a2 _Casilégar News ‘ December 31, 1988 REPAIRS PLANNED . . . Zuckerberg Island bridge will get a facelift in 1989 now that Castlegar city council has agreed to set aside $9,000 in the city's capital budget for repairs and restoration of the Island bridge to get facelift By CasNews Staff Castlegar city council Wednesday agreed to include $9,000 in the city’s 1989 capital budget for restoration and repairs to the Zuckerberg Island bridge “T think that's great,’’ said Heritage Society president John Charters who has lobbied the city for repairs to the bridge. “I think it’s going to be a great asset both to the Castlegar community and to tourism nationally and internationally as far as this area is concerned.”’ Ald. Patti Richards, chairman of the city’s parks and recreation comm ittee, said a bridge inspection report written by Associated Engineering of Burnaby recommends raising the handrails on the bridge and tighten- ing the chain-link fence Work will also be done on the bridge's cables and one of the timber pilings which is starting to rot will be replaced, Richards said The main towers will have an additional cross-bace installed and the-guy wires will be lowered, she said. Work on the bridge could begin as early as the spring, Richards said In memory Harrison Charles Harrison of Castlegar passed away Dec. 29 at age 82. Mr. Harrison was born Aug. 22, 1906 in Sheffield, England. He came to Canada as a small boy, settling in Vallican and lived there until the early 1950s when he move He married Eileen Livingstone at Trail on Oct. 16, 1951. In 1957, he moved to Kinnaird where he lived since. During his life, Mr. Harrison worked for the B.C. Forest Service in logging and construction, and Cominco, retiring in 1971 after 28 years of service. He was an avid fisherman. Mr. Harrison is survived by his wife, Eileen of Castlegar; five sons, Michael of Robson, Philip of Nelson, Stephen of Genelle, Dennis of Eugene, Ore., and Bill of White City, Ore.; one daughter, Catherine English of Revelstoke; eight grandchildren; and two great-grand children. Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Tuesday, Jan. 3 at St. Rita’s Catholic Church starting at 10 a.m. with Father Herman Engberink as celebrant. Burial will be in Park Memorial Cemetery Funeral services are under the direction of the Castlegar Funeral Chapel. w ‘irail. Easton Marlene (Allen) Easton passed away Dec. 26, 1988 at Kamloops after a lengthy illness. She was 53. Mrs. Easton was the wife of the late Bill Easton Jr., a long-time employee of the engineering department of B.C. Telephone Co., and she was the daughter-in-law of the late William and Annie Easton of Castlegar. Mrs. Easton taught in the elementary schools of Trail, Haney, Prince George and Kamloops for many years. She is survived by her father, Frank Allen of Chilliwack; two brothers, James and Jack Allen, also of Chilliwack; son Robert Easton of Prince George; daughter Patti Davies of Kamloops; and daughter Colleen Nabata of Calgary. She is also survived by seven young grandsons. Mrs. Easton was predeceased by her mother in 1987 The funeral service was held Dec. 30 at Schoenings Funeral Parlour in Kamloops. Interment was at Kamloops. Schneider Fred Schneider, a longtime Deer Park resident who has lived for the past several years in the City Centre Motel and was well-known in downtown Castlegar, died Friday. Further details were not available at press time bridge. Raising the handrails and tightening the chain-link fence along the sides of the bridge are just some of the planned repairs CosNewsPhotc Charters said the Zuckerberg Island Bridge is “very special’’ and noted that few communities can boast of having a suspension bridge. “The bridge is not only an access to the island both for tourists and local people, but it's also for fire protection which is something we can't lose sight of,’’ Charters said Charters brought what he said was “neglect” of the bridge to council’s attention in a letter last October to Ald. Albert Calderbank who was at the time chairman of council's works and services committee Judge backs landlords VANCOUVER (CP) — A B.C. Supreme Court judge has upheld an arbitrator's decision giving landlords the right to refuse tenancy to people with pets. Justice Kenneth Meredity said the arbitrator's decision was “reason- able” in respect to tenant Gary Teal’s dispute with Affordable Housing Advisory Association. The association evicted Teal from his apartment because he breached the lease’s no-pet clause by keeping a cat. Police file Castlegar RCMP reported 25 vehicle accidents during the month of November. Five of those accidents resulted in injuries to the vehicles’ occupants, according to the monthly report to Castlegar city council from Staff Sgt. Jack Keddy of the Castlegar detachment. There were 10 hit-and-run vehicle accidents during the month, three impaired drivers nabbed and seven roadside suspensions issued to drinking drivers, according to the report. The RCMP issued 20 traffic tickets within Castlegar city limits and handed out 28 written warnings. There were 19 cases of wilful damage, 12 cases of breaking and entering, three liquor seizures and three assaults. There were three cases of theft over $1,000, six of theft under $1,000, nine thefts from motor vehicles and four cases of shoplifting, the report notes. The detachment received a total of 297 during the month. Trade deal becomes law OTTAWA (CP) — Cang@a's long, loud and lumpy road to free trade with the United States ended Friday as the trade deal became law at a subdued ceremony in the Senate chamber. The deal takes effect Sunday — New Year's Day. Over the next 10 years, it will phase out tariffs — a kind of import tax on goods — as well as a host of other border restrictions on banking, investment, energy and services. Ina brief ceremony witnessed by just 10 MPs and fewer than 30 senators, the 150-clause bill to meet Canada's obligations under free trade was given royal assent. Supreme Court Justice Antonio Lamer, acting for Gov. Gen. Jeanne Sauve, gave the bill the final nod. The quiet final ceremony contrasted sharply with the more than three years of often loud, sometimes vicious debate over Canada’s economic ties to the United States. The odyssey began on St. Patrick's Day 1985 when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney met President Ronald Reagan at the Shamrock Summit. There they belted out When Irish Eyes are Smiling and first discussed free trade. “Years from now, I believe it will be said of this generation of Canadians that we made the right choice,” Trade Minister John Crosbie, who was at home in Newfoundland, said in a statement Friday. However, Liberal Senate leader Allan MacEachen, a leading free-trade opponent, said it was “not a joyful” day for Canada and his senators will insist the government deliver on its promises of economic prosperity. Earlier Friday, the trade legislation was given final approval by the Senate in an unrecorded voice vote. Liberal senators — who have a majority in the Senate and most of whom oppose the trade deal — abstained to allow the bill to pass. ‘As soon as the bill passed, Len Legault, Canada's deputy ambassador in Washington, headed to the State Department and delivered a diplomatic note saying Canada was ready for free trade. APPROVES BILL American Ambassador Thomas Niles was deliver- ing a similar note to the External Affairs Department in Ottawa today. This fall, Liberal senators had promised to block the deal until Mulroney's Conservative government fought and won an election — which he did Nov. 21. The bill was approved by the Commons in a bitter two-week session earlier this month. But the Conservatives had to cut off debate four times by the use of closure to get it passed on Christmas Eve. The senators, in passing the bill, also voted to allow the foreign affairs committee to monitor how the deal is implemented over the next decade. The Committee has already called on the government to report annually to Parliament on the implementation of the agreement and to issue a study on the U.S. laws and regulations that need to be changed because of the treaty. Washington prepared a similar report on Canadian laws earlier this year. Canada’s free-trade legislation will amend 27 federal laws to bring them in line with the deal, signed Jan. 2 by Mulroney and Reagan. Canada and the United States have the world’s largest two-way trading relationship — worth $200 billion a year. 1989 continued from front For School District No. 9, chairman Gordon Turner predicts a “peaceful” year in 1989. “One union (Canadian Union of Public. Employees) has settled its collective agreement and another (The Castlegar and District Teachers’ Association) should have its agreement wrapped up in January,” Turner said. “So, there should be labor rest rather than agitation, anxiety and uneasiness in the year ahead.” Turner said the school district will implement some of the Royal Commission's recommendations on education handed down in a report earlier this year. “As many of these recommendations represent a change in emphasis only, the district will not experience any trauma in adapting to the changes,” he said. “Some concern will still be expressed about the Grade 10 school-leaving feature of the proposed new curriculum.” Turner also predicts school bus drivers will have an accident-free year in 1989 and that Stanley Humphries secondary school will get approval for upgrading the school’s facilities. The project “will be the first of several in this district as our older schools need to be re-worked,” Turner said. “The province pays for most of these costs. Look for the district to find ona or two portables classrooms to deal with overcrowding and program needs.” Turner is hopeful the province will inject more money into the system next year so the pressure on the local tax base will not be as heavy as in past years. He added the district will “likely” embark on a new LYLE KRISTIANSEN no ‘drastic changes language program but could not give specifics because the program is still being worked on. Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce president Ernie Turta says the chamber is looking for increased tourism in Castlegar for 1989. “Tourism is definitely going to increase in 1989,” he said., “We're really pushing it this year.” Turta said tourism has already increased this winter. “Comparing last year to this year, skiing is up quite a bit already,” he said of the hordes of skiers booked at his Fireside Inn hotel. “Tourism is going to be the number two industry here in 1989,” said Turta. “We're going to promote Castlegar.” Turning to regional issues, Regional District of Central Kootenay board chairman George Cady said 1989 will see the regional district focus on its litigation with B.C. Hydro over taxes and place a greater emphasis on the environment. “First off the bat, of course, is the B.C. Hydro taxation issue,” Cady | said. “We hope to get that resolved this year. We're going to court early in the spring to try to get taxes for this area from Hydro like they pay everywhere else in the province.” Cady said the RDCK and three other regional districts which have joined in the litigation could, if successful in the case, reap a financial windfall of some $60 million, according to figures from provincial Finance Minister Mel Couvelier. The RDCK’s share would depend on the tax assessments on Hydro property in the regional district, Cady added. And then there's the environment. “That's going to be a big thing with us, especially if CPR again applies next year to spray our particular area,” said Cady, referring to CP Rail's application in 1988 to use the herbicide Spike along the company’s railway tracks in the West Kootena: Cady said the regional district will also put more emphasis on the restoration of the area's fisheries and to that end he has put the regional district's fisheries committee in with the resources committee. ‘T've given them a mandate to meet more often and to really stress this because for so long we've been standing wringing our hands saying our fisheries are going downhill, what are we going to do about it,” he said. “Because after the logging and mining are gone in this area, what do we have? We have recreation and tourism, and fisheries is a big part of that.” Kootenay West. ke MP Lyle Kri balked at making any concrete predictions for the riding in 1989. The New Democrat said he will be spending the first two months in the new year travelling throughout the riding “sounding out” the needs and concerns of the constituents. “['m hoping the government will move on some program for funding the | upgrading of municipal infrastructures,” Kristiansen said. “I'm also hoping our economy can continue to progress.” Kristiansen said he didn’t forsee any “drastic” changes to the resource-based economy in the riding but added he wants to make sure the government is “sensitive” to the business community. “Generally it’s a matter of keeping up with projects that are on-going in mid-stream right now,” he said. “I want to see what we can do for new and developing businesses over the next year.” Despite the Conservative majority, Kristiansen is optimistie the PC's control of the federal purse strings will not be enough to steal his thunder while he is working to get projects off the ground in Kootenay West-Revelstoke. “We're a lot stronger now,” he said of the New Democrat representation in Ottawa. “I will be pressing the government to come through on all the projects that will benefit the Kootenay West-Revelstoke riding.” Sy December 31,1998 Castlegar News 3 Briefly Warfield man wins $3.9m By CasNews Staff Warfield resident Lorne Fillmore played Lotto 649 on his own for the third time in his life and ended up with a cheque for just under $3.9 million. The numbers he chose came from a Lotto 649 shaker — a little device with numbered balls that is shaken until six numbers fall into place. But the windfall isn’t all fun and games .says the 39-year-old Trail Regional Hospital employee, who won the jackpot 11 days ago. “T've got so many long-lost cousins it's hard to believe,” Fillmore said. added “99 per cent of the people who have phoned have been positive.” He said he hasn't yet made any plans for the money but is taking some time off to think about it. “We're going to take off and get our heads together,” he said. “I've got a few ideas but I'm going to keep them to myself right now.” Fillmore had been playing the Lotto for “a couple of years” in a pool with other hospital employees but he struck it rich playing solo for only the third time. Once again this year, there's no excuse for getting behind the wheel of your car after a few drinks during tonight's New Year Eve revelry The Castlegar Regional Tran- sit System will provide free bus rides beginning at 8 p.m. and continuing until 2:30 a.m. New Year's Day thanks to the spon- Free rides tonight sorship again this year of Maloney Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd. of Castlegar. New Year's Eve timetables are available on the bus. The transit system_will close after 2:30 a.m. New Year's Day and on Monday, Jan. 2 Regular service will resume Tuesday, Jan. 3. New PM sought BELGRADE (Reuter) — Yugoslavia is searching for a new prime ter to fill a political vacuum left by the resignation of Branko Mikulic. Mikulic, who took office in May 1986 as Yugoslavia's eigth prime minister, resigned on Friday after his 1989 budget and reform laws, aimed at making the Communist country’s ailing economy more | market-oriented, were blocked in parliament. His was the first government to fall since Communists came to power in Yugoslavia in 1945. Canada on council OTTAWA (CP) — Canada officially begins its fifth two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Couneil on Sunday, External Affairs Minister Joe Clark said. Canada was elected last month as one of 10 temporary members of the body, which deals with major crises in international security. The other non-permanent members of the Security Council are Algeria, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Finland, Malaysia, Nepal, Senegal and Yugoslavia. They join the permanent members China, France, the USSR, the United Kingdom and the United States. Canadians accused LIMA (Reuter) — Two Canadian brothers accused of participating in an international drug gang will be handed over to a Peruvian judge next week, a top anti-drug official said. The chief of Peru's National Police Investigation Anti-Narcotics Division, Gen. Felix Garcia Nunez, said Luc and Guy Fortin of Toronto will be handed over toa judge next Thursday. If found guilty, they are liable to a sentence of 40 years in prison. Raisa visits children MOSCOW (Reuter) — Raisa Gorbachev paid a visit Friday to children being treated in a Moscow hospital for injuries received in this month's devastating earthquake in Armenia. The wife of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was shown on the evening television news comforting children in their beds at the Children's Clinical Hospital of the Russian Federation. Each young victim was given a New Year's present — a model of one of the Kremlin towers filled with candy. Mercedes-Benz fined WASHINGTON (AP) — Mercedes-Benz has paid a record $20.2 million US fine because its 1986 cars guzzled too much gasoline, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. The luxury German automaker was fined because the 86,020 cars it sold in the United States in the 1986 model year fell short of meeting required fleet average minimum mileage, agency spokesman Tim Hurd said. The law requires a fine of $5 US for every tenth of a mile per gallon that the standard is missed — $235 US a car in this case — multiplied by the number of cars sold. Manufacturers may apply credits earned by doing better than the minimum in other years, but Mercedes exhausted all its credits in the 1985 model year. The largest previous fine was $8.8 million US paid by Jaguar in 1987 for shortfalls in 1985. Pledges not kept SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Almost half of more than 200 people studied failed to keep their New Year's resolutions for a month, and less than one in five followed their pledges for two years, a researcher said. “Sticking to your resolution takes more than willpower, it takes careful planning before and after the new year,” said John Norcross, “head of the University of Scranton’s psychology department. Norcross headed a research team that showed only 55 per cent of 213 people kept their New Year's resolution for a month. Only 19 per cent kept their pledge for two years, he said this week. The study ran from Jan. 1, 1986, through Jan. 1, 1988. Columbia suspends payment BOGOTA (AP) — Colombia, for the first time Friday, suspended payment on its $16.5-billion US foreign debt for three months when the government is to obtain a new loan to meet the payments. Treasury Minister Luis Fernando Alarcon, who announced the decision, said the country's creditors agreed to the suspension. Colombia was the only Latin American country that had not restructured its debt or suspended payments. The minister said Colombia is to receive an international loan of $1.7 billion in April that would ensure it has the funds needed to pay interest and principal on the foreign debt until 1990. Railways reject bids KENTVILLE, N.S. (CP) — CP Rail and CN Rail have rejected bids by a Nova Scotia company to buy two unprofitable railway lines that serve the; southern half of the province. But a spokesman for NsC Intermodel Inc., a venture-capital firm based in Dartmouth, said it is still optimistic a deal can be reached. NsC Intermodal announced plans earlier this month to buy the Halifax-to-Liverpool branch line from CN Rail and the entire Dominion Atlantic Railway, a subsidiary of CP Rail. The Dominion Atlantic operates from Windsor Junction, a few kilometres north of Halifax, through the Annapolis Valley to Yarmouth at Nova Scotia's southwestern tip. Gretzky does promo Wayne Gretzky's fans may soon be able to visit him at a California beach party, thanks to his first big promotional contract since being traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky and his wife, the former Janet Jones, are featured in a series of television and radio commercials calling 200 Canadians to join them at a beach party by entering a contest sponsored by Coca Cola. The commercial shows the former Edmonton Oiler player asking Janet, “Why don’t we ask everyone back home to come and visit us here in Los Angeles?” “Let's do it,” his bride replies. Toby Wong, brand manager for Diet Coke in Toronto, said the commercial is the first part of a North American promotion involving Wayne and Janet. The Canadian contest gives away 100 one-week trips for two to Los Angeles, featuring hotel accommodation, free rental car and the beach party — which the couple will attend. Barber appeals VANCOUVER (CP) — A Vancouver barber sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter in the alcohol-poisoning death of a woman has appealed the sentence which he says is excessive. Gilbert Jordan, in a notice of appeal filed Wednesday in the B.C. Court of Appeal by lawyer Glen Orris, did not appeal his conviction by B.C. Supreme Court Justice John Bouck. In the case, Justice Bouck heard evidence that a number of native women who died alcohol-related deaths were in Jordan's company at the time. Jordan's lawyer Glen Orris had asked for a five or six-year sentence. MOYIE PRESERVATION . . . The first load of concrete for the support of the $.S. Moyie was poured earlier this month on Kootenay Lake The concrete is being used for an additional footing to hold a new steel support system for the ship. The steel crib and a fire protection system are major features in the $350,000 emergency preservation program now undereay at the Moyie site Security defended BONN (AP) — A government spokesman rejected today a London newspaper report claiming the bomb that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 was put on board at Frankfurt airport. Interior Ministry spokesman Michael Rutz dis- missed the report carried by today’s Times newspaper of London as “incorrect,” and charged the claim was based on speculation. The Times quoted anonymous sources as saying investigations had determined that the baggage compartment where a bomb exploded on Dee. 21, killing all 259 people aboard — including two Canadians — contained luggage loaded in Frankfurt. Another 11 people were missing and presumed dead on the ground. The newspaper said the investigation now is focused on Frankfurt, “where a Palestinian terrorist cell is known to have been operating for more than 18 months.” Butz told The Associated Press by telephone the newspaper's claim was not grounded in fact. “There is no indication that the explosives could have been put on board at Frankfurt airport,” Butz said. An official of the Bonn government, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed investigators have made no determination that the bomb originated in Frankfurt. He pointed out that the Frankfurt-to-London leg of the Pan Am flight was one of more than 10 planes from which baggage was transferred to the Boeing 747 that later exploded over Scotland. An Iranian extremist group has claimed responsib- ility for the terrorist act, contending it was in retaliation for the U.S. destruction in July of an Iranian passenger jet. West German investigators, however, have said other terrorist groups are under suspicion, including Palestinian groups. The Times, citing unidentified sources, reported that investigators have told Scottish police a bomb with two separate detonating systems was put on Flight 103, in Frankfurt. It said the use of two detonators was developed to frustrate decompression chambers installed at some airports, including Frankfurt, to neutralize air pressure-sensitive devices. The newspaper said investigators are certain that luggage loaded on flight 103 in Frankfurt and flown to London's Heathrow airport was transferred at Heathrow to the forward cargo hold of the doomed jet The Times said scientists have established the bomb exploded in that hold, causing the New York-bound plane to disintegrate about 10 kilometres above Scotland. Lawsuit filed against Pan Am NEW YORK (Reuter) — A Detroit man has filed a $50-million US lawsuit against Pan American airlines, claiming lax security at the airline led to the death of his son, the lawyer filing the suit said. Cincinatti-based lawyer Stanley Chesley said the suit was filed in Detroit on Thursday on behalf of gasoline station owner Nazir Jaafar, whose 20-year. old son Khalid was killed in the crash of Flight 103 last week. Chesley said he believes the lawsuit is the first brought against Pan Am in the aftermath of the tragedy. The Boeing 747 crashed into the Scottish farming town of Lockerbie last week, killing up to 270 people on board, including two Canadians, and on the ground. Chesley, in a telephone interview from Cincinatti, said Jaafar is seeking $15 million in compensatory damages and $35 million in punative damages. He said the case will seek to prove that tighter security at Pan Am would have prevented the crash, believed to have been caused by a bomb in the plane’s cargo hold. Nazir Jaafar, a U.S. citizen who was a lawyer in Lebanon, owns a service station near Detroit. His son was studying at a local technical college and was returning home from vacation in Europe Chesley said his law firm will seek similar damages for each of the nine or 10 people with which it is also discussing lawsuits. Muscovites optimistic for peace in new year TORONTO (CP) — Muscovites, A similar Gallup poll published at considered accurate within four per traditionally a people given to the end of 1987 indicated 37 per cent centage points, 19 times out of 20 pessimism, have put on a happy face for Gallup pollsters. Residents of the Soviet city were more optimistic for a peaceful year than any other group polled ‘by Gallup about the prospects for 1989. The poll found 52 per cent of those the surveyed in Moscow are confident the year will be peaceful and ‘‘more or less’’ free of international disputes Gallup reported In racially troubled South Africa, on the other hand, the white adults polled were the least optimistic, with peaceful 1988. overall of Canadians feared a troubled year, The samples conducted in other and a mere 12 per cent expected a countries were similar The overall poll results show a The Canadian results are based on marked rise in optimism from an 1,041 interviews Nov. 2 to 5. Results international survey last year when of such a sample, when applied to 18 per cent expected a peaceful year population, are and 36 per cent feared trouble Brezhnev memories only 12 per cent confident that 1989 will turn out to be a generally strife-free year. Only 19 per cent of the Canadians polled indicated they were looking forward to a peaceful year. But 53 per cent of those surveyed said they expected 1989 to be much like 1988 The survey, conducted outside Canada by Gallup International Research Institute, polled residents in 34 countries. It asked the question, ‘‘Do you think 1989 will be a peaceful year free of international dispute, a troubled year with much interna tional dispute, a troubled year with much international discord, or re- main the same?"’ The poll found 25 per cent of those polled look forward with confidence to a peaceful year, 24 per cent anticipated a troubled year, and 42 per cent expect little change from 1988. Nine per cent of respondents were unable to decide. In Canada, 22 per cent of respon- dents expect a troubled year with i i discord. st erased in disgrace MOSCOEW (AP) — A plaque marking the apartment house where Leonid Brezhnev lived for 30 years was removed on Kremlin orders in the latest blow at the legacy of the disgraced Soviet leader The plaque — which called Brezhnev a distinguished figure of the Soviet Communist party, the Soviet government and the world socialist and workers’ movement — was on the building at 26 Kutozovsky Prospekt when the Kremlin issued its directive Thursday evening By Friday morning it had been removed, leaving only a blank wall outside the sand-colored apartment building “They took it away in the, middle of the night. | thought they would," said an elderly woman wha paused to look at the wall. ‘‘They did the right thing,’’ said the woman who did fot want to be identified That Kremlin decree ordered that everything still named after Brezhnev and former leader Kon- stantin Chernenko be renamed because the two were responsible for a period of stagnation and corrup tion. It ordered the plaques marking the homes of both leaders be taken down Brezhnev ruled for 18 years before he died in 1982. After his death a city, streets, city squares and state-run enterprises were named after him. Soviet officials started removing those names in January Brezhnev was succeeded by Yuri Andropov, mentor of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev Andropov lived in the same apart ment building as did Brezhnev, and a plaque in his memory remained on the building Friday Chernenko ruled for 13 months between Andropov and Gorbachev. and was ill much of the time The TV news program Vremya said acity in the republic of Moldavia and another in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siveria that had been named for Chernenko would be rechristened. Boy dies in village uprising JERUSALEM (CP) — A 14-year. old Palestinian died today of wounds from an earlier clash, and 10 Arabs were wounded by troops who fired to disperse West Bank villagers from attending the youth's funeral, Arab reports said. The army said it was checking the reports. In the occupied lands, residents observed a general strike ordered by the Muslim fundamentalist group Hamas, the chief rival of pro-PLO leaders of the year-long Palestinian uprising. Anwar Buhti of the West Bank village of Shuweikah died early today at Mukassed Hospital in Arab eastern Jerusalem, doctors said. Buhti was shot in the head during a clash with troops Dec. 7 In Shuweikah, hundreds of resi- dents, some of them masked, joined Buhti's funeral procession, Arab witnesses said. They chanted pro- PLO slogans, and some hoisted black flags of mourning and outlawed Palestinian flags. The boy's body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag, and his head was covered by a black-and-white check ered keffiyeh, a traditional headdress seen as a symbol of Palestinian nationalism. Troops opened fire to disperse the crowd, wounding 10 villages ranging in age from 16 to 31, hospital officials said. The army later imposed a curfew on Shuweikah, 65 kilometres north of Jersalem. Buhti's death brought to 343 the number of Palestinians killed in the uprising against Israeli occupation. Fourteen Israelis have also died. STREETS DESERTED Streets were deserted and stores shuttered in the occupied lands as residents complied with the Hamas strike, called to express solidarity with Palestinian detaineees and deportees. The compliance marked a victory for Hamas, which has repeatedly challenged the proPLO Unified National Leadership of the Uprising In Gaza City and the southern town of Khan Yunis, activists pasted posters of PLO chief Yasser Arafat on walls. The army clamped a curfew ‘on Baza's eight refugee camps and several villages, confining about 300,000 people to their homes. In the West Bank, masked Hamas followers marched through the bus: iness district of Bethlehem and stuck pieces of wood into store locks. to prevent merchants from opening their shops. In Nablus, Palestinians spray: painted dozens of Palestinian flags on walls Wall graffitti in English read “Long live the uprising” and “Let January 1 be a day of escalation against the Zionists.” Jan. 1 is known among Palestin ians as Fatah Day. On Jan. 1, 1965, the mainstream Fatah faction of the PLO carried out its first attack against Israel. In a leaflet issued by pro-PLO leaders, Palestinians were urged to mark Fatah Day on Sunday with “violent actions, stones, firebombs and demonstrations against the occupation army.”