Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 362, Greencastle, Putnam County, 8 October 1985 — Page 2

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The Putnam County Banner Graphic, Tuesday, Oct. 8,1985

One hostage said killed on hijacked ship

By The Associated Press Palestinian hijackers who seized an Italian cruise ship with 413 people on board forced it to head for Beirut today, according to radio reports from Israel and Spain. The hijackers sought the release of 50 prisoners held in Israel and threatened to start killing hostages unless their demands were broadcast. Israel radio, quoting unidentified radio monitors, said one person may have been killed by the hijackers, but that the situation on the ship was not clear. The radio said a boat carrying a PLO negotiating team left Egypt headed for the ship. The Christian Voice of Lebanon radio in Beirut also reported that a radio exchange between the hijackers and Syrian maritime authorities indicated an unidentified passenger had been killed. Israel radio said the ship was heading northeast in the Mediterranean from the Egyptian coast, apparently toward Beirut. A maritime radio Nation in San Sebastian, Spain, also reported that the captain of the cruise ship Achille Lauro told a nearby warship it was heading for Beirut. Italian news agencies quoted the Italian Foreign Ministry as saying the hijackers were armed and had a large supply of explosives. Port Said officials said the hijackers’ leader threatened to blow up the ship if attacked. A Palestinian terror squad leader named Samir al-Kountar headed the list of prisoners the hijackers said were being held in Israel. It demanded that the prisoners be freed in exchange for the ship and passengers, the officials reported. Israeli officials said al-Kountar was captured after a 1979 raid on the Israeli coast in which two Israeli hostages, a man and his 5-year-old daughter, were killed. The man’s widow said in Israel that the publicity arising from the raid made alKountar a symbol and that was why the hijackers sought his release. In Tunis, Tunisia, the Palestine Liberation Organization today “vigorously condemned and denounced” the hijacking, and demanded that the hostages be freed. The owners of the ship said there were

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Arafat wants U.S. guarantees LOS ANGELES (AP) Yasser Arafat said Monday he may withdraw from current Mideast peace efforts unless the Reagan administration guarantees it will “stop trying to assassinate me,” according to a published report. In an interview published in Tuesday’s editions of the Los Angeles Times, the Palestine Liberation Organization chairman said the United States was to blame for the Israeli raid against his headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, on Oct. 1. During an hourlong interview in a closely guarded villa in Tunis, Arafat said the peace process can proceed only if he receives “guarantees from the president of the United States ... that the attempt to assassinate me” won’t be repeated. 413 people aboard, but did not have a list of the nationalities. There were conflicting reports about the number of passengers on board. Flavio DeLuca, director of the shipping company that owns the vessel, told NBC’s “Today” show that a full crew of 350 was on board and “we have on board only 62 passengers.” He said about 28 of them were Americans. The ship’s owners earlier had said 78 Americans were passengers, and the Italian Foreign Ministry had said 72 Americans were among the 600 passengers who left the ship in Alexandria, Egypt before it was hijacked on Monday. Italy’s state-run radio reported Italian warships and reconnaissance planes took off from Sicily and several ships were diverted from the lonian Sea off the southern tip of Italy to head for the Egyptian coastal area. There was no official confirmation of the report.

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Early punch from winter

By BERNARDHUNT Associated Press Writer A winter-like storm packing wind gusts of up to 81 mph surged out of the Northwest and left parts of nine states in the grip of a big chill today that pushed the mercury to record lows, closed the entrances to Yellowstone National Park with heavy snow and threatened harvests. Up to 18 inches of snow blanketed parts of Montana, Utah, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho and the mountains of eastern Oregon. Bitter cold wind made it feel like 20 degrees below zero in some areas. “Temperatures will continue to drop in many areas, setting new records for the next couple of days,” the National Weather Service said Monday. The weather service said 18 inches of snow was on the ground early today near Utah’s Elizabeth Mountain and Mirror Lake. More snow was forecast today for much of the nine-state area blasted by storm. “It’s not unusual to get snow this early in Montana,” said Robert Doherty of the weather service “But it is unusual to have a storm this big this early.” In Great Falls, Mont., a low of 15 degrees

world

early today broke a record of 18 set in 1966, and Billings’ 18 degrees bettered an 18-year-old mark by 10 degrees. Another record was set in Glacier Park, Mont., where the temperature reached 20 degrees, 11 degrees lower than the 1961 mark. The unseasonable cold reached as far south as Florida where the temperature dived to 41 degrees in Tallahassee, breaking by 3 degrees a record set in 1932. North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Kent Jones said the storm could threaten the wheat and sunflower harvests. Snow can bend or break the plants, and farm machinery will not be able to pick them up, he said. Moisture also lessens crop quality.

Atlantis returns from secret flight

c. 1985 N.Y. Times News Service EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. Under crisp blue skies, a pale crescent moon, and with only a handful of spectators as witness, the space shuttle Atlantis landed safely here Monday morning after its maiden voyage. The four-day mission, operated under strict secrecy rules imposed by the Department of Defense, ended with military precision. The shuttle touched down just after 10 a m. At the moment it came to a full stop, at 10:01 and 14 seconds, a recording of “The Star Spangled Banner” began playing over loud speakers that are usually dominated by communications with the astronauts. Fewer than a dozen reporters and about two dozen employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration were on hand for the landing, an event that usually draws hundreds of spectators. The military had given just 24 hours’ notice of when the secret mission was to end and had barred members of the public from watching. “It’s great to bring another orbiter back to Edwards Air Force Base,” said the mission commander, Col. Karol J. Bobko of the Air Force. “1 can’t say anything about the mission. Atlantis performed superbly.” Bobko is the only astronaut to have flown on three shuttles, the Atlantis, the Discovery, and the Challenger. The nation’s fleet, now complete with the $1.2 billion Atlantis, also includes the Columbia. It was the 21st space shuttle mission

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In Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park officials closed several entrances Monday because of heavy snowfall. Winds of 60 mph were recorded Monday in Lexington, Neb. and reached 75 mph in Coffeyville, Kansas. Strong winds also toppled a light pole at the Wichita, Kan., airport, and a gust of 81 mph was recorded in Rawlins, Wyo. In Minnesota, with four inches of snow blanketing northwestern parts of the state, the State Patrol said many cars slid into a ditch in Thief River Falls. “It’s the first snow of the year, and people have to change their driving habits, but I don’t think anyone really has,” said trooper Mark Baker. “It’s too early.”

and the second devoted entirely to the military. NASA officials would not divulge the exact route of the shuttle over the southern California coast. Residents over much of the region, however, heard the two usual sonic booms produced by the shuttle as it broke the sound barrier. The $1.2 billion shuttle was “in excellent condition,” said the ground operations manager, Fritz Widick. His status report said that “damage from Atlantis’s first flight and landing appears to have been mainly confined to” a three- by five-inch gash in a flap on the left wing. But he said, “Tile damage appears to have been minimal.” Atlantis’s mission began last Thursday when it roared off the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., at 11:15 a m., only minutes after the exact launching time was made public. Throughout the four-day flight, officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration followed the Pentagon’s secrecy rules, making public no information about payloads, mission objectives or flight duration. Despite the secrecy surrounding the Atlantis flight, the Monday landing time became public before the official NASA announcement. Early Sunday morning radio stations in the Los Angeles area, near Edwards Air Force Base, began to say the Atlantis would touch down on Monday.

55 perish in flooding

PONCE, Puerto Rico (AP) Workers dug through the mud and debris of devastated shantytowns early today, seeking more victims of the mudslides and floods that killed at least 55 people and left entire towns cut off. A major storm passed over the island Monday, dumping as much as seven inches of rain in some places within a 10hour period. Most major highways were flooded, dozens of bridges were washed out, thousands of people were left homeless and telephone service was disrupted. There were reports that entire families had died Gov. Rafael Hernandez Colon declared a state of emergency Monday night and activated the National Guard across the Caribbean island.

With entertainer Tiny Tim (right) and wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan (left) on hand, professional wrestler Uncle Elmer and bride-to-be, Joyce Staszko pose during a TV taping of their wedding at the Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The ceremony is to be a part of "Saturday Night's Main Event" on NBC. (AP Wirephoto).

Catholics protesting 'Hail Mary' NEW YORK (AP) - Catholics among the several thousand demonstrators at the U.S. premier of a movie denounced by Pope John Paul II for its depiction of the Virgin Mary as a gas station attendant knelt in prayer and sprinkled holy water on those arriving for the showing. The film, “Hail Mary” by French director Jean-Luc Godard, opened to similar protests in Europe earlier this year. The demonstrators outside Lincoln Center Monday evening clutched rosary beads, held lighted candles, recited the “Hail Mary” and sang its musical version, “Ave Maria.” “I think it’s sinful,” said Doris Mignone, who stood on a balcony overlooking the entrance to Alice Tully Hall, where the New York Film Festival is being held, and sprinkled holy water on theater goers. “Mocking religious beliefs is not culture, and don’t spend my tax dollar to support it,” she said, referring to public funds used in the development of Lincoln Center and used to support some of its programs. In Godard’s film, Mary is an avid basketball player who works at a gas station. Joseph is a dreamy and frustrated cabdriver. Gabriel an unshaven, unsavory-looking angel who travels by jet. Mary, played by Myriem Roussell, is nude in several scenes, but there is no sex. Protesters at the premier ranged from the Rev. Peter Finn, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, to members of the Society of St. Pius X, a group loyal to French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who opposes liberal reforms imposed in the mid 1960 s by the second Vatican Council. “They wouldn’t have this film here if it was insulting another religion,” said Joe Dorso, a high school guidance counselor. “You haven’t even seen the film. How do you know it’s bad?” responded a moviegoer standing on the other side of police barricades. “The holy father said it’s blasphemy. That’s enough for us,” Dorso replied. Some protesters formed a semicircle around the front door of the theater and shouted, “Shame!” as movie-goers walked down a narrow corridor police opened for them in the crowd. Shortly after the film began, members of the crowd knelt and recited the “Hail Mary.” “Don’t get down to their level,” one elderly nun told the protesters. “Pray.”

“It is obvious that a state of emergency exists and there is cause for extreme concern and necessity to protect life and property,” said Hernandez Colon. The governor flew by helicopter to the Caribbean coastal city of Ponce and met with relatives at the southern regional medical center. The bodies of 47 victims were there, and police said at least eight more people had died in floods and mudslides. Police spokesman Luis Martinez said at least 15 people died beneath mud and debris in the Mameyes neighborhood, one of several hillside communities of wood-and-tin shacks, some built on stilts, in this industrial city of about 190,000 people. He said as many as 400 homes in Mameyes, which is less than a square mile in size, were buried by the mudslide.