January 24, 1996
Web posted at: 11:30 p.m. EST (0430 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A United States citizen has been granted Israeli citizenship in a bid to free him from jail.
Jonathan Pollard is a former U.S. Navy analyst convicted of treason in 1987 for passing military secrets to Israel.
Pollard, who has served 10 years of his life prison sentence in various prisons in the United States, hopes that the Israeli citizenship will improve his chances for an early release.
But a Justice Department spokesman said in November that the Israeli citizenship would not affect any application Pollard makes for parole or clemency.
Israel approved Pollard's request for citizenship in November, reversing an earlier rejection. Last month, Prime Minister Shimon Peres appealed to President Clinton to pardon Pollard, the latest of several Israeli requests for clemency.
Pollard, a Jew, was arrested outside the Israeli embassy in Washington in 1985 and convicted of espionage in 1986. He admitted giving Israel documents containing information on its Arab enemies.
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres met Wednesday in the Gaza Strip in their first summit since Saturday's Palestinian general elections, in which Arafat emerged victorious.
Arafat will steer the interim government through what could be as many as three years of final status negotiations with Israel. Those talks begin in May.
Arafat played down fears the Palestine National Council (PNC) might refuse to delete parts of the PLO charter calling for Israel's destruction.
Peres has warned the Palestine Liberation Organization that peace moves will be frozen if the charter is not amended within two months by the PNC, the Palestinian parliament-in-exile.
Meantime, Israeli and Syrian peace negotiators met again outside Washington Wednesday for their second round of talks.
A top Israeli policy adviser reportedly said that if no progress were made during this round, the two sides would not meet again until 1997 -- after Israeli elections.
TOKYO (CNN) -- Japan's Supreme Court refused Wednesday to move the trial of an American serviceman accused of raping a 12-year-old Okinawa schoolgirl. The ruling clears the way for final arguments to be heard on Okinawa against Marine Pfc. Kendrick Ledet, of Waycross, Georgia, and the two other U.S. servicemen accused of raping the girl last September. The next hearing is scheduled for Monday in Naha District Court.
Barbara Cannon, Ledet's mother, filed the appeal on grounds that anger towards the U.S. military on Okinawa, site of a large U.S. base, would compromise the impartiality of the judges in the case. Also on trial are Marine Pfc. Rodrico Harp, of Griffin, Georgia, and Navy Seaman Marcus Gill, of Woodville, Texas. Ledet and Harp have both pleaded not guilty to raping the girl but have admitted conspiring to the crime by helping to abduct her. Gill has pleaded guilty. The Supreme Court did not give an explanation for its ruling. Changes of venue are highly unusual in Japan.
BEIJING, China (CNN)--China denied on Wednesday a New York Times report that it has completed plans for an attack on Taiwan timed to follow the island's March presidential election.
The New York Times quoted former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Chas Freeman as saying Beijing has finished plans for a limited military attack on Taiwan that could be launched a few weeks after its presidential election. Freeman told the paper he based his comments on talks he had this winter with senior Chinese officials.
"This is totally groundless," a Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters.
A senior U.S. official told the Times the Clinton administration has "no independent confirmation, or even credible evidence," that Beijing is considering an attack.
NGARA, Tanzania (CNN)--A senior Tanzanian official announced Wednesday his country is reopening its border to help Rwandan refugees flee from ethnic violence in Burundi.
"I have been instructed by central government to allow in Rwandan refugees now at the border. We are expecting not less than 16,000," said Brig. Gen. Sylvester Hemedi.
Hemedi emphasized that the step is being taken as a humanitarian measure, and it does not mean the border with Burundi is officially reopened for refugees.
Tanzanian defense minister Edgar Majogo said on Saturday his country, which already has 700,000 Rwandan Hutus, could no longer cope with the exodus. The Rwandan Hutu refugees have camped at the border since last Sunday hoping Tanzania would reopen the border.
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