From: sehari@iastate.edu (Babak Sehari)
Subject: Headline news about Iran, Dec 17th 1992.
Originator: sehari@class1.iastate.edu
Organization: Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa.
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 23:45:08 GMT

---
     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?1


Matched keyword: AFGHANISTAN...

=START=   XMT: 14:43 Wed Dec 16  EXP: 15:00 Thu Dec 17 

AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE PRESIDENT 

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (DEC. 16) UPI - Opponents of interim Afghan President
Burhanuddin Rabbani called for his resignation Wednesday, asking him to quit
immediately and transfer power to Vice President Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi,
according to the Afghan News Agency. 

The agency, which is affiliated with the opposition, said a group of prominent
religious scholars and guerrilla commanders have asked Rabbani to ''relinquish
the post of president to Vice President Mohammadi.'' 

The group demanded Rabbani's ouster after a three-day meeting outside Kabul,
but supported his moves for convening a consultative council to form a future
administrative arrangement for Afghanistan. 

However, they asked Rabbani to dissociate himself from the council and let the
vice president handle it. 

The news agency, run by Rabbani's arch-rival Hekmatyar, said seven of the nine
main former rebel groups also supported these demands. 
Press <RETURN> or <S>croll?


The seven parties are also meeting at Pule Charkhi, about 9 miles from Kabul,
and continued their deliberations Wednesday for the second consecutive day. 

The agency claimed that several prominent leaders, including Hekmatyar, Maulavi
Yunus Khalis, Syed Ahmad Gailani and Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, also attended the
meeting. 

All head their own guerrilla groups. Khalis and Gailani are candidates for the
post of president, while Mojaddedi is a former president who headed the first
mujahideen government after the collapse of the communist regime in April. 

The agency said the sides determined it was important to have a consultative
council for a strong government in the future. They also felt that they could
not trust Rabbani with the election of the representatives to the council. 

The agency claimed that Rabbani had bribed the delegates to elect people of his
liking. ''The religious scholars and commanders, as well as seven of the nine
mujahideen parties, believe that Rabbani wants to ensure his re-election, ''
the Afghan News Agency reported. 

It said the religious scholars and guerrilla commanders ''also proposed forming
supervisory committees to receive complaints of manipulations in the election
of the members to the consultative council.'' 

They said it was necessary for Rabbani to quit immediately to ensure fair
elections to the consultative council. ''To avoid a political vacuum after
Rabbani's resignation, we propose the power be transfered to Vice President
Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi.'' 



=END= 

     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?2


Matched keyword: AFGHANISTAN...

=START=   XMT: 15:08 Wed Dec 16  EXP: 15:00 Thu Dec 17 

NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED 

AIVADZH (DEC. 16) IPS/MOSCOW TIMES - From the Russian-manned watchtowers facing
the mountains of Afghanistan, the Tajik refugees, standing and sitting on their
rafts and clutching the few possessions they could carry, are a pitiful sight. 

In the last two weeks, about 35,000 Tajik refugees accompanied by defeated
fighters, driven from their homes by vicious clan bloodshed, have forged a
desperate exodus across the River Oxus border with Afghanistan under the
watchful eyes of Russian conscript troops. 

The refugees, supporters of the Islamic government overthrown last week, have
ferried themselves from island to island on the river in makeshift rafts of
wood planks and empty oil barrels to reach a safe haven in Afghanistan under
cover of night. 

Harried by ill-disciplined fighters of the newly reinstalled pro-Communist
government, the Tajik refugees are victims, not so much of post-Soviet
instability as the creeping influence of Afghan style clan warfare. 

Press <RETURN> or <S>croll?

Their landlocked republic, perched high on the edge of the Pamir Mountains
between China, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, has become the scene of Central
Asia's own ethnic cleansing. 

Tajikistan is effectively lawless, run by disorganized gangs of supporters of
the country's former communist rulers, who returned to power last week after
being ousted in September by alleged Islamic fundamentalists. 

It is hardly a level battleground, with the latest winners having tanks and
armored personnel carriers against the small arms of their opponents. 

A century ago the land sweeping in a crescent from the Caucasus, via the
Caspian Sea to the Chinese border, was a testing ground between Britain and
Russia for control of Asia. 

Today, hampered by political chaos, clan feuding and post-Soviet poverty, it
has been transformed into an arc of instability threatening to engulf much of
the region. 

Although the refugees and their armed menfolk are accused of being Islamic
fundamentalists by their fellow countrymen, their real crime is to hail from a
specific region, Garm, in the north of the republic. It has historically been
at odds with the ruling Tajik group, the Kulyabi, who comprise the bulk of the
new government's supporters. 

Russian officers manning the flimsy border posts between Tajikistan and
Afghanistan say up to 1,000 women and children have already died of cold or
malnourishment during their flight from their homes. 

Russia's troops have played an ambiguous role, on the one hand supplying
information and sometimes arms to the pro-communist faction while on the other
hand officially remaining neutral and showing what goodwill they can to the
hungry refugees. 

One of those refugees, Maksuda Rakhmanov, peered through the barbed wire of a
grubby frontier post, ringed by a cluster of scavenging dogs, tents and holes
in the ground that serve as homes. 

A mother of six, she pleaded for help. 

"People are being transferred to Afghanistan, but we have nothing to eat," she
said. "A normal Tajik family has more than 12 people. We have sent people to
try to get to our village for food but they have not returned." 

Villages inhabited by the Garm Tajiks have been torched by mobs of Kulyabi.
Homes of concrete and mud block houses have been reduced to rubble. The
refugees have infiltrated the electric border fences and have swum or sailed
across the Oxus River. 

Officials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, estimated last
week that 5,000 refugees were crossing the border daily. 

Akhmazhan Alimov, a wily former KGB colonel who now leads the region's Kulyabi
fighters, said that forcing their fellow Tajiks to leave the country was the
only solution. 

"Their condition is their own problem. When they moved here to live in our
region they had nothing. That's how they should leave us, that's how it will be
done," said the colonel. He promised that should any want to return north to
Garm, he would offer them safe passage. Few have accepted his offer. 

In an area of bewildering antagonisms that often cross religious or ideological
lines, ironies abound. 

Perhaps the most bizarre outcome of the conflict is that refugees are fleeing
to rather than from Afghanistan. 

In the last decade, the mountainous neighboring nation became the world's
largest producer of refugees as about five million Afghans fled to Pakistan and
Iran to escape the war backed by the Soviet Union. 



=END= 

     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?3


Matched keyword: AFGHANISTAN...

=START=   XMT: 15:57 Wed Dec 16  EXP: 16:00 Thu Dec 17 

FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION 

WASHINGTON (DEC. 16) IPS - An agreement on an $18 billion replenishment for the
International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank affiliate which
provides credits to the world's poorest nations, was announced here by the Bank
today. 

The tenth IDA replenishment, whose three-year term takes effect next July 1,
was finalized at a meeting of finance officials from 34 donor nations in Bern,
Switzerland, according to the Bank which released a statement here. 

In addition, the Bank said IDA will apply about five billion dollars of its own
funds -- derived from repayments by borrowers -- to bring the total to $22
billion in lendable IDA resources between mid-1993 and mid-1996. 

Compared to the 1990-93 IDA-9 replenishment of $15.5 billion, the $18 billion
committed by donors to IDA-10 represents a sizable nominal increase. But in
real terms, the new sum is roughly the same as IDA-9, despite higher-than-ever
demand for IDA resources due to the eligibility of more countries to receive
IDA highly concessional credits. 
Press <RETURN> or <S>croll?


The Bank's managing director Ernest Stern, who chaired the Bern meeting, noted
that IDA will be "faced with a significant number of new claimants," including
some of the Central Asian republics of the Former Soviet Union, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Afghanistan and Albania, among others. 

In addition, the Bank did not get an "Earth Increment" from donors -- an
additional five billion dollars -- which it had hoped to add to IDA-10 to help
poor countries defray the costs of complying with commitments to protect the
environment they made during the "Earth Summit" last June in Rio de Janeiro. 

Their failure to get the "Earth Increment" was hailed by at least one
environmental group here, the Environmental Defense Fund, which has argued that
the Bank's environmental record should disqualify it from receiving money to
help poor nations meet their Rio pledges. 

IDA is the largest source of development capital to the world's poorest
countries -- those with per capita incomes of less than $740 a year. 

In announcing today's accord, Stern said donors had reached consensus that
poverty reduction, structural adjustment, and environmental protection --
"remained central to the challenge of raising living standards in the poorest
countries." 

The donors stressed that IDA should concentrate its funding on "the poorest and
least credit-worthy countries even more than in the past", according to the
statement. 

This will likely mean a relative reduction in IDA credits for China and other
countries close to the $740 per capita income cut-off. 

In addition, they called for increased levels of lending for social spending,
and particularly for family planning, social services and education for women
and girls. 

While declining to approve the "Earth Increment," the statement said donors
"recognize the additional costs" involved in integrating "environmental
sustainability into the development programmes" supported by IDA. "It will be
important to take full account of these costs in future replenishments," it
said. 

In the meantime, donors said they were "particularly concerned" that all
IDA-beneficiary governments "carry out meaningful consultations with affected
groups and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs)" in implementing
projects. 

This was taken as a reference to the unhappiness of many IDA donors with the
Bank's decision earlier this fall to press ahead with a controversial dam
project in the Narmada Valley in India. 

The donors and an independence commission hired by the Bank to assess the
Narmada project criticized the decision because they found that the Bank had
violated its own policies on environmental protection and indigenous peoples. 

After the Bank's decision to proceed, some NGOs said it proved the Bank could
not be trusted to fulfill its own commitments to protect the environment and
vowed to oppose all IDA-10 contributions when they were submitted to their
national legislatures. 

Given their power within the U.S. congress, the threat by environmental NGOs
here to lobby against IDA-10 could pose a problem in securing passage of
Washington's contribution of about $3.6 billion, say some legislative aides
here. 

The Bank said donors also urged more attention to improving the quality of
projects by encouraging greater participation by NGOs and grassroots groups in
their design and implementation. 

That was taken as a reference to the findings of the so-called Wapenhans report
-- an internal Bank document which found recently that more than 30 percent of
Bank projects had major problems, a substantially higher percentage than the 11
percent found in a 1981 assessment. 

Some of the environmental NGOs, such as the Environmental Defense Fund which
opposed the Narmada projects, have cited the Wapenhans report as further
evidence that the Bank does not warrant further support from donor governments.



=END= 

     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?4


Matched keyword: IRAN...

=START=   XMT: 16:06 Wed Dec 16  EXP: 16:00 Thu Dec 17 

WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES 

NEW YORK (DEC. 16) UPI - 
                      U.S.Dollar       currency 
                      Equivalent    per U.S.Dollar 
                     Wed     Tue     Wed     Tue 
 Egypt pound         .3013   .3013  3.3195  3.3195 
 Iran rial           .0142   .0142   70.30   70.30 
 Iraq dinar         2.6504  2.6504  0.3773  0.3773 
 Israel shekel       .3724   .3724  2.6850  2.6850 
 Jordan dinar       1.4832  1.4832  0.6742  0.6742 
 Kuwait dinar       3.3279  3.3279  0.3005  0.3005 
 Lebanon pnd       .000538 .000538 1858.00 1858.00 
 Saudi riyal         .2665   .2665  3.7517  3.7520 
 UAE dirham          .2721   .2721  3.6750  3.6750 
 c-Commercial; f-Financial; z-Floating; x-N. Y. Money Market. 
 Interbank Buyers Rates 
 Source: Bloomberg Financial Markets and other sources. 


Press <RETURN> or <S>croll?


=END= 

     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?5


Matched keyword: IRAN...

=START=   XMT: 12:32 Wed Dec 16  EXP: 12:00 Thu Dec 17 

IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL 

ATHENS, GREECE (DEC. 16) UPI - Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
said Wednesday that women in the West were being exploited economically and
sexually, and invited them ''to chastity, to Hejab,'' or the Islamic veil,
Tehran radio said. 

Khamenei was speaking to a hall full of Iranian women wearing the chador - a
head-to-toe covering - assembled on the occasion of the birth anniversary of
Fatima Zahra, a Muslim woman saint. 

A Tehran radio broadcast monitored in Athens said the Iranian cleric lashed out
at what he described as the exploitation of women in the West. 

''Not only in the workplace and factories, but also in art and literature,
women have been wronged,'' he said. This was ''reflected in art works, novels,
films and paintings,'' the Iranian leader said. 

He blasted Western societies for ''treating women as consumers, playthings for
men and cheap labor.'' In Western societies, ''women are considered objects of
Press <RETURN> or <S>croll?

pleasure for men...(and) they call this womens' freedom,'' he said. 

''I invite women to modesty, to chastity, to Hejab,'' Khamenei said. Iranian
women who strictly followed the rules of Hajab were a model for others, he
said. 

Islam agreed with the concept of working women, provided their work ''does not
clash with their basic and most important profession, which is bringing up
children'' and keeping the family together, the ayatollah said. 

Women should not fall prey to those who enticed them into wearing make-up and
making themselves look attractive. He invited women to ''keep their dignity''
by ''not making themselves attractive to strange men, so that their eyes can
take pleasure.'' 

Iran has forced women to wear the veil since the 1979 revolution that brought
the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power. Islamic revolutionary guards
have since beaten women for breaking the rules regarding veiling, and have
carted hundreds to prison. 

Tuesday, Khamenei ordered that 76 women held in Iranian prisons should be
pardoned or have their prison terms reduced, the official Islamic Republic News
Agency said. 

The women were earlier convicted by Islamic revolutionary courts, the agency
said. It did not specify the types of offenses for which they were jailed. 



=END= 

     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?6


Matched keyword: IRAN...

=START=   XMT: 16:03 Wed Dec 16  EXP: 16:00 Thu Dec 17 

WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES 

NEW YORK (DEC. 16) UPI - Foreign Exchange interbank buyer rates and foreign
currency equivalents, provided by Bloomberg Financial Markets and other
sources. Retail transactions provide fewer units of foreign currency per
dollar. 


                      U.S.Dollar       currency 
                      Equivalent    per U.S.Dollar 
                     Wed     Tue     Wed     Tue 
 Argntn peso        1.0101  1.0101  0.9900  0.9900 
 Australia dlr       .6890   .6889  1.4514  1.4516 
 Austria schill      .0914   .0905 10.9350 11.0500 
 Belgium franc-c     .0313   .0310   31.99   32.27 
 Brazil cruzado    .000094 .000095 10631.0 10528.0 
 Britain pound      1.5748  1.5680   .6350   .6378 
 Britain 1-mo       1.5695  1.5626   .6371   .6400 
 Britain 3-mo       1.5608  1.5544   .6407   .6433 
 Britain 6-mo       1.5493  1.5438   .6455   .6478 
Press <RETURN> or <S>croll?

 Canada dollar       .7833   .7817  1.2767  1.2792 
 Canada 1-mo         .7804   .7787  1.2814  1.2842 
 Canada 3-mo         .7751   .7739  1.2901  1.2922 
 Canada 6-mo         .7682   .7676  1.3017  1.3027 
 Chile peso-f      .002717 .002709  368.03  369.15 
 China yuan          .1712   .1712  5.8400  5.8400 
 Colombia peso     .001636 .001636  611.15  611.15 
 Denmark krne        .1668   .1647  5.9954  6.0700 
 Ecudr sucre-z     .000551 .000551 1814.03 1814.03 
 Egypt pound         .3013   .3013  3.3195  3.3195 
 Finlnd mrkka        .1955   .1942  5.1150  5.1500 
 France franc        .1883   .1867  5.3109  5.3565 
 France 1-mo         .1868   .1852  5.3539  5.3995 
 France 3-mo         .1843   .1830  5.4249  5.4645 
 France 6-mo         .1815   .1803  5.5099  5.5465 
 Greece drach      .004838 .004808  206.68  208.00 
 Hollnd guildr       .5711   .5673  1.7511  1.7626 
 HongKong dlr        .1291   .1292  7.7454  7.7410 
 India rupee         .0345   .0346   29.02   29.89 
 Indo'sa rupia     .000484 .000484 2064.00 2064.00 
 Iran rial           .0142   .0142   70.30   70.30 
 Iraq dinar         2.6504  2.6504  0.3773  0.3773 
 Ireland punt       1.7008  1.6855  0.5880  0.5933 
 Israel shekel       .3724   .3724  2.6850  2.6850 
 Italy lira        .000715 .000713 1398.00 1402.00 
 Japan yen         .008137 .008065  122.90  124.00 
 Japan 1-mo        .008135 .008063  122.93  124.03 
 Japan 3-mo        .008132 .008061  122.97  124.05 
 Japan 6-mo        .008135 .008063  122.92  124.02 
 Jordan dinar       1.4832  1.4832  0.6742  0.6742 
 Kuwait dinar       3.3279  3.3279  0.3005  0.3005 
 Lebanon pnd       .000538 .000538 1858.00 1858.00 
 Mexico peso-z     .000321 .000321 3114.00 3114.00 
 N.Zealand dlr       .5197   .5145  1.9242  1.9436 
 Norway krne         .1497   .1460  6.6800  6.8500 
 Pakistn rupee       .0391   .0391   25.60   25.60 
 Peru (new sol)      .6369   .6329  1.5700  1.5800 
 P'pnes peso-z       .0400   .0398   25.03   25.10 
 Portugl escud     .007172 .007117  139.44  140.50 
 Saudi riyal         .2665   .2665  3.7517  3.7520 
 Singapore dlr       .6094   .6096  1.6409  1.6405 
 S.Africa rand       .3332   .3320  3.0010  3.0125 
 S.Korea won       .001268 .001264  788.70  791.10 
 Spain peseta      .008997 .008929  111.15  112.00 
 Sweden krona        .1467   .1471  6.8159  6.8000 
 Switzrl franc       .7151   .7092  1.3985  1.4100 
 Switzrl 1-mo        .7131   .7073  1.4024  1.4138 
 Switzrl 3-mo        .7099   .7042  1.4087  1.4201 
 Switzrl 6-mo        .7062   .7006  1.4161  1.4274 
 Taiwan dollar       .0393   .0393   25.46   25.46 
 Turkey lira       .000122 .000122 8224.00 8224.00 
 UAE dirham          .2721   .2721  3.6750  3.6750 
 Urug'y peso-z     .000281 .000281 3556.50 3556.50 
 Venez bolivr-z      .0129   .0127   77.57   78.70 
 Germany mark        .6421   .6380  1.5575  1.5675 
 Germany 1-mo        .6386   .6346  1.5659  1.5759 
 Germany 3-mo        .6329   .6291  1.5800  1.5896 
 Germany 6-mo        .6260   .6223  1.5974  1.6069 
 Yugosl dinar      .005000 .005000  200.00  200.00 
 c-Commercial; f-Financial; z-Floating; x-N. Y. Money Market. 
 Interbank Buyers Rates 
 Source: Bloomberg Financial Markets and other sources. 



=END= 

     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?7


Matched keyword: IRAN...

=START=   XMT: 17:33 Wed Dec 16  EXP: 17:00 Thu Dec 17 

DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN POLICY 

MOSCOW (Dec. 16) IPS - The shocking defeat of Russia's foremost reformer Yegor
Gaidar has not only put a question mark over the pace of economic change but
also left the country standing at the crossroads regarding its foreign
policies. 

Russian President Boris Yeltsin's itinerary this week gives a glimpse of the
domestic and external challenges facing him. German Chancellor Helmut Kohl
arrived here for talks on today while a scheduled visit to China awaits him on
Dec. 17. 

Kohl arrived amid an uncertain transition from the policies of radical economic
reform favored by the West to the gradualistic approach likely to be adopted by
new Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. 

The German leader has previously advocated leniency in negotiations between the
Paris Club of Western creditors and Russia. The country is trying to phase out
repayment of the $70 billion debt burden it inherited from the former Soviet
Union. 
Press <RETURN> or <S>croll?


His talks with Yeltsin will provide the first tangible reaction by a Western
leader to Gaidar's ousting on Monday and could even result in the departure of
reformist ministers like Alexander Shokhin and Pyotr Aven who were feted in the
West. 

Discontent ran high in the concluded Congress of Peoples' Deputies because of
the Gaidar team's Western orientation. Several deputies questioned the policies
which they said failed to yield the massive sums of aid frequently touted and
instead turned Russia into an international pauper. 

The economic programs were also held responsible for what conservative deputies
described as the surrender of national interests abroad. 

They criticized this year's agreement with the United States on strategic
weapons cuts which were claimed to have given undue concessions. Russian
support for international sanctions against Serbia also came under fire. 

Consolidation of Russia's flagging industrial production, much of which is
invested in military projects, is seen as an option to stimulate growth. Arms
sales are also seen as a way to earn precious foreign exchange. Both these
measures will give Moscow room for independent manoeuvre in its global
policies, the deputies said. 

Arms production has fallen by 68 percent this year and sales have dropped
drastically from last year's level of $7.8 billion. However, arms worth almost
five billion dollars were given to allies of the former Soviet Union on easy
terms with little hope for future payment. 

Officials say Russia will this year sell weapons valued at over three billion
dollars -- mainly to India, China and Iran. 

The U.S. has criticized Moscow's sales of Sukhoi-27 fighter aircraft to China
but the Russian government has overcome its hesitation and is displaying more
muscle than it did earlier this year when it seemed intent on curbing all arms
supplies. 

Russian officials say the Western objections highlight commercial rather than
strategic rivalry, since there are matching sales of weapons to Taiwan and
Saudi Arabia, for instance. 

Yeltsin's visit to China will underscore the search for an alternative model to
excessive reliance on the West with bilateral trade worth over five billion
dollars heralding a new political pact and deals in the offing for further
supplies of sophisticated Russian weapons. 

The two countries have shown readiness to dispense with decades of ideological
rivalry and territorial disputes in favor of a pragmatic relationship which
will be mutually beneficial. 

A number of Russian policy experts and industry managers have expressed
admiration for the Chinese model of economic growth allied to political
controls. 

Yeltsin will visit India next month where he will renew political, economic and
military relations that have been disrupted by changes underway in both
countries. 

But suggestions of an independent thrust to Russian policies provoke immediate
alarm in the West, as Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev's speech yesterday in
Stockholm revealed. 

Addressing the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), Kozyrve
threw the meeting in to confusion when he announced changes in the nature of
Russian foreign policy, including calls for the lifting of sanctions against
Serbia. 

The move was intended to show what could happen if Russian conservatives seized
power. He later said his speech was a "fairly accurate compilation of the
demands of what is by no means the most extreme opposition in Russia". 

But Kozyrev miscalculated Gaidar's chances for election by the Congress in
Moscow. Only a few hours after the grotesque comedy, Kozyrev's job was again
said to be on the line. 



=END= 

     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?8


Matched keyword: TURKEY...

=START=   XMT: 16:05 Wed Dec 16  EXP: 16:00 Thu Dec 17 

WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES 

NEW YORK (DEC. 16) UPI - 
                      U.S.Dollar       currency 
                      Equivalent    per U.S.Dollar 
                     Wed     Tue     Wed     Tue 
 Austria schill      .0914   .0905 10.9350 11.0500 
 Belgium franc-c     .0313   .0310   31.99   32.27 
 Britain pound      1.5748  1.5680   .6350   .6378 
 Britain 1-mo       1.5695  1.5626   .6371   .6400 
 Britain 3-mo       1.5608  1.5544   .6407   .6433 
 Britain 6-mo       1.5493  1.5438   .6455   .6478 
 Denmark krne        .1668   .1647  5.9954  6.0700 
 Finlnd mrkka        .1955   .1942  5.1150  5.1500 
 France franc        .1883   .1867  5.3109  5.3565 
 France 1-mo         .1868   .1852  5.3539  5.3995 
 France 3-mo         .1843   .1830  5.4249  5.4645 
 France 6-mo         .1815   .1803  5.5099  5.5465 
 Greece drach      .004838 .004808  206.68  208.00 
 Hollnd guildr       .5711   .5673  1.7511  1.7626 
Press <RETURN> or <S>croll?

 Ireland punt       1.7008  1.6855  0.5880  0.5933 
 Italy lira        .000715 .000713 1398.00 1402.00 
 Norway krne         .1497   .1460  6.6800  6.8500 
 Portugl escud     .007172 .007117  139.44  140.50 
 Spain peseta      .008997 .008929  111.15  112.00 
 Sweden krona        .1467   .1471  6.8159  6.8000 
 Switzrl franc       .7151   .7092  1.3985  1.4100 
 Switzrl 1-mo        .7131   .7073  1.4024  1.4138 
 Switzrl 3-mo        .7099   .7042  1.4087  1.4201 
 Switzrl 6-mo        .7062   .7006  1.4161  1.4274 
 Turkey lira       .000122 .000122 8224.00 8224.00 
 Germany mark        .6421   .6380  1.5575  1.5675 
 Germany 1-mo        .6386   .6346  1.5659  1.5759 
 Germany 3-mo        .6329   .6291  1.5800  1.5896 
 Germany 6-mo        .6260   .6223  1.5974  1.6069 
 Yugosl dinar      .005000 .005000  200.00  200.00 
 c-Commercial; f-Financial; z-Floating; x-N. Y. Money Market. 
 Interbank Buyers Rates 
 Source: Bloomberg Financial Markets and other sources. 



=END= 

     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?9


Matched keyword: TURKEY...

=START=   XMT: 16:35 Wed Dec 16  EXP: 17:00 Thu Dec 17 

TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY 

ISTANBUL (DEC. 16) XINHUA - A NAVAL TRANSPORT SHIP CARRYING 300 TURKISH
SOLDIERS WILL LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY TO HELP SECURE DELIVERY OF RELIEF
SUPPLIES TO MILLIONS OF STARVING SOMALIS, THE HEADQUARTERS OF GENERAL STAFF
SAID TODAY. 

IT SAID IN A STATEMENT THAT THE SHIP, WHICH LEAVES FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN PORT
CITY OF MERSIN, WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A FRIGATE AND A NAVAL LOGISTICS SUPPLY
SHIP. 

THE STATEMENT SAID LAST WEEK THAT THE SHIP WILL CARRY AN INFANTRY BATTALION
WITH A HELICOPTER TO JOIN THE U.S.-LED MULTINATIONAL FORCES IN THE HORN OF
AFRICA COUNTRY. 

TURKISH MILITARY SOURCES SAID THAT THE SHIP, WHICH WILL ALSO CARRY A TEAM OF
TURKISH MILITARY DOCTORS, ARE EXPECTED TO ARRIVE IN SOMALIA ON DECEMBER 26. 

ON DECEMBER 8, THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT APPROVED THE GOVERNMENT DECISION TO SEND
THE TROOPS TO SOMALIA, WHERE 300,000 PEOPLE HAVE DIED OF STARVATION CAUSED BY
Press <RETURN> or <S>croll?

FAMINE AND CIVIL WAR.  ABOUT 2 MILLION MORE SOMALIS COULD DIE IF THEY ARE NOT
PROVIDED WITH FOOD. 

ARMED MILITANTS HAVE LOOTED OR STOLEN MORE THAN HALF OF THE INTERNATIONAL FOOD
AND MEDICINE SUPPLIES SENT INTO SOMALIA DESPITE THE PRESENCE OF A 500-MEMBER
U.N. PEACEKEEPING FORCE THERE. 



=END= 

     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?10


Matched keyword: TURKEY...

=START=   XMT: 15:45 Wed Dec 16  EXP: 16:00 Thu Dec 17 

SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT SAYS 

WASHINGTON (DEC. 16) IPS - Some of Washington's top lobbying groups receive
millions of dollars from foreign governments that are among the world's worst
abusers of human rights, according to a new report released here today. 

Released by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), an investigative group based
here, the 79-page report says U.S. taxpayers are indirectly subsidizing these
lobbyists' fees by providing tens of millions of dollars in aid to the abusive
governments. 

The report, entitled "The Torturers' Lobby," selected 15 countries which have
been identified as major human rights abusers by the State Department and
independent human rights groups and which also receive U.S. aid or trade
benefits or were given major U.S. military support during last year's Gulf War.

Among those receiving U.S. aid, the countries chosen for the study were Turkey,
Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya, the Philippines, Indonesia, Egypt, Israel, Guatemala,
Colombia, Peru, and the rebel group, UNITA (the National Union for the Total
Independence of Angola). 
Press <RETURN> or <S>croll?


China, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait -- all of which receive no U.S. aid -- were
also selected because of their close political or commercial ties with the
United States. 

All of those countries hired well-connected lobbyists to press their cases with
the U.S. Congress and administration, the report found. Human rights activists
have long complained that high-powered lobbyists have made it more difficult
for U.S. lawmakers to link aid to human rights concerns. 

The firm which received the most money -- more than $14 million -- from abusive
regimes in the early 1990s, according to the report, was "Hill and Knowlton"
some of whose top officers are currently working on behalf of President-elect
Bill Clinton on the transition between administrations. 

The firm received more than three million dollars from Indonesia, more than one
million dollars each from Israel and Turkey, and also did work for Kuwait,
China, Peru, Egypt, and UNITA. 

Abusive governments were helped by another top-flight lobby firm with close
ties to the Republican administration of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George
Bush. "Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly" received $3.3 million during the last
18 months from Kenya, Nigeria and UNITA, according to the report. 

Kuwait, whose six-month occupation by Iraq was ended by U.S. armed forces, paid
the most to foreign lobbyists of any of the 16 -- $12.5 billion. 

Among U.S. aid recipients, Indonesia placed first -- sending $6.8 million to
Washington lobbyists since mid-1991, according to the report. 

In return, it received $98.9 million in U.S. economic aid, according to the
report. Despite efforts by both the Bush administration and its Jakarta's
lobbyists, military aid to Indonesia was cut off by Congress last fall to
protest the Nov. 1991 massacre of more than 100 civilians in East Timor. 

Turkey paid $3.8 million to its lobbyists here in exchange for some $804
million in U.S. aid and major new trade benefits rewarded in part for its
support during the Gulf War. 

Colombia paid the most in lobbyists' fees of Latin American governments charged
with widespread abuses. It spent $3.2 million for which it received $93.8
million in aid, while Nigeria placed first among Sub-Saharan recipients at $2.6
million. 

UNITA, the only non-governmental subject in the study, paid out almost two
million dollars to lobbyists since mid-1991. The rebel group, which repudiated
U.N.-monitored elections in Angola in September, received an estimated $250
million in covert aid between 1986 and 1991. 

Charles Lewis, the CPI's director, also noted to reporters Tuesday that
Clinton's Commerce Secretary-designate, Democratic Party chair Ron Brown,
represented Haiti's government under Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, while his
law firm -- "Patton, Boggs and Blow" -- received $220,000 from Guatemala last
year. 

Lewis also stressed that the figures cited in the report were "very
conservative", since many lobbyists do not actually disclose their activities
on behalf of foreign governments. 

The report itself was based on the records of the Justice Department's Foreign
Agent Registration Act which has been widely assailed as ineffective by
lawmakers and critics concerned about lobbying activities on behalf of foreign
governments and corporations. 

Clinton himself took note of that concern last week when he issued new
regulations for senior officers of his administration forbidding them from ever
representing foreign governments before the agencies to which they will be
assigned. 

In many cases, said Lewis, governments could not afford to pay for lobbyists if
they did not receive U.S. aid. "Should the U.S. taxpayer in effect subsidize
lobbyists hired by some of the world's most persistent abusers of human
rights," he asked. 



=END= 

     PROFILE NEWS

  1. AFGHAN REBELS CALL FOR PRESIDENT RABBANI TO TRANSFER POWER TO VICE
     PRESIDENT
  2. NEARLY 35,000 TAJIK REFUGEES FLEE TO AFGHANISTAN TO ESCAPE CLAN BLOODSHED
  3. FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO REPLENISH WORLD BANK AFFILIATE WITH $18 BILLION
  4. WEDNESDAY'S MIDDLE EASTERN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  5. IRANIAN RELIGIOUS LEADER INVITES WESTERN WOMEN TO TAKE UP ISLAMIC VEIL
  6. WEDNESDAY'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  7. DEFEAT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER COULD TRIGGER UPHEAVAL IN FOREIGN
     POLICY
  8. WEDNESDAY'S EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
  9. TURKISH TROOPS REPORTEDLY TO LEAVE FOR SOMALIA SATURDAY
 10. SOME MAJOR U.S. LOBBYISTS RECEIVE MILLIONS FROM RIGHTS ABUSERS, REPORT
     SAYS

Enter #'s, <M>ain News Menu,
or <P>revious?

         NewsGrid Headline News         
       Thursday, December 17 1992       
                04:14CST                

--