Woman at U.N. Threatens to Set Self Afire

A California woman protesting government financing of the Persian Gulf War drove a van she claimed contained explosives through a gate at the United Nations Saturday morning, parked in front of the 38-story Secretariat building, doused herself with gasoline and threatened to ignite herself.

As of early this morning, police hostage negotiators still were trying to talk the woman, tentatively identified as Linne Gunther, 41, of the Bay Area community of San Lorenzo, out of the van.

Police diverted all traffic away from the U.N. and closed an exit of an adjacent highway.

Police said the driver was holding matches and two cigarette lighters close to her body, periodically toying with them.

New York City Chief of Detectives Joseph Borrelli said the smell of gasoline permeated the air around the van.

“It’s a risky business. . . . She has spilled it (gasoline) all over herself,” he said at a late evening news conference.

Borelli said that at one point during the day, police negotiators believed they were close to coaxing the protester from the van when she changed her mind.

The chief of detectives said police were prepared to wait “as long as necessary,” and the woman appeared to have ample water but had declined food, including pizza.

Shortly after the standoff began, police let the air out of the van’s tires to prevent it from being driven any further. The van--white with a green stripe--had protest signs taped to its windows.

Three police emergency squad members wearing silver flame-resistant suits and helmets stood near the van while hostage negotiators tried to talk to the protester through closed windows. A fire engine was parked in the U.N.’s circular driveway, as were two ambulances and a cluster of blue and white police emergency trucks. Firefighters regularly tested a hose stretched near the van. Other emergency vehicles stood by outside the U.N.’s main gates.

At one point, the negotiators tried to convince the woman that it was time to “seize the moment,” climb out of her van and go inside the U.N. to clean herself up. She countered by saying she wanted to remain in the van and fast.

Police posing as a television crew also tried to persuade the woman to leave the van for a supposed interview.

Portions of the United Nations were evacuated. But inside the U.N. complex, hundreds of contestants participated in a French language competition. They were in the General Assembly Hall. A U.N. spokesman said the contentants, who were in the building for six hours, were told about the threat after the event ended.