Free at last! Free at last!
Christopher signs agreement; 52 to fly to Germany
From wire service reports
“We have now reached an agreement with Iran
which will, I believe, result in the freeing of our
American hostages ”
With these words, spoken on the dawn of his last
full day in the White House, Pres. Jimmy Carter
marked the end of the Iranian hostage crisis after
more than 14 months.
At about 4 a m. EST today, the 443rd day of
captivity for 52 American hostages, Deputy Secretary
of State Warren Christopher, the chief American
negotiator in the hostage crisis, signed the agreement
in the Algerian Foreign Ministry.
Iran had signed the agreement earlier Sunday.
Approximately an hour later, Carter announced
the signing of the pact at the White House. He said the
hostages would not gain their freedom until other
documents relating to the transfer of billions of dollars
of frozen Iranian assets had been signed.
The Bank of England will act as "backer” for $8
billion in frozen funds. Sources said the United States
could also release spare military parts, badly needed
by Iran in its war with Iraq.
The signing of the agreement was delayed Sun
day evening because of the necessity of translating it
into English, French and Farsi.
Twc Air Algeria Boeing 727 jetliners took off early
this morning headed for Tehran, officials at Ankara,
Turkey’s Esenboga Airport, reported, and arrived in
Tehran at about 4:45 a m. EST The hostages were to
be picked up, flown to Algeria and later Wiesbaden,
West Germany.
A Boeing 727 can carry 161 passengers and
seven crew members.
The planes are to pick up the American hostages
and take them, ultimately to Weisbaden. Pres. Carter
will greet the hostages there in person, if the schedule
of his last hours as president permits. Sources have
said Carter could leave as early as this morning
However, White House officials said the president
would not leave Washington until the hostages are out
of Iranian air space. Other sources said Carter would
not go to West Germany if it would interfere with
inauguration ceremonies Tuesday.
At Wiesbaden, the hostages are expected to
undergo medical examination and reorientation at a
U S. military hospital.
Six Algerian physicians were already in the Iran
ian capital to examine the hostages and certify their
condition before their release. But there was no word
on whether the doctors had seen the hostages or even
on the wherabaouts of the 52.
In the announcing the Algerian pact, the Iranian
new agency Pars said "the U S. government has
finally accepted all the terms set by the government of
the Islamic Republic of Iran for the release of the
American hostages. The minister said that the details
of the agreement will be disclosed in a press confer
ence today."
Earlier, chief Iranian negotiator Behzad Nabavi,
said on the government-run Tehran radio, "I think the
adventure is reaching an end."
The 52 Americans, whose 443rd day in captivity is
also their first of the new-found freedom, are being
freed in exchange for billions of dollars in Iranian cash
and gold frozen by the U S. in November 1979 in
response to the takeover of the American embassy in
Tehran Nov. 4, 1979.
Vol. 82, No. 81
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Monday, January 19, 1981
.-MM.a X
Photo by Martha Stanton
Hundreds of protesters marched six abreast through the streets of Eugene Saturday to protest the inauguration of Ronald Reagan
People's Inaugural blasts people's choice
By MIKE RUST
Of the Emerald
Can forty million Americans be wrong?
Yes, said participants in Saturday’s
People’s Inauguration Day.
Last November, more than 40,000,000
Americans cast their ballots for Ronald
Reagan, who carried 44 of 50 states in
the presidential election. But for a
number of local people, the electoral
decision has become a rallying point for
opposition
Hundreds marched through down
town Eugene and rallied at the Lane
County Fairgrounds Saturday to protest
the inauguration of Pres.-elect Ronald
Reagan and celebrate what they termed
“a new era of liberation.”
March organizers estimated the crowd
numbered as much as 1000 people at
times. Press figures placed the number
between 300 and 500.
The event was coordinated by the
People’s Inauguration Committee and
endorsed by more than 50 local in
dividuals and organizations.
Sponsors and endorsers ranged from
Zoo Zoos and Prout Universalist to the
Lane County Citizens Party and the New
American Movement. The Women’s Re
source and Referral Center and the
Iranian Students Association were
among campus groups endorsing the
event.
In addition to the march and rally, the
People's Inauguration Day Committee
sponsored a Saturday evening concert
that featured Grupo Raiz, a Latin Amer
ican recording group and the Wallflower
Order, a Eugene-based dance collective.
Inauguration Day Organizers said they
were pleased with the rally and the other
Inaugural-related events.
"The rally had some really powerful
speakers,” says Gemma Grott of the
People s Inauguration Day Committee.
'Politically it moved us all forward."
Grott says some who attended the
evening concert described it as “one of
the most exciting things ever to happen
in Eugene.” Some proceeds from the
concert will go to what was described as
“humanitarian aid" in El Salvador
The funds will go to the Democratic
Revolutionary Front, which is currently
engaged in a civil war with the military
government in El Salvador
One familiar Eugene political char
acter wasn’t as enthusiastic about the
march.
Stupid, a familiar figure at the Saturday
Market who claims to have become in
volved with the labor movement through
the Industrial Workers of the World in
1916, said that "these people don’t know
how to organize,” and that they may
unwittingly be aiding "the enemy.”
"They’re making a farce out of so
many fine statements,” he said. “ The
People United Will Never Be Defeated!'
It’s a farce when you have most of the
people on the other side, compared to
the 350 or 400 people you see here. "
People who participated in the march
“don’t know the difference between
social and anti-social behavior,” he said
"You’ll never build socialism with
anti-social behavior."
Speakers at the rally included Juan
Renya of the Leonard Peltier Defense
Committee, Felice Nirenstein of the
Client’s Council, Alan Siporin of the
Coalition opposed to Registration and
the Draft and representatives of the
Women's Coalition
The rally also included a musical pre
sentation by Grupo Raiz and a martial
arts presentation by Amazon Kung Fu, a
feminist martial arts collective.