Cable briefs

Press, 2 March 1982, Page 8

Cable briefs

Samoan poll setback Western Samoa’s Prime Minister (Tupuola Eli) suffered a serious setback in the General Election. The Opposition claimed to have won 29 seats in the 47-member Parliament, Tupuola’s supporters winning 15. It was the first time since Western Samoa gained independence in 1962 that a formal opposition party has contested an election. The rebuff does not necessarily signal Tupuola’s defeat as’ Prime Minister. Under the Samoan system Parliament will meet in 45 days to elect a Speaker and a Prime Minister. Observers said there would be a hectic round of dealing and horsetrading between now and then, and Tupuola is renowned as a strong political in-fighter. — Apia. Atlanta killings The Atlanta authorities say that the murder convictions of Wayne Williams are likely to close the police investigations into all but two of 28 killings of young blacks that terrorised Atlanta for nearly two years. Williams, aged 23, a black freelance photographer and music promoter, has been jailed for life for the murders of Jimmy Ray Payne and Nataniel Cater. Williams will appeal against the verdict. — Atlanta. Pakistan plot claimed The Pakistani police have arrested more than 2000 people allegedly involved in a nationwide- plot to foment disturbances and kill “important” people. Police spokesmen said they learned of the alleged plot from some of the “terrorists” they had arrested. A senior police official in Karachi said that more . 2000 people, including some unnamed toplevel. Government workers, were arrested in. a three-day sweep of two provinces — Punjab and Sind. — Karachi. Glut continues Saudi Arabia’s oil' output slipped in February to average just over seven million barels daily from 7.9 million in January, but the fall was not' enough to tighten the world market and ease pressure on prices, oil-jndustry sourcs have said. The sources said that in spite of O.P.E.C. pleas for a drastic cut,, the. Saudis had apparently not changed an official output ceiling of 8.5 million barrels daily. But their castortiers' were shipping'lower volumes as the persistent glut made it impossible to dispose of all their - entitlements ■ except at a loss. — Bahrain: Charges unfounded A United Nations magazine has said that a study of Asian news media showed that allegations that Western news agencies ignored Third World news were unfounded. The magazine, the “Monthly Development Forum,” said that according to the study — a 352-page- book entitled: “Circulation of News in the Third World — A Study of Asia” y- the editors of 18 Asian newspapers used only a small- percentage of Third World news they received. Professors Wilbur Schramm, of Honolulu’s East-West Centre, and Erwin Atwood, of Southern Illinois University, made the study into services of four international wire services: Agence France-Presse, Assodated . Press, Reuters, and United Press International. — Geneva.