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News stories from Thursday November 22, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Support for Iranian students was apparently given by Ayatollah Khomeini as he repeated their threat to blow up the American Embassy in Teheran and "destroy" hostages there if attacked. We cannot control these youths," he said. He urged all Moslems to rise up against the West, called the storming of the American Embassy in Pakistan "a great joy" and said that Iran would gladly suffer "martyrdom" if Washington attacked.
Washington again warned Iran that it would be held "strictly accountable" for the safety of hostages held in the American Embassy in Teheran. Earlier, officials said that the United States had informed Moscow that it regards with great seriousness the Iranian threats to try the hostages for espionage and that it would not rule out the use of force to protect them. [New York Times]
- An emotional welcome was given to 13 hostages freed from the American Embassy in Iran. The captives, five white women and eight black men, were greeted at a Washington area airport by relatives from around the country, top State Department officials and members of Congress. [New York Times]
- Five Asian hostages were freed by the students holding the American Embassy in Teheran, and a spokesman for the students said that 49 remaining hostages were Americans. [New York Times]
- The body of a second American and of two Pakistani clerks at the United States Embassy in Islamabad were found at the smoldering ruins of the compound, which thousands of Pakistanis stormed Wednesday. The country appeared to he calm after broadcast statements by Pakistani officials suppressed rumors that Washington was involved in the seizure of the Great Mosque in Mecca.
The seizure of the Great Mosque in Mecca by what were termed Islamic fundamentalists continued, the Saudi government said. The gunmen were said to be holding an unknown number of hostages. [New York Times]
- The review of Iranian students' status being conducted by immigration officials violates the students' civil liberties and right to privacy, in the view of some lawyers. A class action lawsuit has been filed challenging the constitutionality of the program and seeking an injunction to halt it. [New York Times]
- A shootout injured at least 14 people when two motorcycle gangs clashed outside a high school stadium in Camden, N.J., during a football game. The shots sent some spectators fleeing for cover, and the game was called off. The injured included spectators, nearby residents and nine gang members. The police said that 37 gang members had been taken into custody. [New York Times]
- Contracting out municipal services to private concerns is being done by many cities on the ground that the contractors provide better managed and cheaper services than public employees do. Critics contend that the practice generally proves to be temporary and is based on misleading data on savings and productivity. But taxpayers in Gainesville, Fla., for example, are paying $500,000 a year less for trash removal, vehicle maintenance and custodial services.
A public service strike in Hawaii, which began Oct. 22, has caused mountains of garbage to accumulate and temporarily disrupted port activities. A tentative accord has been reached, and more than 7,700 state and county workers will begin voting on it next week. The strike has aroused bitterness among the workers and ratification faces hurdles. [New York Times]
- The Arab League rebuffed Lebanon in rejecting its plea for backing a withdrawal of Palestinian guerrillas from its southern border region and endorsing the guerrillas' right to be there. But the Arab leaders, assembled in Tunis, pledged to give Lebanon $2 billion over the next five years for the reconstruction of war-damaged areas. [New York Times]
- A Palestinian mayor lost an appeal for release as Israel's Supreme Court ruled that he must remain In prison pending review of an order to deport him. The court also granted a government request to have the case considered first by a military panel. [New York Times]
- Soviet warnings to NATO members against acceptance of new American nuclear weapons in Western Europe have been reported by allied diplomats and politicians. They said the campaign by Moscow was likely to be long and increasingly sharp. [New York Times]
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