Click on the link here for Audio Player – CBS World News Roundup – March 6, 1990 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
News for this March 6th in 1990 had much to do with the atmosphere of change and what was rapidly becoming the new face of Europe. Still, there were nerves and negotiations and political eggshells to step lightly over. On the table were discussions regarding Poland and the return of pre-World War 2 lands which Germany claimed as theirs. Although not coming right out and saying it, West German President Helmut Kohl was busily drafting a carefully worded compromise in order to avert a potentially damaging split between Kohl and his Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher. At issue was how to word a request to return the approximately 1/3 of modern Polish territory, originally part Germany prior to 1939, which had been taken by Poland at the end of World War 2 in 1945. Critics, as well as Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev blasted the attempt as a move to create an expansionist atmosphere with the proposed New Germany. Many did not want a repeat of that particular page of history.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan – the Soviet-backed government of Najibullah took to the airwaves to proclaim an attempted coup to topple the Kabul government had been crushed. Earlier the coup, led by Najibullah’s defense Chief and rival who was reported to be siding with the Afghan rebels, enlisted members of the Afghan Air Force to engage in bombing runs on the Presidential Palace. Fierce fighting had also been reported on the streets of Kabul. But in the end the coup was, according to radio reports, crushed and Najibullah remained in power. A call for the arrest of the errant Defense Minister, dead or alive, was also broadcast.
Negotiations in the Middle East over a peace settlement were having detrimental affects inside Israel’s Knesset. Moderate Labour Party leader and vice-Chairman Shimon Peres threatened to quit the coalition over hardline stances from the hawkish Lekud Party, who conditionally accepted a U.S.backed proposal for negotiations, but with some big if’s attached. It rejected any hint of a negotiating role for the PLO or return of Arab East Jerusalem.
Back in the U.S. – President Bush was busy welcoming Italian Prime Minister Andreotti, who was on a three-day visit to Washington. One of the points Andreotti was keen on bringing up was Italy having a say in the upcoming reunification of Germany.
And that’s just a sample of what went on this March 6th in 1990, as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
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