Banner Graphic, Volume 21, Number 56, Greencastle, Putnam County, 7 November 1990 — Page 3

Japanese hostages fly home; Baker denies ultimatum to Iraq

By the Associated Press Seventy-four Japanese nationals flew to freedom today with Japan’s former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who secured their release during a five-day mission to Iraq. Secretary of State James A. Baker 111 denied reports he gave Iraq an ultimatum to get out of Kuwait in the next two weeks. Reports by Israel army radio and Stations in Luxembourg and Monte Carlo said Baker had asked his Chinese counterpart, Qian Quichen, to tell Saddam Hussein that U.S. forces would attack if he didn’t comply. Baker met with Qian in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday. THE ISRAELI REPORT cited .'unidentified diplomatic sources in Cairo. RTL Plus television, a station in Luxembourg, carried a similar story without citing a source. Radio Monte Carlo also reported a Baker ultimatum. Baker is on a weeklong mission sounding out allies on their willingness to go to war. He was in Turkey for talks today before continuing on to Moscow, Paris and

Universal Studios loses sets in engulfing blaze

: UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) The set where Warren Beatty flirted with Madonna in “Dick Tracy” and a city square from “Back to the Future Part II” were among the historic movie properties gutted in a fire at Universal Studios. The blaze, which burned mainly in the backlot Tuesday night, also damaged the studio tour’s earthquake ride and the King Kong attraction, which features a 37-foot mechanical gorilla that appears to shake tramloads of tourists. HUNDREDS OF firefighters backed by water-dropping helicopters put out the windblown flames about three hours after the fire broke out at the 420-acre studio, Hollywood’s biggest and longestrunning movie factory. Universal Studios is visited by millions of tourists each year. “It roared through the sets like a wildfire. It’s like a blowtorch when the wind pushes the fire up against these structures,” said Los Angeles County Battalion Chief A 1 Bennett. Most of the damage was to the sunbaked wooden facades along the route of the studio tour, the third most popular tourist attraction in the nation. “A LOT OF THE streets are pretty well destroyed and are going to have to be rebuilt,” Bennett said. Among outdoor sets destroyed were New York Street, where parts of “The Sting” were filmed, Brownstone Street, and Courthouse Square, where Michael J. Fox rode his jet-powered skateboard in “Back to the Future Part II.” The “Dick Tracy” set also was gutted, county fire inspector Jim Gandee said. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. One firefighter was slightly injured. FIRE CHIEF P. Michael Freeman estimated the damage in the millions. Studio management planned to tour the $630 million theme park today to assess the damage. Bension estimated 20 percent of the studio’s sets were lost. “Everything looked like charcoal briquets,” said Rusty Gilligan, who lives near the back lot. “It was just

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London. Asked to comment on the reports, Baker told reporters in Turkey: “The fact is I did not have such a conversation with the Chinese foreign minister.” QIAN INDICATED to Baker on Tuesday that Beijing would not stand in the way of any U.N. vote authorizing a military strike to force Iraq out of Kuwait, U.S. officials said. But Qian, who met for two hours with Baker in Cairo, did not explicitly approve sending troops into action. “We’ll have to wait and see,” Qian told reporters. China is one of the five UJN. Security Council members with veto power over resolutions. U.S. officials said President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt agreed during a meeting with Baker that “a partial solution” to the Persian Gulf crisis was unacceptable, that U.N. resolutions demanding an Iraqi withdrawal be implemented fully. THE OFFICIALS insisted,

a wreck.” The flames, fanned by winds gusting up to 50 mph, were doused as they crept up to two film vaults. The Universal film library, which includes “E.T. The Extra-Ter-restrial,” “Jaws” and “Twins,” is worth hundreds of millions. THE FILM LIBRARY is vital to acquisition talks between Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. and MCA Inc., Universal’s parent. Matsushita has been discussing a mul-tibillion-dollar buyout of MCA for several months. The studio nestled in the Hollywood Hills 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles features a seven-hour journey through the backlot and includes a guided tram tour that takes viewers into sets and a simulated earthquake. It was not immediately known if the attraction would be open for business today. THE KING KONG building was closed today, but damage to the building was not severe, said Ron Bension, president of Universal Studios-Hollywood. “There was talk that King Kong was in bad shape,” Bension said. “But Kong lives.” About 200 Universal employees and about 160 people at two restaurants on the studio grounds were evacuated after the fire broke out at 7:18 p.m. “We really had a fire storm. ... It’s a miracle that some firefighters didn’t get seriously hurt,” Freeman said. AT THE NEARBY Universal Hilton, where the Californian Republican party had its election night headquarters, traffic tie-ups caused by the fire prevented some GOP supporters from reaching the hotel. The fire is not the first to strike Universal. In 1987, a stage used for the 1959 epic “Spartacus” eiupted in flames. Damage was put at $2.5 million. * Universal Studios, founded by Carl Laemmle, opened in 1915. It did not gain recognition until the 19205, when it produced several now-classic silent films.

however, that Baker had not discussed a timetable with Mubarak for an attack. John Kelly, assistant secretary of state for the Near East, was to fly to Syria today for consultations. Iraq seized oil-rich Kuwait on Aug. 2 and then annexed it. The United Nations responded by mandating an embargo on trade with Iraq and ordering it responsible for war damages. The Japanese hostages who were freed today left Baghdad aboard a Japan Air Lines charter flight. Japanese Embassy officials said the

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plane would make at east one refueling stop en route to Tokyo, but would not say where. IRAQ HAD SAID 77 Japanese nationals were free to go, but only 74 wound up leaving with Nakasone. The embassy officials, requesting anonymity, said three Japanese businessmen who had been given permission to leave changed their minds at the last minute, and decided to stay on in Baghdad to finish their businesses. “They opted out,” one embassy official insisted. “The Iraqis did not change their mind.”

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EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS SEMINAR The Putnam County Chapter of the American Red Cross will present an Earthquake Preparedness Seminar on Wednesday, November 14,1990 at 7:00 p.m. at the Greencastle High School Auditorium in McAnally Center. Speakers will include: a city and county representative, Pete Mazzone, Geologist from DePauw University, Joyce HeekePutnam Co. Chapter Exec. Director, and H.M. Bud Lynch-the Coordinator for Disaster and Emergency Services Indiana University Dept, of Environmental Health & Safety. <§> AMERICAN RED CROSS Putnam County Chapter

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November 7,1990 THE BANNERGRAPHIC

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