News Currents

WAR IN THE GULF Iran's ambassador to the UN said he assured Secretary-General Javier P'erez de Cu'ellar Jan. 28 that Iran would hold Iraqi planes and pilots who had flown to Iran until the war was over. The Pentagon has said more than 80 of the best Iraqi warplanes and civilian aircraft have been taken to Iran and that they would be shot down if they attempt to return to Iraq.... The Pentagon said Jan. 28 that the flow of crude oil being released into the Persian Gulf from a loading terminal in Kuwait had slowed to a trickle.... Iraqi President Saddam Hussein refused to rule out the use of weapons of mass destruction, telling Cable News Network reporter Peter Arnett Jan. 28 that Iraqi Scud missiles can carry nuclear, chemical, or germ warheads.... Late Jan. 28, Iraqi Scuds meant for Isralies fell on West Bank Arab communities, but no one was hurt. Saddam links his cause to the plight of Palestinians in the occupied territories.... Israeli novelist and peace activist Amos Oz condemned protesters Jan. 28 who have taken to the streets of Europe and the United States to oppose the West's role in the Gulf war. He said the protests ignored the need to halt Iraqi aggression.

UNITED STATES

The US and the Soviet Union agreed Jan. 28 to delay their February Moscow summit because of the Gulf war and unresolved problems with a strategic arms reduction treaty [story, Page 9].... President Bush Jan. 28 in a speech to Christian broadcasters said: ``The war in the Gulf is not a Christian war or a Jewish war or a Muslim war. It is a just war, and it is a war in which good will prevail....'' A federal judge Jan. 28 refused to dismiss drug charges against Manuel Noriega, saying Noriega's right to a fair trial had not been compromised by the TV broadcast of taped prison conversations between Noriega and his defense team.... A majority of the UN Security Council rebuffed calls Jan. 28 from several Arab nations wanting an open debate on the Gulf war but decided to continue informal consultations behind closed doors.... The last city in Louisiana with separately owned and competing daily newspapers will become a single-paper town on March 30 when the Shreveport Journal shuts down, its owner announced Jan. 28.... The US Army Jan. 28 activated 32 more reserve and National Guard units, all of them medical, from 20 states to support the war in the Persian Gulf.

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Mexican, US, and Canadian officials have agreed that Canada should take part in talks for a three-way North American free trade pact, diplomats and business leaders said in Mexico City Jan. 28.... Latin American and Caribbean nations agreed in Caracas Jan. 28 to set up a system to help protect oil-importing countries in the region from wild swings in oil prices.... Candidates from parties that formerly supported Manuel Noriega were winning five out of nine legislative seats being contested in the first elections in Panama since the strongman was deposed, preliminary results showed Jan. 28.