352 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
352 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
[B>O>O>M bulletin for 10/31/95]
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New York / Oct. 31, 95
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Dear readers,
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Thank you so much for all of your support. Your response means a
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tremendous amount to us. Your appreciation is our best motivation. The fact
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that so many people are involved in the protesting against France is
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encouraging for all of us.
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We want to continue to bring you up to date information that interests you
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and that you can use. In response to some readers we have decided to scale
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down our posts and perhaps increase their frequency. This means that we will
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not be sending you all the news stories that we get, but we will make our
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library available to you upon request.
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Once again, much thanks and keep in touch.
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Cheers,
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Beau Tardy / Media Chief
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B>O>O>M / BOMBS OUT OF MURUROA
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B>O>O>M / BULLETIN FOR 10/31/95
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BOMBS OUT OF MURUROA//fax: usa+212-974-0297// NETFEED@aol.com
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News materials are copyright Reuters unless otherwise noted. Contents may
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have been abridged.
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***THIRD TEST / WORLD REACTIONS ***
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PARIS (Reuter) - France has staged its third nuclear test in the South
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Pacific in defiant fulfilment of President Jacques Chirac's vow to conduct a
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final series of checks on its nuclear arms before ending tests forever.
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Reaction in Japan, Australia and New Zealand was swift and emotional
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Saturday in what has become almost a ritual of widespread condemnation
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followed by concerted French defense of its nuclear program.
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In Tokyo, protesters outside the French Embassy stamped on photographs of
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Chirac and one demonstrator solemnly cradled the carcass of a dead dove in
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what organizers said was a symbol of the threat French testing posed to world
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peace.
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The mayors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the only cities to suffer an atomic
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bombing, issued statements denouncing the blast as an ``outrage.''
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In Japan, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama termed the test ``extremely
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regrettable,'' adding that Tokyo had ``repeatedly protested (against) the
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testing ... and we will again demand that the testing be stopped.''
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But Chirac says France will probably stage another three tests before it
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signs an international treaty, expected next year, banning all future tests
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and turns to computer simulations to verify the effectiveness of its nuclear
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weapons.
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The Defense Ministry said the latest test, carried out at 2200 GMT (6
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p.m. EDT) Friday, was of an explosive force under 60 kilotonnes, or 60,000
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tonnes of TNT.
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``The test was aimed at guaranteeing the future security and reliability
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of the (nuclear) weapons,'' an army spokesman said.
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No further details were given, apparently following a new low profile
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that Paris has adopted after concluding that its initial policy of openness
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had only encouraged testing critics.
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As in the case of France's two earlier tests Sept. 5 and Oct.r 2, the
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strongest denunciations came from the Pacific rim nations geographically
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closest to the remote Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia where the test was
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carried out.
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New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger told Radio New Zealand he was
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frustrated and disappointed by the latest test.
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Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating said France ``continues to
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seriously damage its international reputation by its actions in the face of
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world opinion.''
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Russia added its voice to a chorus of global criticism. ``The French
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leadership is well aware of Russia's position on this,'' Itar-Tass news
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agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Grigory Karasin as saying.
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Karasin said Russia noted the test ``with regret.''
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Chirac's decision, disclosed just a week ago, to probably conduct only
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six tests and try to end them as soon as possible was widely ascribed to
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worldwide outrage which had taken Paris by surprise.
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Reut10:03 10-28-95
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In Nagasaki, dozens of people staged a protest sit-in at the city's main
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park.
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``They don't understand at all the suffering of the atomic bomb victims.
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We really feel helpless,'' Nagasaki protester Sakue Shimohira, a 60-year-old
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atom bomb survivor, told reporters.
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``I want (French) President Jacques Chirac to visit Hiroshima and
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Nagasaki to understand what happens as a result of nuclear damage,'' she
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said.
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Haruo Kurosaki, 60, a photographer who has been documenting the fate of
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Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors since 1968, said the test demonstrated ``the
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egoism of the nuclear powers.''
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Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito said the test was a ``totally unpermissible
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outrage,''
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He said setting off the blast now was a challenge to world opinion. Ito
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and Hiroshima mayor Takashi Hiraoka are scheduled to appear on Monday before
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the International Court of Justice in The Hague at a hearing on the legality
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of nuclear weapons.
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``Conducting a test directly before the proceedings start is nothing but
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challenging the worldwide trend against nuclear weapons,'' Ito said. REUTER
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280850 GMT oct 95 (
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Reut08:06 10-28-95
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BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (Reuter) - Belgium on Saturday lent its voice to the
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chorus of criticism of France's third nuclear test in the South Pacific,
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noting world opinion was moving in favour of a total ban on nuclear tests.
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``The Belgian government notes with great regret the third French nuclear
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test in the Pacific,'' the foreign ministry said in a statement.
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The statement added that Belgium supported an appeal launched by the
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President of the EU Commission Jacques Santer in favout of ``determined
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action by the European Union.''
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Meanwhile, the Belgium-based environmental group Mother Earth called for
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all consumers and business to join an international boycott of French
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products and services ``to show their disagreement with the policy of
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President (Jacques) Chirac.'' REUTER 281316 GMT oct 95 (
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Reut11:42 10-28-95
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LONDON (Reuter) - Hundreds of people protesting French nuclear testing
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invaded the grounds of Prime Minister John Major's official country home
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Sunday as Major prepared to greet French President Jacques Chirac.
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The demonstration, by members of the environmental pressure group
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Greenpeace and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, occurred about an hour
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before Chirac arrived for a two-day bilateral summit.
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Greenpeace said in a statement that dozens of police, some on horseback,
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had failed to prevent the invasion by more than 500 protesters who carried
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French flags with radiation symbols painted on them and blew whistles and
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claxons.
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Police said they made a number of arrests. They were unable to confirm
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the organizers' estimate of the number of invaders.
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Sky Television, an independent satellite channel, said some protesters
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made it to within 100 yards of Chequers, a former stately home northwest of
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London which for many years has served as a country retreat for British prime
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ministers. Chirac had not reached the estate at the time of the protest.
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Chirac's visit follows the third in a series of French nuclear tests in
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the remote Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia which was carried out Friday.
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Chirac's meeting with Major is one of a series of annual summits between
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leaders of the two countries, the only ones in Western Europe with nuclear
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arsenals.
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British sources said the accent on this meeting would be on defense,
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alongside the search for common ground ahead of next year's
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inter-governmental conference on the future of the European Union, and
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bilateral ties on a range of issues.
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Major faces more criticism of his handling of the French nuclear testing
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issue when he goes to a Commonwealth heads of government summit in New
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Zealand from Nov. 10 to 13.
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Former members of the British empire in the Pacific region, including New
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Zealand and Australia, have been outraged at the tests, which they say could
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result in leaks of radioactivity.
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Reut13:17 10-29-95
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ROME (Reuter) - Italy said Wednesday it had summoned a senior French
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official for an urgent explanation of why French commandos boarded a boat
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belonging to the environmental group Greenpeace in its waters.
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The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the French charge
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d'affaires had been summoned to explain why some 20 commandos from the French
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destroyer Dupleix raided the Greenpeace boat Altair in the southern port of
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Brindisi.
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``The Italian government awaits a full and satisfactory clarification of
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the behavior of the Dupleix crew during the disagreeable incident,'' the
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statement said.
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Greenpeace, protesting against French nuclear testing, had earlier called
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the boarding an ``act of war.''
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``French commandos wearing gas masks boarded our boat, broke the glass of
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the windows in the bridge and threw in six tear gas grenades,'' said Giuseppe
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Onufrio, a Greenpeace activist who was on board the Altair at the time.
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Witnesses said the crew of the Altair, which was floating free in
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Brindisi Harbor, seemed to lose control of the boat for about 10 minutes
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after the commandos climbed aboard.
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Greenpeace protestors in inflatable dinghies had pulled alongside the
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Dupleix, which was docked in Brindisi, and painted slogans across the side of
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it condemning France's recent resumption of nuclear testing in the South
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Pacific.
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Reut20:55 10-25-95
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PAPEETE, French Polynesia, Oct 25 (Reuter) - France could transfer its
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South Pacific military command from Papeete to New Caledonia after ending
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nuclear tests in French Polynesia next year, according to a Tahiti newspaper
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The report, to be published on Thursday by La Depeche de Tahiti, said the
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COMSUP command could move to Noumea.
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The move would only affect a few dozen officers but would be symbolic if
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it took place just after the end of France's controversial nuclear testing
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campaign, scheduled for next May.
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French Polynesia President Gaston Flosse told reporters on Wednesday
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plans to move COMSUP were being studied but no decision had been taken.
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COMSUP watches over a huge area of French Polynesia, including nuclear
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testing sites at Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls, New Caledonia and Wallis and
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Futuna.
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It was responsible for the operation which foiled plans by the
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environmental group Greenpeace to stop the nuclear tests.
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Reut04:35 10-26-95
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PARIS, Oct 25 (Reuter) - Most French people would give up the country's
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nuclear strike force if drastic budget cuts were needed, an opinion poll said
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on Wednesday.
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The IFOP poll published in the news magazine L'Express said 53 percent of
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French voters would accept abandoning the nuclear force, while 46 percent
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would not.
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The survey was published as the government embarked on an austerity drive
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to cut state deficits in order to comply with the Maastricht Treaty criteria
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for adoption of a single European currency in 1999.
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Previous polls have found a majority of voters oppose France's
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controversial nuclear testing campaign that President Jacques Chirac launched
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in September to ensure the credibility of the strike force.
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Reut11:11 10-25-95
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By Abigail Schmelz
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STOCKHOLM, Oct 26 (Reuter) - Sales of French wines in Sweden have halved
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in recent weeks as Swedes protested against nuclear testing and turned to
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Spanish Riojas or Italian Frascatis, the state liquor distributor said on
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Thursday.
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Sales of lower-priced wines -- ranging from 40 to 50 crowns ($6.00 to
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$7.50) -- per bottle have been hit hardest, a spokesman at the state-run
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alcohol monopoly Systembolaget said.
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Finding a bottle of French wine in a Swedish restaurant is becoming a
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tough task as restaurateurs remove them from wine lists and replace them with
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other, mainly European, wines.
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A group of fashionable central Stockholm restaurants agreed between
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themselves not to serve French wines after France's first nuclear test in
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September.
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``We don't have French wines on the menu, but we have them in stock,''
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said Nico Hasselstrom, manager at Sturehof Inn.
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``We've managed to replace everything quite easily,'' said Guy Taylor,
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part owner of Rolf's Kitchen restaurant in central Stockholm. ``The problem
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arises when a person wants Calvados (French apple brandy). There is nothing
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quite like it.''
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South African wines and brandies, once shunned in the Swedish capital,
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are now a mainstay at the hip Rolf's Kitchen. ``At first no one would touch
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them, and suddenly they've become really trendy,'' Taylor said.
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Sweden, like France a member of the European Union, has been the toughest
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European critic of France's nuclear test programme on the remote South
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Pacific atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa.
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France postponed a visit to Paris by Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar
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Carlsson last month because of the vehemence of Swedish protests.
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Critics of the Swedish boycott are quick to point out that Swedes have
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not snubbed Chinese restaurants with the same fervour although China has
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tested nuclear weapons this year.
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``The French farmers are being lynched. Less than five percent of the
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population in France are farmers, and they are not dealing at all with
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nuclear tests,'' said Francois Aillet, Agricultural Attache at the French
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Embassy in Stockholm.
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French cheese is also falling victim to the boycott. Claes Melin, a
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cheese importer, says he has lost about 50 percent of orders.
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Melin said Swedish firms had promoted the boycott of French cheese and
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wines by cancelling orders for corporate events.
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Melin said Swedish carmaker Volvo cancelled a French cheese order worth
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about 24,000 crowns ($3,600) for a company banquet because an official
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decided he did not want the French product. A Volvo spokesman said he was
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unaware of the lost order.
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Nordic neighbours in Norway and Finland have not responded to the call to
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arms against the French with the same passion.
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``It's because Sweden is very collective. It's the Swedish mentality,''
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Melin said.
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Sales of French wine in Norway have actually increased, recent statistics
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show.
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In Finland, state alcohol monopoly Alko had to destroy 400,000 bottles of
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French wine after it received a threat in September saying five bottles had
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been laced with cyanide.
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Reut09:12 10-26-95""
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_end_
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B>O>O>M// BOMBS OUT OF MURUROA// fax: usa+212-974-0297// NETFEED@aol.com
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