March 8, 1990 – CBS World News Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
March 8, 1990 – a day built around the operative phrase: “amid reports”, news of a day in flux all over the world.
Starting with Afghanistan, where reports were sketchy, but told of a day after an attempted coup of the government of Mohammad Najibullah was crushed, there was still fighting going on around the capitol of Kabul. Since there was no on-the-ground news coverage, reports from Embassies in neighboring Pakistan were the only source for word on the tense on-going situation. However, the Afghan Ambassador in India told a news conference that rebel troops were fighting east of Kabul, but that 8 mutineer generals had surrendered. He went on to add that the coup attempt was over.
U.S. Secretary of State Baker was having difficulties jump-starting the Middle-East Peace talks. Reports that Israeli cabinet members voted to put off any move on the latest plan for several days, amid reports that the Dovish Labour Party had told the hardline Likud, its partner in this shaky coalition, that if the U.S. wasn’t approved by this day (March 7th), it would pull out of the government. Under the U.S. plan proposed by Secretary Baker, Palestinians who lived on the West Bank but worked in East Jerusalem could sit at the bargaining table, as well as Palestinians who had been deported by the Israelis. Likud had balked at the plan and had demanded that Labour accept additional conditions for peace talks – conditions which were unlikely to satisfy either Labour or the U.S.
And reports of some movement from Iran on the Lebanon hostage crisis came by way of Iranian President Rafsanjani who said that problem was “moving towards a solution”. Sources were hard-pressed to raise expectations, since Rafsanjani had his own problems at home. In short – no solution in the foreseeable future.
In Nicaragua, voters rejected the Sandinista government of Daniel Ortega, but weren’t entirely sold on the Contra Rebels who supported newly elected president Violetta Chammoro either. Since her victory, it was hard to get a fixed position on where the Contras stood and just what had to happen before they laid down their arms. Reports from the Contras told they were coming back to Nicaragua, but with their arms in hand, and would only disarm once the Sandinista Army had turned in their weapons.
A day in flux – and much more via the CBS World News Roundup for March 7, 1990.
