ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603060016
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
MELBOURNE, Australia - In a landslide victory, a conservative opposition leader claimed victory in Australian elections Saturday, ending 13 years of Labor government.
John Howard, who unseated Paul Keating, the Labor prime minister, will lead the new government after the victory of a coalition of the Liberal and National parties. He said in his acceptance speech that the coalition's victory was a comprehensive endorsement of its philosophy and policy, and that he saw the vote as an ``emphatic mandate.''
The opposition focused its campaign mainly on domestic policy. Opinion polls indicated that unemployment, now at 8 percent nationally, was the major issue for most people. - New York Times Achille Lauro killer missing from jail
ROME - The Palestinian convicted of killing an American in a wheelchair aboard the hijacked Achille Lauro cruise ship 11 years ago has disappeared while on a prison release, a newspaper reported Saturday.
Youssef Magied al-Molqi was last seen Wednesday at a church-run shelter, the day he was to return to the Rebibbia prison in Rome, Il Messaggero reported. He had been free on a 12-day pass.
Molqi was serving a 30-year sentence for his role in the 1985 hijacking. He was convicted of shooting Leon Klinghoffer, an American Jew, and pushing him overboard. - Associated Press
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