Political Editor Norm Bangerter’s state in- come tax proposal raising the amount of personal exemptions and standard deduction that can be claimed isn’t intended to favor larger families a state tax commissioner said Wednesday The suggested are VI Tl increases nmA4 AANArniK J A amicu av gcucrau) conforming with federal tax reform and to adjust for the impact of inflation since the state income tax was last substantively revised in 1973 said Commissioner Roger Tew If the proposed exemption and deduction amounts were significantly —m See A-- 4 Column 1 Idaho Town Honored For Standing Up To Aryan Nations - The priest undersheriff and NEW YORK (UPI) mayor of Coeur d’Alene Idaho were in the Big Apple Wednesday to accept an award for the town’s efforts to combat bigotry by standing up to a group that preaches the gospel of racial and religious hatred Mayor Ray Stone who moonlights as the leader of a jazz band accepted the Raoul Wallenberg Civic Award at a City Hall ceremony to honor the town’s 22000 residents The honor was bestowed on the town by the Raoul Wallenberg Committee as part of its observance of the 42nd anniversary of the arrest and disappearance of Wallenburg a Swede who helped smuggle 100000 Jews d from Hungary during World War II d’Alene Coeur undersheriff Larry Broadbent and the Rev William Wassmuth accompanied Stone to New York to accept the award and a proclamation that Stone said would hang prominently in City Hall The three town leaders are credited with spearheading resistance to the Aryan Nations neo-Na- zi Nazi-occupie- i I J ? st See A-- 2 Column 1 See A-- 2 Column 2 Engineer Fails Drug Test Has Poor Driving Record WASHINGTON (UPI) - Traces of marijuana were found in the engineer and the brakeman of a Conrail locomotive that rolled through a stop signal and collided with an Amtrak passenger train killing 16 people federal officials said Wednesday At the same time Maryland authorities said Conrail engineer Ricky Gates has a history of highway traffic violations that caused the state to suspend his driver's license twice “The engineer and the brakeman of the Conrail movement both tested positive for presence of cannabinoids marijuana in both urine and plasma” the Federal Railroad Administration said in a brief statement It said there was no evidence that either man had been drinking “These findings will be considered with all other evidence developed during the investigation” of the Jan 4 accident 15 miles northeast of Baltimore that also injured 175 people the statement said The Coeur d'Alene Mayor Ray Stone left Rev William Wassmuth and Officer Larry Broadbent accept the Raoul Wallenberg award in New York Photo chilling scene that underscores the grave cold spell which has killed 180 Europeans i statement emphasized a consumer group See n prohibit employees from reporting to work impaired by alcohol or drugs and ban alcohol or drug use These regulations contested in federal court by the railworkers authorize drug and alcohol testing after acci A Passengers "Driving is driving” Since 1972 Gates 32 of Essex Md was convicted eight times for speeding once for negligent driving once for improper passing and once for making an illegal turn according to state Motor Vehicle Administration records Sixteen people were killed and 175 injured in the Jan 4 accident between howev- er that “the findings do not constitute an allegation of fault or determination of probable cause” The statement said the crew of the Amtrak passenger train including the engineer who was killed in the train wreck tested negative for both alcohol and drugs FRA officials did not say how soon before the accident Gates and brake-maEdward Cromwell had consumed marijuana “I’d rather not comment until I’ve seen the FRA report” said Gates’s lawyer Stephen Tully “The issue is what is the state of somebody on the day in question” An Amtrak spokesman noted that the toxicology test results "are up to the National Transportation Safety Board to evaluate and determine the contribution that they might have to the cause of this accident" New federal regulations dents or when there is a “reasonable suspicion of impairment” As for Gates's driving record he was arrested on Dec 5 a month before the train accident 15 miles northeast of Baltimore on charges of drunken driving and running a stop sign and a red traffic light Baltimore County police spokesman Jay Miller said He has not yet gone to trial on the charges “The obvious question is why the hell he was allowed to drive a train when he can’t even drive a car” said Ross Capon executive director of the National Association of Railroad A-- 2 Column 1 Inside The Tribune Tribune Telephone Numbers on A-- 2 Business Classified Comics Crossword Editorials Entertainment Foreign Intermountain Legislature Lifestyle National Obituaries Public Forum Sports Star Gazer Television Washington 3 C-- 5 8 0 0 A-- 4 C-- 4 A-1- 9 D-l-- 7 5 C-- l 5 Today’s Forecast Salt Lake City and vicinity — Occasional snow and cold Highs in the 20s lows in teens Details B-- 2 t |
