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Inside today
The Prince George
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Citizen
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1989 <*®*>
50 CENTS
Mardi Dog is no hush puppy. Even though he thinks it’s a doggone shame Mardi Gras celebrations end this weekend in Prince George, Show StODDer he s do8matic enough to make the most of every moment, like putting
PP on the dog for gorgeous Lisa Evanoff during lunch time at Mardi
House. Next week will find the whelp back in the doghouse awaiting next year’s festival. Citizen photo by Brock Gable
INTEREST INCREASED ON BONDS
Bowling for millions_______________________________3
Pollution in the Arctic 5
Northern Dancer's days 13
Ann Landers.............23 Entertainment.......10,11
Bridge..................20 Family ................23
Business...............8,9 Horoscopes.............20
City, B.C................3 Movies............P10.P15
Classified...........16-21 Religion..............6,7
Comics..................10 Sports...........13-15,24
Editorial.............4,5 *P—Plus Magazine
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MUSLIM DEATH THREATS SUCCEED
Author apologizes for novel
LONDON (CP) — British author Salman Rushdie, facing Iranian calls for his death, apologized today for the “distress” the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses has caused Muslims.
But Iran’s first reaction was that Rushdie failed to repent and order his book withdrawn.
In a statement issued through his agent, Rushdie said: “I profoundly regret the distress that publication has occasioned to sincere followers of Islam.” ____________
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhol-lah Khomeini demanded Tuesday that Rushdie, an Indian-born Briton, be executed by Muslims because The Satanic Verses is interpreted as blasphemous of Islam.
Two Iranian religious leaders later offered a total of $6 million bounty for Rushdie.
On Friday, Iranian President Ali Khamenei said the 41-year-old Rushdie might save his life with an apology.
A spokesman for Rushdie would not say if today’s statement was a response to Iran’s demand for an apology.
Iran’s official news agency IRNA quoted Rushdie’s statement in full but said he had “made no indication of his repentance or that his slanderous book would be withdrawn.”
IRNA said in a commentary:
“Muslim heretic Salman Rushdie has formally apologized for his slanderous book on Islam.” But it said Rushdie “had been under growing pressure to make a public repentance that his statement is seen falling well short of.”
The British Foreign Office was not consulted on the contents of the statement but a spokesman said the publishers had been in touch with officials since the uproar began.
“If the statement serves to cool passions, then nobody could say that was not a good thing,” the spokesman said.
The statement followed hours of meetings between the novelist and his publishers, Viking Penguin, who had also received death threats shortly after publication of the book five months ago.
Rushdie said several days ago his fictional book, a surrealistic account of a battle between good and evil, was not meant as an insult to Muslims.
“As author of The Satanic Verses, I recognize that Muslims in many parts of the world are genuinely distressed by the publication of my novel,” Rushdie said in the statement issued today.
“Living as we do in a world of many faiths, this experience has served to remind us that we must all be conscious of the sensibilities of others.”
The book’s U.S. publishers, Viking, said this week it and the author “very much regret the distress the book has caused.” Viking did not apologize for publishing the book.
The threats against the book’s publishers and the author, who remained in hiding with his wife, were criticized by the United States, Britain and France. The U.S. State Department called the threats “appalling.” Khomeini’s order caused Britain to shelve plans to expand its embassy staff in Tehran.
Following the lead of some international and U.S. booksellers, Coles Bookstores Ltd. said Friday it won’t sell The Satanic Verses in its 197 stores. A statement said the decision was made “in the interest of employees’ safety.”
B.C. nurses demanding pay increase
The B.C. Nurses Union has has asked for a 33-per-cent increase in wages in its next contract with provincial hospitals.
“We are angry and with good reason,” union president Pat Savage said Friday.
Negotiations resume on Monday.
The nurses also want a 43-percent increase in benefits. The proposal would bring the starting rate for a general duty hospital nurse to $20 an hour from $15.07.
Staffing levels in hospitals are in crisis, said Savage, adding that patients do not receive the care that they should.
The contract covering B.C’s
17.000 nurses expires March 31. Bargaining began Feb. 9 but stalled in a dispute over whether a news blackout should be imposed.
“As health care consumers and taxpayers, British Columbians have a right to know how difficult these negotiations will probably be with the Health Labor Relations Association,” Savage said.
As part of its benefit package, the union is asking for shift differentials, responsibility pay, overtime and and weekend premiums.
A management spokesman said Friday the demands are totally unrealistic and would cost the province’s health care system about $380 million in one year.
Meeting the demands, which include a first-year wage increase of 33 per cent, would mean hospitals would have to curtail services, said Gordon Austin, president of the Health Labour Relations Association of B.C.
Edmonton leads in murder rate
EDMONTON (CP) - Edmonton is the homicide capital of Canada, recent statistics indicate.
And the dubious honor took on a bizarre twist Friday when city police revealed the body of a 32-year-old man slain four months ago was found in the basement of a downtown home during renovations.
Statistics Canada on Thursday released preliminary Figures for 1988 which showed Edmonton on top of the murderous list of Canadian cities, with 4.3 homicides per
100.000 population.
There were 25 homicides in the city last year. Because the body discovered Friday was killed last year, the murder total for 1988 is expected to rise to 26 killings.
Montreal was in second place and, for the first time in 10 years, Alberta recorded the highest homicide rate in Canada.
The Canadian average is 2.2 homicides per 100,000, the lowest since 1969, said Joanne Lacroix, spokesman for the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics in Ottawa.
TRAFFIC HAMPERED
Slush blankets coast
VANCOUVER (CP) - Rain began falling on much of southwestern British Columbia early today, turning to slush the snow that tangled traffic and delayed commuter trains on Friday.
Crews were still working early today to restore power cut by downed lines and to re-open roads made impassable by traffic accidents and dangerous driving conditions.
About three centimetres of snow fell on the Vancouver area in the 24-hour period to midnight Friday night.
The snow brought the billion-dollar SkyTrain system to a halt Fri-
day when it triggered station safety sensors.
“There’s nothing wrong with the trains,” said George Stroppa, a spokesman for B.C. Transit. “We just don’t normally get this kind of snow.”
When snow on the station shelter rooftops grew too wet and heavy, it slid on to the red plates around the tracks, triggering the pressure-sensitive platform intrusion emergency system, he said.
The system is designed to brake approaching trains if someone falls on to the tracks. Stroppa also reported that some bus service was cancelled on routes in the suburbs.
OTTAWA (CP) — The government has jacked up the interest rate on Canada Savings Bonds to 10.5 per cent from 9.5 per cent for the four-month period ending June 30 to stem a run on the bonds.
The move, announced Friday, will boost the annual rate on the bonds for the year as a whole to 9.83 per cent, and will cost the government at least $163 million in extra interest rate payments this year.
However, a spokesman for the Finance Minister Michael Wilson said Friday night Wilson will review the rate at the end of the four-month period.
Meanwhile, three of the major banks announced increases in their mortgage rates, closing ranks with the Royal Bank and Bank of Montreal who raised rates Thursday.
A half-point hike in short-term mortgage rates was announced Friday by the Toronto Dominion Bank, the Bank of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Their one-year open mortgage rate rises to 13 per cent and their one-year closed rate is 12.75 per cent.
The Bank of Canada’s announcement follows the release of figures showing Canadians, looking for a better return than the bonds were offering, cashed another $813 million worth of the bonds last week, pushing to almost $4 billion the amount cashed in since the bond sale ended late last fall.
The figures show $49.8 billion worth of bonds were outstanding as of the middle of this week.
After June 30 the annual rate on the bonds will revert back to the 9.5 per cent initially offered.
The increase applies to all series of bonds outstanding — those issued from 1982 to 1988 — including bonds being bought this year through employer payroll deductions.
The increase has no effect on the cost of purchasing bonds through payroll deductions.
“The rate adjustment takes into account recent changes in interest rates and is aimed at maintaining the competitiveness of Canada Savings Bonds relative to other savings instruments,” Finance Minister Michael Wilson said in a news release.
Interest rates have been rising steadily since the bond rate was announced last fall, leaving the rate on the bonds well below that of other securities.
Interest rates have been rising because the Bank of Canada is trying to reduce the rate of inflation by increasing the cost of borrowing. The Bank of Canada rate, which affects the major commercial banks’ various lending rates, jumped to a three-year high of 11.70 per cent on Thursday, up from last week’s 11.63 per cent.
While borrowers are taking it on the chin, savers are gaining a small benefit.
Toronto Dominion announced higher interest rates it pays on term deposits and savings accounts, while the Royal Bank will pay out more on savings accounts and one-year guaranteed investment certificates.
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Kabul prepares for battle
KABUL (AP) — The Marxist government declared a state of emergency in Afghanistan today, three days after the Soviets completed their troop withdrawal and left the Afghan army to fight Muslim rebels.
The government’s brief statement didn’t say what civil rights would be suspended under the emergency. The government said without elaborating that it’s taking
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the action based on reports from security forces of activities of “certain elements trying to create disturbances.”
During the day, the military increased the number of tanks and armored personnel carriers in Kabul and stationed troops on the roofs of buildings.
The rebels have fired salvos of
Forest company cuts operation
VICTORIA (CP) — One sawmill will be closed, production limited at two others and logging operations will be sharply curtailed on southern Vancouver Island, Fletcher Challenge announced Friday.
The New Zealand multinational forest company said in a news release that about 425 jobs would be affected by the move required to bring its manufacturing capacity in line with its long-term sustainable timber supply.
The move prompted IWA-Canada president Jack Munro to charge the company with over-cutting and called on the government to establish a royal commission to stop “carnage” in the forest industry.
rockets at the capital in the past several days.
Some western officials believe the guerrillas, now surrounding Kabul and other major cities, will soon topple the Marxist government of President Najibullah. But Najibullah says his troops can hold on without the Soviet soldiers.
In Pakistan today, Afghan guerrilla groups named a president and prime minister for an interim government they hope will soon take power in their homeland. The guerrillas’ Consultative Council reportedly named Mohammad Nabi Mo-hammadi as president and Ahmad Shah as prime minister.
On Friday, a top Kremlin diplomat said Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has appealed personally to U.S. President George Bush to help bring peace to Afghanistan now that the Red Army has withdrawn.
Both the diplomat and a Soviet general acknowleged at a news conference that the Soviets are worried about continued bloodshed in Afghanistan.
Mohammadi, a moderate who had led one of the resistance factions, had earlier been named president of the council itself.
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