
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 21, 1994                   TAG: 9410210052
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

ALLEN, NORTH TO BYPASS NAACP

Gov. George Allen and one or two of the U.S. Senate candidates will not attend this month's annual NAACP convention, which traditionally draws the governor and all top statewide candidates.

Allen, Republican Senate hopeful Oliver North and independent candidate Marshall Coleman declined invitations to speak to the civil rights organization, said Salim Khalfani, a state coordinator for the group.

A Coleman spokesman said Thursday he is trying to rearrange his schedule to attend the event. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is holding its state convention Oct. 28-30 in Richmond.

Allen appeared before the group as the Republican nominee for governor last year, but he declined an invitation to extend greetings at an Oct. 28 luncheon.

``All sitting governors have always addressed our convention, even when it's been in faraway places,'' Khalfani said Thursday.

He called Allen's refusal ``a slap in the face. We've taken Governor Allen on on some of his issues in the General Assembly, and I think it's a reflection of their position and some of the right-wing stances that his administration has taken that we've disagreed with.''

The NAACP was a leading opponent of Allen's plan to abolish parole, which the General Assembly passed last month.

Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe said the governor has scheduling conflicts that weekend.

All three Senate candidates were invited to speak at a forum Oct. 28, but only Democratic incumbent Charles Robb accepted, Khalfani said.

by CNB