ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 5, 1996 TAG: 9612050033
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
Boutros-Ghali suspends candidacy
UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has ``suspended'' his candidacy for a second term in the wake of a U.S. veto, the Security Council president said Wednesday.
``The secretary-general, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, has indicated to me he intends to suspend his candidature for the time being,'' Council President Francesco Paolo Fulci of Italy told reporters.
Diplomats said Boutros-Ghali's action paves the way for the council to vote for other candidates, although the 74-year-old Egyptian officially remains in the race.
By remaining an official candidate, it was conceivable that Boutros-Ghali could reactive his candidacy if no one else wins broad support.
- Associated Press
Japanese react to war crimes decision
TOKYO - The U.S. decision Tuesday to bar 16 Japanese citizens from the United States for alleged war crimes committed more than 50 years ago has stirred wide reactions in Japan, from anger to appreciation.
``Not to defend what we have done, but why does the United States have to do such a nonsensical thing at this moment?'' said Yukio Okamoto, a former high-ranking Foreign Ministry official who is now an international consultant. ``It does not serve any constructive purpose. There is no point in dredging up old wartime stories.''
Historian Kanji Nishio said the Japanese government should retaliate by barring from Japan any Americans who helped make the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
``If the United States wanted to punish us, they should have done it a long time ago,'' said Ryutaro Takahashi, 29, who owns an antique business. ``And if the United States punishes us, we should do the same to them. We have to learn to speak up against the United States.''
But while many reacted with anger and dismay over the decision and its timing, others said the U.S. action would help force a frank discussion of World War II among the Japanese, who have never fully acknowledged their responsibility for atrocities before and during the war.
``This news from Washington may take many Japanese by surprise, but it will help some Japanese to remember that we had these problems,'' said Tetsuo Jinbo, a freelance journalist and social critic. |- The Washington Post
Did Swiss help Nazis
smuggle millions?
NEW YORK - Swiss bankers and businessmen may have used diplomatic pouches to smuggle Nazi assets into Argentina during World War II, including $20 million belonging to Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering, a 1946 memo says.
The long memo to the State Department was found in the National Archives and made public Wednesday by Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y.
The memo suggested that Swiss merchants conspired with the Nazis to funnel their fortunes into South America. It said the Swiss government was probably unaware of these alliances.
``Accusations have also been voiced that Nazi German capital is escaping in Swiss diplomatic pouches,'' the memo said. It did criticize the Swiss government's ``practice of entrusting diplomatic missions to its bankers and businessmen traveling to the Western Hemisphere.''
D'Amato has pressed for more action to locate Holocaust victims' Swiss bank accounts. But there was no indication that money transferred in the pouches belonged to Holocaust victims.
Diplomatic pouches from neutral countries such as Switzerland were routinely passed without inspection in other nations during the war. Goering and Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels would first ship money into Geneva via German diplomatic pouches, the memo said.
``It is reported that Reichmarshal Goering lately used this method to transfer personal funds,'' the memo said. ``According to these reports, Goering previously sent more than $20 million of his personal fortune to Argentina.''
- Associated Press
Switzerland denied asylum to 39,000
BERN, Switzerland - Nearly 39,000 refugees, most of them Jews, were refused entry to Switzerland during World War II even though authorities knew the dangers they faced, according to archive material published Wednesday.
The figure, uncovered during research by the Swiss national archive and the Federal Refugee Office, is three times higher than earlier estimates of about 10,000 people.
According to the new material, 24,400 people were turned back at the Swiss border and 14,500 were refused asylum after applying from abroad.
Researcher Guido Koller said even the latest estimate may understate the number of refugees refused entry. ``How many, in fact, were turned away, we still don't know today,'' he said.
Switzerland imposed tight immigration restrictions in August 1938 after Germany annexed Austria and persuaded the Nazis to stamp ``J'' into Jewish passports so border guards could identify them.
Most of the border expulsions took place after August 1942, when Switzerland closed the border to Jews, Researcher Guido Koller said.
``Thousands of people were turned away. These decisions were not taken in ignorance ... but in full knowledge of the death risk they were facing,'' he said.
Switzerland took in about 230,000 refugees, of whom 22,000 were Jews.
- Associated Press
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