News Briefs
March 21, 1996
Web posted at: 5:40 p.m. EST (2240 GMT)Tensions mount in southern Lebanon
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Tensions in southern Lebanon remained high Thursday as Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah traded threats. On Wednesday, a Hezbollah suicide bomber killed an Israeli soldier. (425K QuickTime Movie)
Hezbollah Chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah promised that Hezbollah guerrillas will carry out more suicide bombings to force Israeli troops from the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Israel would respond to the Islamic guerrillas, but did not elaborate. His ministers left no doubt that Israel would retaliate .
The Israeli-Lebanese border was quiet Thursday, according to CNN's Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers.
Verdict for Rabin assassin to be announced Wednesday
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The verdict for Yigal Amir, the confessed assassin of Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, will be announced Wednesday.
A three-judge court in Tel Aviv will deliver its ruling on the 25-year-old Amir, the Israeli Justice Ministry said Thursday.
Amir said he shot Rabin in November to try to halt peace moves with the Arabs. Amir said he intended to paralyze Rabin. If convicted of premeditated murder, Amir faces a maximum life sentence.
USS Nimitz nears Taiwan region
TAIPEI, Taiwan (CNN) -- The U.S. aircraft carrier Nimitz and a fleet of seven other American ships headed into the South China Sea Thursday en route to monitor Chinese war games close to Taiwan.
The nuclear-powered Nimitz, carrying more than 70 military aircraft, slowed to an estimated 15-20 knots as it moved through the congested channel between Singapore and Indonesia. Two Singapore naval vessels appeared to be monitoring the carrier as it passed.
Among the ships escorting Nimitz were a cruiser and destroyers armed with guided missiles, as well as a submarine carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The Nimitz is to join the USS Independence, another aircraft carrier already in the Taiwan region. The two ships are to monitor Chinese war games, which are meant to intimidate the Taiwanese in the run-up to the island's presidential elections Saturday.
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