The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 20

20 TbemSism Wednesday May 2 1990 3jaasttDora Dim Ditsksq sfflsiw of Dr Bull's career as a ballistic David Palllatar and Martin Union expert and his involvement with xraa. the company was 1 told that it did not need an ex IIGHTEEN people alleg- iedly connected with 'the Iraqi "supergun" affair were quesnonea by Customs officers yesterday and several charges are expected to follow. The number interviewed included six executives from Sheffield Forgemasters, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and three from Walter Somers, of Halesowen in the West Midlands the two companies which were contracted to make high-grade steel tubes for Iraq. A spokesman for Sheffield Forgemasters said the six had been taken to local police stations. A spokesman for Walter Somers said Peter Mitchell, the managing director; Ken Hadley, the commercial manager; and Royston Taylor, the works manager, had been taken for questioning.

Last week, the first person charged over the affair was a British scientist, Dr Christopher Cowley, who appeared before Sheffield magistrates accused of illegal exportation of equipment with intent to evade a ban on arms sales to Iraq. Sir Hal Miller, the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, has claimed that he warned government officials on three occasions since 1988 that Walter Somers had doubts about the use to which the tubes might be put. It is believed that some of the pipes could be used by Iraq to make a huge gun. The murdered weapons designer, Dr Gerald Bull's company, Space Research Corporation, first arranged contracts two years ago with Sheffield Forgemasters. I Although the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Trade all knew tion," announced Michael Sissons, head of the MCC arts and libraries committee, as he launched the tours yesterday.

"Of course, what we're really looking for is the Japanese," whispered Lieutenant Colonel John Stephenson, the secretary. "Every coach-load of 30 spends an average of 5,000 in the shop, you know," he said. At 3.50 a head, the tours start today, but, to this uni-tiated reporter, yesterday's glimpse around the famous Long Room seemed just a little dull. most lordly players, W. G.

Grace. A curious plaster sculpture with a moving film of an actor's face superimposed on top, he chirrups out the history of the game in a disarming Gloucestershire accent, based on the rhythms of Jimmy Young. With about 15,000 visitors expected this year, the tours are unlikely to threaten tourist trade at Madame Tus-saud's. But then they are aimed as much at stimulating interest in cricket among the young as to make a profit. "There is definitely less True, there are some wonderful portraits of players past; true, there are some old cricket bats in a glass case; true, there is a superb view of the pitch and, no doubt, the players when they stroll through the room to the ground.

But the tours, which must be booked in advance, will not be allowed when play is in progress. None of this should discourage enthusiasts however, for it is worth a visit if only to see the new and truly astonishing life-size, talking model of one of the game's 1 1 A OMEN? Women? WW Allowed in the Long Room dur ing matches? Good Lord, no. We've only just got enough room for all the men, what?" Hubert Doggart's roar echoed through the Pavilion like a bouncer from Ambrose, writes Joanna Coles. Some things, such as ens- land's losing against West Indies, may never change. But in spite of the Maryle-bone Cricket Club's more conservative members, the marketing men at Lord's have been trying very hard.

They have repainted the 100-year-old pavilion and refurbished the museum, now complete with one of Denis Compton's pickled kneecaps and a stuffed sparrow, which was killed by a ball in 1936. And in a startling break with the club's mystifying tradition, they are throwing open the shuttered doors for the very first time and allowing the public into cricket's inner sanctum the Long Room (pictured above at a preview yesterday). "Our first booking is for a party of 35 Germans which is a step in the right direc US searches ffor Judge allows judicial review Macairi arrestled in ttax oBKgafliiiry fresh hostage releases of Blake escape prosecution port licence. Eight of the tubes from Shef field oreemasters were seized on the dockside at Teesside last month and four trucks carrying parts from both companies have been seized in Turkey and Greece. Two of those seized in Turkey at the weekend were cleared of suspicion on Monday and are to be released, although one seized 11 days ago on the Turkish-Bulgarian border is still being held.

The driver of the one seized in Greece has been In the House of Commons, Sir Hal and Richard Caborn, the Labour MP for Sheffield Central, called on Nicholas Ridley, the Trade and Industry Secretary, to make a statement. Mr Caborn said documents proving the innocence of Sheffield Forgemasters would be laid before the Trade and Industry select committee today. "It clearly shows that the Department of Trade and Industry actually gave permission to sign the contract on all the evidence that has been laid before the department," he said. Tarn Dalyell, Labour MP for Linlithgow, called for a defence minister to explain the role of the Defence Exports Services Secretariat which was of considerable relevance to the legal proceedings. Sir John Stokes, Conservative MP for Halesowen and Stourbridge, said he had been given no help from government departments in finding out what happened to Walter Somers, which was a long-es tablished and highly-regarded firm in his constituency.

"Surely one is entitled to get an answer from a minister and they should not hide behind civil servants," he said. comment on the exact nature of the alleged payments, but said amounts said to have been involved were substantial. She added: "The four arrests were made after prolonged tax investigations the operation was organised by an Inland Revenue special investigations unit based at Bristol and it is a major inquiry." Swindon has been under investigation by the Football League since January, when the People newspaper claimed the club had made irregular payments to some players. Supplementary cash, it was alleged, had been paid and the amounts not notified to the league or the Football Association and incorporated in official contracts. The People also claimed that some players received club cars and travelling expenses in side agreements not registered with the football authorities.

A league commission was due to hear Swindon's case in Birmingham on Friday, but this may be postponed or cancelled in the light of yesterday's events. rain on parade mandate looks more and more like a disastrous mistake. The last group of protesters was perhaps the most telling of all. About 1,500 people, mainly the wives and mothers of soldiers, simply refused to leave Red Square. The arrival of water trucks ready to clean the cobbles, and several appeals by police, failed to move them for three-quarters of an hour.

In the Baltic republics and Transcaucasia there were no May Day parades. Exactly 100 years after the world's first May Day marches, a long tradition came to an end. Even Leningrad, the cradle of the October revolution, did not have a march this year. The new Leningrad Soviet ruled it out. After this year's turmoil in Moscow, one wonders if a furious President Gorbachev will not insist it was also this city's last.

East CurofM'a May Day, paga 0 ber when she was convicted of slapping a police officer. She had used her celebrity status to lead the director of a homeless shelter down a "primrose path" and used fund-raising work to promote herself. Outside the court, Ms Gabor said: "Why should I try to promote myself? Darlings, I am so damn famous, it's sickening." Simon Ttadall in Washington and David Qow In Bom BTpiHE Bush Administration II is examining ways of 11 building on its relationships with Iran and Syria to secure the release of the remaining six American hostages held in Lebanon. But United States officials, including James Baker, the Secretary of State, remained adamant in public yesterday that there would be no deals, no immediate "appropriate response" as demanded by Tehran, and that all captives must be freed unconditionally. Frank Reed, the second hostage to be released in eight days, was reunited with his wife and son in Wiesbaden, West Germany, yesterday, while US officials tried to determine whether a pattern was emerging from what is seen increasingly as a concerted Iranian-Syrian initiative to improve links with the West.

"Let's understand that the release of these two American Richard Norton-Taylor A HIGH COURT judge yesterday halted the prosecution of two peace cam- naieners so they can challenge the decision to put them on trial for allegedly helping George Blake, the double agent, to escape from prison 24 years ago. In a ruling which breaks new legal ground, Mr Justice Hodgson ordered that their trial, due to have opened today, be stopped pending a judicial review of an Old Bailey judge's decision last week. 'It is the first time the High Court has exercised its powers to stay a criminal trial; in that sense, it is unprecedented," a senior barrister said yesterday. Mr Justice Hodgson ruled that Pat Pottle, aged 51, and Michael Handle, aged 56, had an arguable case in claiming that the decision to charge mem last year for offences allegedly committed in 1966 was an abuse of the legal process. His ruling means that they can challenge decisions made by Mr justice space for boys to play cricket nowadays," said the tour manager, Chris Field.

"Although their interest hasn't waned, the opportunities for them to play have certainly waned." Mr Doggart, the cricket club treasurer, was more forthcoming. "It's compre-hensivisation in the schools that's to blame," he said. "The old grammar schools used to teach cricket, but the teachers don't stay behind after school any longer, and it's just not an economic way of using a playing field." PHOTOGRAPH: SEAN SMITH path to The US has ruled out overt gestures towards Iran, but Mr Djerejian and Mr Bush used an indirect way of signalling goodwill. They said the US had no objection to the release of Sheikh Abdul-Karim Obeid, the Shi'ite cleric, and other Lebanese and Palestinians held in Israel or by Israel's proxies. The same applied to those held in Kuwait.

The US would also welcome the freeing of three Iranian diplomats who disappeared in Lebanon several years ago, if they were alive. "We look for the release of all hostages, all persons held against their will," Mr Djerejian said. Talks in the Hague over Iranian assets held in the US and compensation claims resumed yesterday, offering another channel for diplomatic semaphore. A senior State Department official was quoted as saying that the US would not block an asset deal if Iran softened its negotiating stance. Israeli sHonoa, paga 8i Laadsr comment, paga 18 QcHofiilJaDoDi DD Sliil tola afflBiTii rjLEMUaLiMriolJLDab CROSSWORD SOLUTION 18,773 6 African currency's in Welsh counties there's nothing lost (5, 4).

7 Beat up on course (4). 8 Go down in the kitchen (4). 11 Road-runner pulverised silly person (6-6). 13 What 4 refers to may be (a) bird and (b) bush (3, 7). 14 Dying back, being put on boards without principal (4-6).

16 Dish or cup when people fast from fat (9). 21 Rage removed from drink left cant (5). 22 Hands up if you want to exchange (4). 23 Flag of many colours (4). Solution tomorrow Guardian Crossword 18,774 Set by Araucaria Ruuall Thomas LOU MACARI, the former Swindon Town manager, was last night being questioned in Bristol after he and three others were arrested for alleged tax offences.

Mr Macari, the club's former chairman, Brian Hillier, an ex-club accountant, Vince Farrer, and the team captain, Colin Cal-derwood, were arrested by the South West regional crime squad. The four men were taken to Bristol for questioning. Avon and Somerset police said late yesterday that they were being detained overnight. An Inland Revenue team visited Swindon's ground yesterday. The club's chairman Gary Herbert, said in a brief statement that alleged payments that may have been made to some players were being investigated.

It has been claimed that tax was not paid on these payments. An Inland Revenue spokeswoman, Pat Murray, would not Protests Moscow Continued from page one after February 1917. There were portraits of Boris Yeltsin. Banners proclaimed the embryonic new political parties, the Liberal Democrats, the Constitutional Democrats, and the Social Democratic Association. A Russian Orthodox priest with a cardboard figure of Christ on the cross called out: "Christ has risen, Mikhail Sergeyevich." President Gorbachev stayed for another 20 minutes then left, clearly angry.

The rest of the platform party trooped out after him, as jeers and whistles mounted. Some shouted: "Politburo, resign." The last banner brought into the square encapsulated Mr Gorbachev's dilemma. "The President should be elected by the whole people," it said. Even as he trlas to project himself as the man of consensus, yesterday's events show that he is under attack from all sides. His failure to get the legitimacy of a popular CteyBe perfects tifoe art off saving nothing tfomlif Martin Walker in Washington sees the Veep hostages was unconditional," Edward Djerejian, the US ambassador to Damascus, said yesterday.

"We hope that all parties concerned realise that the holding of hostages does not affect political change." But he added: "We have to determine now at this very sensitive stage if there is a process under way for the release of all hostages." Robert PolhiU, freed 10 days ago, gave President Bush a message from his captors yesterday, but its contents were not disclosed. Mr Reed, aged 57, looked frail after three-and-a-half years in captivity, most of which he spent blindfolded. He seemed blinded by the sun as he arrived in Wiesbaden. He told his daughter by telephone that he saw Terry Anderson, the longest-held American captive, just over a year ago. Washington and Tehran clearly share a growing list of mutual interests, particularly the fear of Iraq's regional ambitions, and the economic reconstruction of post-war Iran.

24 Labyrinth near Hastings (6). 25 Old the dirty work and dodged it about 6 (8). 26 Coin placed in vegetable (6). 27 Booty put back and abandoned among spades etc. (4-4).

Down 1 Like Uriah Heep at a funeral? (10). 2 Among fliers, Scarlett, with last letter replacing fourth, takes risks of infection (10). 3 Fashionable clique in a corner? (S). 4 Framework including 'ead cover on ball: I'm glad it's gone) (4, 8). He referred to recent cases, including charges at magistrates' courts against police officers in connection with the 1987 Wapping dispute, where sometf them had been granted judicial review.

"Abuse of the legal process is something of a growth area," he said. John Laws, counsel for the Attorney-General, argued that the defence should have asked for judicial review at the committal hearings before magistrates last year. They could raise their arguments in an appeal after the trial. Mr Justice Hodgson's decision means that for the first time the High Court has given leave for a challenge at this stage of criminal proceedings on what lawyers described as an abuse of process issue. It is understood that lawyers in other trials with arguments over delays and alterations in the charges have been closely watching this case.

Mr Blake, described by Mr Justice Hodgson as "a well-known was sentenced to 42 years in jail in 1961. "The US will not make a contribution that is not wanted. We are there by invitation. We will never be there by occupation. It's a very important distinction between us and the Soviet Union." What of his allies on the right who have condemned President Bush's Lithuanian policy as appeasement? "I would say to the critics who want a stronger response, watch what the President does.

Judge us by what happens. There have been some disturbing signs, but we are hopeful that dialogue can take place." Mr Quayle gave a skilfully evasive answer when pressed to say whether President Bush's condemnation of all countries which took hostages included Israel. "The President's statement has been 'all hostages', but he said that American hostages were on his mind. "The message is really directed to any country that takes hostages." The Vice-President's press aide, Robert Beckwith, beamed proudly as Mr Quayle affably avoided saying anything that could get him into trouble. Those of us called in to provide this test for the Vice-President before his exposure to European press conferences agreed that he passed splendidly.

Every question got an answer, albeit bland, without a single indiscretion: Every hand was shaken firmly and every eye contacted. Nothing was said and it was all said soundly. Mr Quayle is ready for Europe. But his hostess at Chequers on Sunday may prove a more testing interrogator. Macpherson, the trial judge.

The judicial review, to be heard by High Court judges, has been fixed for May 16. Mr Justice Macpherson had refused to allow the defence to. question Detective Inspector Richard Bird, the Special Branch officer in charge of the case, about an alleged policy decision not to prosecute the two men 20 years ago. He also supported a ban demanded by David Waddington, the Home Secretary, on disclosure of internal police reports on investigations into the escape. Mr Waddington said in his certificate that he claimed privilege not because of the contents of the police reports, but because they belonged to a class of documents that should not be revealed.

These decisions, Anthony Scrivener, QC for Mr Randle, argued yesterday, meant that it was not possible for Mr Bird's statement to be tested. Geoffrey Robertson, QC for Mr Pottle, said it was up to the prosecution to justify the' delay in bringing charges. European press fer in the opinion polls, where 55 per cent of Americans, and 43 per cent of loyal Republicans, do not think he is fit to be President. Forty-nine per cent think that President Bush should drop Mr Quayle as his running mate in 1992. "I like the job.

I like it right where I am," Mr Quayle insisted yesterday, dismissing the Washington rumour that he may be shifted to the Pentagon. This would make way for the Secretary of State, James Baker, to become Vice-President in 1992 and the Republican presidential candidate in 1996. Mr Quayle seemed to be rehearsing for massed press conferences in Europe. Access to him at home has been restricted since his harrying in the election campaigns. "Am I a late bloomer? I would say that would be fair," Mr Quayle said, pushing aside an enormous telephone with an equally enormous White House seal to make more room for himself on the desk.

Mr Quayle's opinions on all policy matters are orthodox and unfailingly loyal. Ask him about the future of Europe and he says: "Let me stick with President Bush's policy, for a Europe whole and free." Press him about Nato and he replies: "The Alliance will have to make a decision on the future of the Alliance. am not going to prejudge or predetermine what the final Alliance position is going to be i 2 3 4 6 7 8 5 fTo" 1 13 I Im" 15 116 I if" 75 19" mmJ 55- 121 I 81 123" I 24" a Hh fTTI prepare to take on the ITaORTIFIED by his reading I of Competitiveness The Executive's Guide to Suc cess, the US Vice-President, Dan Quayle, is preparing for his first formal visit to Europe. The book sits beside a chunk of the Berlin wall on the Veep's enormous desk, on which Mr Quayle perched while fielding questions from a hastily convened posse of European journalists. At his feet sat a life-sized black dog, upholstered in the same material as his chair.

Mr Quayle will be the official US representative at next week's Eisenhower Centenary celebrations and will call on Mrs Thatcher, President Francois Mitterrand and the Italian government. German sensitiv ities about the US general who commanded their victors, rather than any subtle hints about new Euro pecking- orders, require that Bonn gets a separate delegation of its own. "Eisenhower is a symbol ot Nato's unity," Mr Quayle began. "The profile of Nato is changing, perhaps the military threat is diminishing, but there is no substitute for deterrence. "We now have the nuclear de terrent.

It has contributed to peace. The deterrent is important as long as we have nuclear weapons," he explained, with that simple clarity which is be coming his hallmark. "The nuclear deterrent win continue to provide for deterrence," he added. Mr Quayle continues to sur Judge scolds unrepentant Zsa Zsa Across 1 Love and kiss game is traditionally educational (8). 5 In mythology, Ge's son was Greece's first king (6).

9 Sort of ski used these days in ship by weeder (4-4). 10 A lot of liquid note's entirely possible (6). 12 Much less than half a loaf of impure stock (7-4). 15 Ancient Hebrew lives (a brief account) (5). 17 Uncertainty about lace broken by comic couple (o, 3).

18 Lob is sneaky (9). 10 Scots girl's cat taking in painter (5). 20 Reclusive relation endlessly stirred a bubble (11). Routar in Los Annates ZSA ZSA Gabor was yesterday ordered to serve another 60 hours of community service for breach of probation. Judge Charles Rubin said Ms Gabor had not completed the 120 hours of community work he ordered her to do last Octo.