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IN BRIEF
Arafat collapses, three
officials run his affairs
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Yasser
Arafat collapsed Wednesday night,
was unconscious for about 10 minutes
and remained in a “difficult situation,”
Palestinian officials said. A team of Jor
danian doctors was called to treat the
Palestinian leader. A Palestinian official
in Arafat’s office said the Palestinian
leader had created a committee of
three senior officials, to run Palestinian
affairs while Arafat was incapacitated.
Kidnapped woman urges
Britain to leave Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A kidnapped
British aid worker made another plea
for her life in a video aired Wednesday,
urging Britain to withdraw troops from
the country as some 800 British sol
diers headed north toward Baghdad to
bolster U.S. forces. The tape showed
Margaret Hassan, the 59-year-old head
of CARE International in Iraq, blinking
back tears as she spoke.
Oregon athlete and brewer
Robert MacTamahan dies
PORTLAND — Oregon Sports Hall
of Famer and beer brewer Robert
Sharon dismisses
party rebellion
about Gaza plan
The Israeli leader refuses to submit to opponents
of his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip
BY JOSEF FEDERMAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon angrily dismissed a new rebel
lion in his Likud Party on Wednesday,
saying he would not cave in to oppo
nents of his plan to withdraw from the
Gaza Strip.
Bolstered by a parliamentary vote
Tliesday, Sharon said he would stand
firm against the rebels, who include
his top rival, Finance Minister Ben
jamin Netanyahu, and pledged to pull
out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank
on schedule next summer.
“I know that many problems await
us along the way. The disengagement
will be carried out,” Sharon told the
newspaper Yediot Ahronot. “1 am
meeting the timetable that 1 have de
termined.”
Also Wednesday, some 40 Israeli
tanks and armored vehicles moved
into the West Bank refugee camp of
Jenin, exchanging fire with Palestinian
militants, witnesses said. No injuries
were immediately reported.
Military officials said the raid was
intended to root out Palestinian mili
tants in the camp and was expected to
last a number of days. Israel has fre
quently raided West Bank towns and
refugee camps during the last four
years of fighting.
Meanwhile, scores of top Palestinian
officials descended on Yasser Arafat’s
West Bank compound in Ramallah
amid news that the 75-year-old Pales
tinian leader’s health was worsening.
Arafat collapsed Wednesday night and
remained in a “very difficult situation,”
Palestinian officials said. A team of Jor
danian doctors was urgently sum
moned to treat the ailing leader.
In Tuesday’s vote, parliament for
the first time approved the disman
tling of Jewish settlements in lands
Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast
war that are claimed by the Pales
tinians for a state.
Sharon says his “disengagement”
plan will improve security and ensure
Israel’s identity as a Jewish democra
cy. However, he also intends to keep
large West Bank settlements and east
Jerusalem, areas the Palestinians also
seek for their state.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
called Sharon Wednesday to congratu
late him on the parliamentary victory.
Powell called the parliament’s action a
step toward President Bush’s vision of
a Palestinian state living side by side in
peace with Israel, a senior U.S. official
said on condition of anonymity.
Sharon won the parliament vote by
a comfortable 67-45 margin, with sev
en legislators abstaining. But nearly
half the Likud lawmakers and two reli
gious parties voted against the plan,
underscoring Sharon’s break with his
former hard-line allies.
Sharon had little time to savor the
victory. Just before the vote, the Na
tional Religious Party, a key partner in
the coalition government, said it
would quit within two weeks unless
Sharon pledged to hold a nationwide
referendum on the pullout plan.
. Four Likud ministers, Netanyahu,
Limor Livnat, Yisrael Katz and Danny
Naveh, voted for the plan and then im
mediately demanded Sharon accept
the referendum demand or they would
quit the government.
“We are acting according to our con
sciences,” Netanyahu told Israel Radio.
“We think the decision to go forward
and to tear to shreds the people, the
coalition and the Likud is a mistaken
decision.”
The turmoil raised doubts about
Sharon’s ability to go ahead with the
planned withdrawals. The resignations
of senior Likud ministers could cause
the government to crumble, forcing
Sharon to call new elections, or delay
implementation.
But Sharon said he would not be
swayed. While opinion polls say a sol
id majority of Israelis support the plan,
he says opponents are pushing a refer
endum as a stalling tactic.
“1 will never give in to pressure
and threats,” he told Yediot. “There
will be no referendum on disen
gagement, as the ones behind this
initiative are interested in sabotag
ing the disengagement plan.”
Raanan Gissin, a top Sharon advis
er, said the prime minister was confi
dent he had enough support to push
forward, with or without the rebel
ministers, although he might need to
reshuffle the government and bring in
the moderate Labor Party.
“The prime minister is determined
to continue, and if need be, enlarge
and change the structure of his coali
tion in order to move forward,”
Gissin said.
Sharon still needs several more par
liamentary votes in the coming
months to implement various stages of
the pullout, and an upcoming battle
over the annual budget could also
threaten the government.
MacTarnahan has died. He was 89.
The most accomplished senior
athlete in state history had attended
the grand reopening of the MacTar
nahan’s Taproom in Portland on
Monday, where he shook hands,
slapped backs and touted the
health benefits of his MacTarna
han’s Amber Ale.
Born in Missoula, Mont., on May
1, 1915, MacTarnahan died in his
sleep Uiesday morning at his south
west Portland home.
The Jefferson High School gradu
ate began his lifelong commitment
to fitness in 1936 at the Multnomah
Athletic Club. But it was not until
age 60 when MacTarnahan
began amassing a long list of
athletic victories.
MacTarnahan was a five-time Na
tional Masters Wrestling Champion
and a seven-time National Masters
3,000-meter steeplechase champi
on. In all, MacTarnahan won more
than 50 World Masters gold medals.
rtam—r
Severe storms batter
Ireland with wind, floods
DUBLIN, Ireland — The city of Cork
and several towns were severely flood
ed Wednesday as the year’s strongest
Atlantic storm arrived with heavy rain
and wind gusts of more than 70 mph.
No deaths or injuries were reported.
The River Lee, which runs through
Cork, flooded the city’s main roads
with up to 9.5 feet of water. Records
say it was the worst flood since 1962.
— The Associated Press
The University Studies Abroad Consortium, with programs
in 24 countries, allows students to master languages and
study disciplines — including business, fine arts and
history — at distinguished, overseas schools. Soak up the
vibrant culture and be transformed by the experience of
living in a foreign land.
• Summer, semester and yearlong programs • Wide range
of academic courses • Internships • Language classes at
all levels • Field trips and tours • Small classes
• University credit • Scholarships • Housing
UNIVERSITY
STUDIES
ABROAD
CONSORTIUM
USAC®
http://usac.unr.edu *775-784-6569
• Earn UO credit (“in residence") for your overseas courses
• Use your UO financial aid funds toward the full program costs
• Enjoy numerous educational excursions to places of cultural, historical and natural significance
Many programs still have openings! Why not try:
Courses in politics, literature, art history, and theater
Several short and long excursions, theater tickets included
Live with a British family
Study with UO English professor Henry Wonham, who will
teach two courses, “Mark Twain’s England” and
“Wordsworth and the Lake District*
Add spring term, too, and you can complete
an internship in your major!
[020541
in English in business, marketing, international
negotiations, and German (all levels)
• Excursions to Belgium and the Netherlands
Visits with local and global businesses based in Cologne
f Live with a German family
Internships possible after the academic term ends
Application Deadline: November I
(Be sure to turn in your application forms and fee by November 1,
and put in the requests for your recommendations and transcripts by
that date as well.) For an advising appointment, please call 346-3207.
For more information or an application, please visit
http://studyabroad.uoregon.edu.
Office of International Programs, 330 Oregon Hall, 346-3207
. .... K if . .