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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1978)
Huge Iranian protest unmarred by violence TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Hun dreds of thousands of Iranians surged through the heart of Tehran Sunday in a mammoth anti-shah protest, a "referendum in the streets,” that ended without the violence many had feared. The great march demonstrated that the people want "to put an end to the dictatorial, authoritarian and corrupt regime," said a key opposition leader, Karim Sanjaby. He said it was "The best evidence that force cannot stop this national movement.” Estimates of the number of marchers varied. The army said 300,000 paraded along the 5V2-mile route. March organizers claimed up to 2 million people took part in the six-hour procession. The official Iranian news agency estimated the crowd at 400,000, but said the march was in honor of World Human Rights Day, which was Sunday. The protesters carried banners and placards, many written in En glish for the benefit of foreign jour nalists and television cameras. One placard crudely written in chalk demanded "Yankees Go Home!" University students stop ped reporters, demanding they tell Jimmy Carter we want demo cracy and not a royal tyrant. Westerners, especially Ameri fins. have become the symbol of toreign support for Shah Moham mad Reza Pahlavi, and anti-West hostility has touched off a mass exodus of some 9,000 foreigners, including about 5,000 Americans. Pres. Carter has repeatedly stressed support for the shah, but the State Department spokeswo man Mary Ann Bader said Sunday it was inaccurate to describe the exodus as an “evacuation” and that between 35,000 and 40,000 Americans are still in Iran. "No blood was spilled," an offi cial of Sanjaby's National Front said of the march. "Today we proved that the opposition is more than just a bunch of hotheads and dissidents, as the shah’s people claim. The message we sent to the palace today cannot be ig nored. He has to listen or risk a blood-bath.” In Paris, the exiled Ayatullah Khomaini, spiritual head of Iran’s dominant Shiite Moslem sect and symbol of the anti-shah move ment, deemed the march to be “an absolute success...It showed the shah has little support left," an aide to Khomaini said. The religious leader has called on Iranians to spill their blood until the 59-year-old shah is ousted Before the march began, thousands of the shah’s imperial troops, backed by tanks, withdrew to outer sections of the city to avoid provoking a bloody confron tation. But troops ringed the down town area with roadblocks, and military helicopters whirred above the protesters. making the news From AMOCUrtad Pr*u reports NEW YORK ~ Enough regular unleaded gasoline is av ailable to meet drivers’ demands into the distant future, the chairman of Standard Oil of Indiana said Sunday. The shortage only affects drivers who use premium-grade unleaded, in short supply due to unanticipated demand this fall, he said. John Swearingen also said he thought the price of gasoline may be going up about a nickel a gallon next year, although that, too, was subject to a number of factors over which oil companies have no direct control. 4 MOSCOW — About 40 dissidents gathered at Moscow's Pushkin Square Sunday night to stage a brief, silent vigil marking World Human Rights Day, and dissident sources said at least nine persons were briefly detained. The sources said Viktor Nikelov, a member of a Moscow based panel monitoring Soviet compliance with the Helsinki human rights accords, was among those taken into custody by police and KGB security agents. Western correspondents saw several dissidents hustled into waiting police cars and driven away. MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif, — Scientists began analyzing readings of sunlight, heat and pressure transmitted 33.5 million miles from Venus after pronouncing America's first comprehen sive space mission to the planet a complete success. Five probes plunged through Venus' atmosphere Saturday, transmitting data to elated scientists monitoring the experiment. The data transmitted from the probes was translated into sketches of cloud winds and other features of Venus. It was then transmitted some 33.5 million miles to tracking stations in Califor nia and Australia. CAIRO, Egypt — Secretary of State Cyrus Vance opened a new round of shuttle diplomacy Sunday in an effort to revive the Mideast peace talks, meeting for 90 minutes with Egyptian Presi dent Anwar Sadat. Neither Vance nor Sadat spoke with reporters later, but State Department spokesman George Sherman described the talks as "very good, full and constructive.” He declined comment on speculation that Vance tried to persuade the Egyptian leader to send a top-level official to Israel to revive direct negotiations between the two countries and perhaps attend the funeral on Tuesday of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. BANKOK, Thailand — Vietnam has moved most of the 40,000 troops it has based in Laos to the LaotiarvCambodian border, the Bangkok Post reported Sunday. The report raised speculation Hanoi might be planning to open a new, northern front in its war with Cambodia. On another front, meanwhile, both Vietnam and China reported clashes at sea involving fishing boats and naval patrol boats of the two countries. But their accounts of the fighting differed sharply. Food Service EMU Food Service wishes you HAPPY HOLIDAYS EMU Closed Dec. 16. 17, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, Jan 1 Reopen Jan. 2, 1979 5:00 pm 99 V * Second Annual Fairview Travel Service Christmas Charter Flight Portland to New York $23995 ^ount* Trip ONLY FOUR SEATS LEFT Phone Collect Today for Reservations Fairview Travel Service 505 NE 223rd Ave. Troutdale, Oregon 97060 Phone (503) 666-3893 Take advantage of low airfares by making early reservation SAVE MONEY—Call “Honey” NOW! 666-3893 UJJ UniTED Hang in there. Santa baby. The Jean Machine has got my style in the bag. Newest men's and ladies fashion jeans. Free hemming while you wait. Lot's more. Atta Santa! 881 E. 13th
