A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

, is broke . The PLO 's best hope for financial relief is rich donor countries a

nd they have moved slowly , and cautiously , to translate promises into hard cas

h . The Palestinian police force , for example , has received less than half of 

the promised donations of equipment from the West and will be forced to borrow I

sraeli communications equipment just so officers can talk to each other in the f

ield . France promised to provide a $ 2 million system the most urgent of the po

lice force 's unmet requirements but has only just begun the weeks-long selectio

n and purchasing process . At the same time , about 13,000 public employees resp

onsible for tax collection , licensing , education , health services and more in

 Gaza and Jericho aren't sure their next paycheck at the end of June will be cov

ered . Palestinian hospitals , to be cut off from Israeli subsidies Wednesday , 

have no way to pay for patients ' food and for expensive referrals to Israeli in

stitutions . Moreover , of the $ 1.2 billion pledged by donor countries for emer

gency reconstruction of the infrastructure in Gaza and Jericho , only about $ 60

 million has been received by the World Bank , which is trustee for the donation

s . `` Thank God we had the vacation ( for a Muslim feast ) and people were cele

brating , '' said Riad Khouderi , president of Gaza 's al-Azhar University . `` 

But after that , what if people are still stepping over garbage in the streets a

nd the schools remain in such poor condition ? Even to get rid of all aspects of

 the occupation to get rid of fences , iron bars and road blocks it takes money 

, people , and trucks that we don't have . '' According to Western diplomats and

 PLO officials present at meetings of the donor countries , the urgency of the c

ash crisis is well understood . But the bureaucratic machinery in various nation

s that should translate those good intentions into money in the bank has proved 

cumbersome . One problem is that most of the money already promised to the Pales

tinians is earmarked for specific reconstruction projects in Gaza and Jericho . 

An additional $ 14 million has been pledged to help the Palestinian police pay o

perating costs , but little of it has actually reached the hands of self-rule of

ficials . The United States , for example , promised $ 5 million for the police 

more than two weeks ago . The money has not yet been delivered . Nor has the $ 5

.7 million promised in April by the European Union . The first six months ' esti

mated budget for the police , including salaries and fuel costs , is $ 40 millio

n . ( Begin optional trim ) One possible mechanism for alleviating the crisis an

d bypassing the legal constraints on donors is just now being worked out . Diplo

mats involved in the process said donor countries may be asked to give money to 

the private Johan Jurgen Holst Fund , set up in memory of the late Norwegian for

eign minister who brought the PLO and Israel together for peace talks . It has f

ewer restrictions than other World Bank funds , and donors could specify that mo

ney contributed to it be used for operating costs in Gaza and Jericho . Still , 

it could be weeks before the details are worked out . A crucial senior-level mee

ting of representatives of the donor countries has been rescheduled several time

s since the Israel-to-PLO hand-over in Gaza and Jericho . The tentative date is 

now sometime around June 9 , according to one diplomat , who said earlier meetin

gs were canceled because of the `` technical '' problems of getting the right pe

ople together at the right time . ( End optional trim ) Another problem has been

 continuing friction between the World Bank and the PLO over jurisdiction , plan

ning responsibilities and ultimate control over how the donors ' money will be s

pent . The World Bank has insisted on strict accounting procedures , on tying mo

ney to specific projects and on distancing PLO chairman Yasser Arafat from the l

evers of control . `` Donors don't feel comfortable with Arafat , and now he 's 

in a mess , '' said Salah Abdel Shafi , a leading Gaza economist . `` Authority 

has been transferred to the PLO by Israel , but the donors remain very conservat

ive . '' Complicating matters further , the PLO is only now finalizing appointme

nts to the 25-member Palestinian Authority that will govern Gaza and Jericho . P

olitical infighting among Palestinians continues to prevent the naming of city c

ouncils in the Gaza Strip and Jericho . Without the authority and without munici

pal councils , there is no one to solicit bids and sign contracts for redevelopm

ent projects . That means there is no one to receive donations if anyone cares t

o help subsidize the day-to-day costs of self-rule other than Arafat himself , a

 situation that in itself could further delay donations .

 BUDAPEST , Hungary Three slightly sheepish officials of the Hungarian Socialist

 Party the former Communists sat sipping coffee and discussing the strange turn 

of events here : their restoration to power by the voters in the midst of a nati

onal drive to create a free-enterprise economy . `` It 's a great problem , '' G

yula Horvath , a self-employed handyman , said of Sunday 's election . `` Worker

s are not members of the party any longer. . . . It seems it is the task of the 

Socialist Party that we have to create capitalists now . '' Josef Kalapacs , the

 party 's local campaign chief , is a good example of the curious role reversal 

in which the party finds itself caught . Formerly a skilled worker at the state-

owned Csepel steel plant here , Kalapacs is now a shareholder in a struggling pi

pe-making enterprise spun off from the now defunct steel mill . `` We have reach

ed the stage where people are forced to become entrepreneurs , '' he said . The 

third party official , Tamas Huszar , is also a former Csepel employee and anoth

er new entrepreneur , having set up his own construction firm . He has also swit

ched allegiance from the old Communist Workers Party to the Socialists , who spr

ang from the reform wing of the authoritarian regime that was ousted in 1990 aft

er a 45-year rule . It is hard to image what Karl Marx might say if he could hea

r these three `` socialists '' airing their capitalist aspirations . All three r

eadily agreed , for example , that the state `` should get out of the economy , 

'' although they had differing views on just how quickly this should happen and 

what residual role government should play . But such views reflect a central par

adox of post-Cold War Eastern Europe namely , that a growing number of constitue

nts of the former ruling Communist parties are budding entrepreneurs whose inter

ests are far removed from those of the once exalted proletariat . In fact , the 

Hungarian Socialist Party which will form this country 's new government in comi

ng weeks is a hodgepodge of conflicting interest groups . There are unreformed o

ld-style Communist apparatchiks , labor union leaders , reformed social democrat

s , struggling small entrepreneurs and a new capitalist aristocracy of `` Red Ba

rons , '' born out of the old party elite . But swelling the flood of roughly 1.

5 million new Socialist voters on Sunday , according to the Hungarian Gallup pol

ling organization , were people from all walks of life with fond memories of the

 security and social welfare benefits of the old Marxist government and a distru

st of the hazards of free-market democracy . `` There has been quite a shift in 

the ( Socialist ) voter profile , '' said Gallup spokesman Robert Manchin . `` I

t is much more anti-market , anti-privatization , more for egalitarian values an

d social redistribution . They are the traditional , old-time socialist supporte

rs . `` This is something that should bother the Socialist Party and everybody e

lse , since they didn't run on a traditional socialist program , but its ( suppo

rters want ) to go back to egalitarian solutions . '' In the wake of the Sociali

st victory , the question being asked by Hungarians and foreigners alike is whic

h faction of the highly eclectic party will prevail in the coming struggle to de

fine its economic and social policies . Will it be the more orthodox , old-time 

socialists and labor advocates led by Sandor Nagy , whose name was listed second

 on the party 's election slate ? Or the faction led by Laszlo Bekesi , the part

y 's most prominent economic reformist , who was listed third on the slate and i

s likely to become the next finance minister ? The party will meet in convention

 here Saturday to outline its policies and formally choose its nominee for prime

 minister .

 WASHINGTON A defiant Rep. Dan Rostenkowski , D-Ill. , rejected a proposed plea 

bargain with federal prosecutors Monday night and vowed to fight in court effort

s to convict him of an alleged conspiracy to defraud the government out of sever

al hundred thousand dollars . `` Federal prosecutors threaten to indict me if I 

fail to plead guilty to a series of crimes I did not commit , '' Rostenkowski sa

id in a written statement . `` I will not make any deals with them . I did not c

ommit any crimes . My conscience is clear and my 42-year record as an elected of

ficial is one I am pround to once again run on . '' The statement by Rostenkowsk

i , chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee , came the day before sources

 have said United States Attorney Eric H . Holder Jr. would ask a grand jury to 

indict the Chicago Democrat . Holder 's office declined comment Monday . Barring

 a last minute overture by Rostenkowski , prosecutors planned to indict him Tues

day . `` The government is ready to go , '' one source familiar with the negotia

tions said . Other sources said that the government 's case was already set for 

presentation to a grand jury , regardless of whether they heard from Rostenkowsk

i by the deadline . After more than two weeks of discussing the possibility of a

 plea bargain , Rostenkowski , 66 , last week declined a deal in which he would 

plead guilty to a felony and spend a limited amount of time in jail . Options fo

r Rostenkowski had run out , as had his tenure as chairman of Ways and Means , a

 committee that puts him in the forefront on President Clinton 's health care le

gislation as well as major trade , welfare and tax bills . If the grand jury ret

urns an indictment punishable by at least two years in prison , under normal pro

cedures of the House Democratic Caucus , Rostenkowski would have to resign from 

the committee chairmanship . Rostenkowski made clear last night he stood ready t

o step aside from his leadership role and battle to salvage his political life .

 `` If I am indicted I will temporarily give up the chairmanship .... but will c

ontinue to serve as an active member of Congress , '' Rostenkowski said . `` ...

 If I am indicted , I will fight in court . I will present a compelling case to 

the jury which will , I am confident , find me not guilty ... . Rostenkowski 's 

action and the anticipated indictment clouds the political horizon for key issue

s such as health care and sets the stage for Rep. Sam Gibbons , D-Fla. , to take

 the reins of Ways and Means . Three key Democrats on Ways and Means said they w

ere not surprised by the chairman 's decision and said the committee would rally

 around Gibbons in the fight for health care . But they conceded that , as repre

sentative John Lewis , D-Ga. , put it , `` It will be much more difficult withou

t him . '' Lewis , Rep. Jake Pickle , D-Tex. , and Rep. Charles Rangel , D-N.Y. 

, all said they expected no challenge to Gibbons ' becoming acting chairman unde

r House Democratic Caucus rules . Pickle , who is No. 3 in seniority said , `` T

here is a remote possibility that 50 members could petition the Democratic Caucu

s to change the rules , but I doubt that will happen . '' Rangel , who is next i

n seniority behind Pickle , and Lewis , who is close to both the White House and

 the House Democratic leadership , echoed the view that Gibbons would take over 

without a serious challenge . Rangel said he thought the committee 's considerat

ion of health care would go forward `` ninety percent as normal . '' He said Gib

bons `` will probably work very closely with Rostenkowski to find consensus amon

g the committee 's Democratic members . '' A senior committee Republican , Rep .

 Clay Shaw of Florida agreed that there was nothing surprising about the chairma

n 's decision . `` You don't check your citizenship at the door when you go to C

ongress , '' Shaw said , `` and he is entitled to a fair trial . If he feels he 

's not guilty of the charges , he should fight them . '' Shaw said that he thoug

ht Rostenkowski would have faced great difficulty in delivering a health bill to

 the President 's specifications , but said with the `` disruption '' of the cha

nge in the chairmanship , `` this probably backs us up a ways . '' A plea bargai

n would have given Rostenkowski a slight chance of retaining his chairmanship . 

Caucus rules do not require a member convicted of criminal charges to resign fro

m office or leadership positions , although such members are likely to face an e

thics investigation and disciplinary actions . Federal prosecutors have outlined

 a broad case against Rostenkowski of conspiracy to defraud the government in wh

at has been described as `` kitchen sink '' approach alleging abuses of official

 accounts for postage , leased automobiles , office space , supplies and personn

el . Rostenkowski has publicly denied all the allegations . The FBI has investig

ated whether several so-called `` ghost employees '' in Rostenkowski 's Chicago 

office received pay for work never down . The probe also examined whether Rosten

kowski purchased personal and gift items through his expense account at the Hous

e Stationary Store . In addition , the prosecution 's case also reportedly exami

nes whether government leased cars were used primarily for personal use rather t

han official business and if Rostenkowski and other lawmakers traded postage vou

chers and stamps for thousands of dollars . Rostenkowski , completing his 36th y

ear in Congress , entered plea discussions in an effort to reduce or eliminate a

ny prison sentence while avoiding a lengthy legal battle . He also wanted to try

 to retain his chairmanship . Such talks are considered normal and will not affe

ct his trial , should he be indicted .

 WASHINGTON In an alabaster-white amphitheater surrounded by a sea of headstones

 , President Clinton told a packed audience of veterans and visitors Monday neve

r to forget those who had died fighting for freedom . `` Fifty years ago the wor

ld learned just what Americans are capable of , '' Clinton noted during a Memori

al Day service at Arlington National Cemetery . `` World War II was an era of sa

crifice unequal in our history . It was the energies of free people who turned t

he tide '' against totalitarianism . The 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion 

of Normandy echoed throughout Clinton 's speech . Straining to see and hear him 

from her wheelchair was retired Army nurse Dorothy Fearn Olsen , who had treated

 D-Day casualties during her 19 months as a combat nurse . Afterward , she recou

nted helping the wounded at the Battle of the Bulge and being among the first me

dical units at the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp . She was onl

y 24 . Olsen recited a list of nurses who had served in U.S. wars , beginning wi

th Clara Barton in the Civil War and ending with Frances Slanger , a little-know

n nurse who was killed in Belgium before the Battle of the Bulge . `` There had 

been various letters written by GIs to Stars and Stripes thanking the nurses for

 being there , '' she said . Slanger `` wrote a very beautiful letter that ended

 . . . `` It 's an honor and a privilege to be there when you open your eyes and

 say , `` Hiya , babe. ' ' ' Clinton 's speech in the cemetery 's Memorial Amphi

theater came just before noon . Earlier in the morning , before placing a wreath

 on the Tomb of the Unknowns , he and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton had been

 the hosts for a breakfast for World War II veterans and leaders of veterans org

anizations . During his speech Monday , Clinton said the endless rows of graves 

along the hillside of Arlington are reminders of `` the high cost of freedom . '

' The famous are there among them , he said . `` But far more numerous are Ameri

cans who are not famous , are not legend , but whose deeds are the backbone '' o

f democracy . `` Let us also hold a special place for all our living veterans , 

'' he urged . `` We owe them a lasting debt of gratitude . ''

 WASHINGTON As Washington awoke on Memorial Day morning , 11 families sat in fol

ding chairs on a grassy hill and , far away from the day 's more elaborate event

s , cried in each other 's arms . The Vietnam Veterans Memorial ebbed like a bla

ck wave in the distance . The names of their loved ones could not be on that gra

nite wall , because unlike the dead whose sacrifice was etched there , their lov

ed ones had died after the fighting ended of Agent Orange poisoning , of injurie

s that never healed , in suicides . In a war that has seemed exiled from the bro

therhood of conflicts , these dead are the lost veterans . The Friends of the Vi

etnam Veterans Memorial , which decided they had been forgotten long enough , he

ld Monday 's ceremony to honor them . It brought nine members of the Reynolds fa

mily , ages 14 months to 74 years , from Palo Alto , Calif. . It brought Jennie 

LeFevre from Shady Side , Md. , to honor a husband killed by Agent Orange . It b

rought Diana Steele from Newport News , Va. , bearing a grief almost unimaginabl

e : Her husband and father had both taken their own lives within nine months of 

each other . `` Merciful God , we ask your tender blessing on all who are gather

ed here , '' said writer Joe Galloway , who covered the Vietnam conflict . `` Yo

u have brought beside you the souls of some good soldiers who suffered greatly l

ong after their war was over and who are loved and missed deeply. '' ' More than

 3 million Americans served in Vietnam . Among them were 58,190 who were killed 

or missing in action , about 450,000 wounded in action and an estimated 117,000 

who have since died . `` You know and I know what really cut their lives short ,

 '' Galloway said . `` And who among us dares judge them for the way they lived 

or the way they died ? '' Twenty-two veterans were honored , among them Pulitzer

 Prize-winning author Lewis Puller Jr. , of Alexandria , who took his life this 

month . Their names will be entered in an honor roll displayed near the Vietnam 

Veterans Memorial . After speeches and prayers , the families walked to the Wall

 . At the foot of the polished panels , they placed red carnations , a white spi

der mum and tributes for their lost loved ones . Diana Steele left her husband '

s Purple Heart . She said Robert William Steele was diagnosed with depression ju

st after the war . The Army soldier killed himself in 1983 , she said , because 

`` the experience of Vietnam was so traumatic for him . He was such a gentle man

 . He couldn't deal with it . '' He was 37 . Patricia Codd 's husband and Diana 

Steele 's father , Nicholas Joseph Codd Jr. , served in the Army in 1966 , then 

again in 1970 and 1971 . He committed suicide at age 51 in 1984 . `` He made nin

e suicide attempts , '' said his widow , who lives in Hampton , Va. . He rarely 

spoke of war , but once he shared a memory . `` They were on an ambush , '' Patr

icia Codd said . `` They heard a noise . They opened fire . It turned out to be 

women and children . He talked about having to pick them up and put them in body

 bags . '' Codd had five children and 12 grandchildren `` who will never know hi

m , '' she said . `` We 're hoping this will put all of this to rest . But I don

't think it 'll ever be over . '' Jennie LeFevre , 62 and gray-haired , wore whi

te tennis shoes , white slacks and an orange T-shirt that said `` Widow of Agent

 Orange Victim . '' Her Air Force husband , Gerald Henry LeFevre , died in 1989 

. `` These men need their own wall , '' she said . The Reynolds family mourned T

errence Michael Reynolds , dead at 25 . He served in the Army in 1966 . He suffe

red wounds that left him a paraplegic and kept him hospitalized for 2 years . In

 1970 , he died of a heart attack related to his injuries . `` I miss him terrib

ly , '' said one of his sisters , Kathy LeVain . `` After 25 years , I still mis

s him . '' Reynolds 's son , mother , a brother , two sisters , three nephews an

d a brother-in-law came to honor him . They showed a faded black-and-white photo

 of a young man in a hospital bed with large expressive eyes , dark eyebrows and

 a mischievous , yet sad smile . `` He was quite a prankster , '' said another s

ister , Melinda Burnham . `` He was always cracking me up . Always making people

 laugh , '' offered his brother , Jim Glanville . `` That 's how I 'd like him r

emembered . ''

 WASHINGTON House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski , D-Ill. , 

said Monday that he has chosen to fight charges of fraud and abuse of his public

 office , rather than making a deal with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to 

lesser offenses . `` I have always fought for what I believe in . I strongly bel

ieve that I am not guilty of these charges , and will fight to regain my reputat

ion in court , '' Rostenkowski said in a statement issued Monday night . His rem

arks came on the eve of Tuesday 's deadline by the government to accept or rejec

t its plea-bargain arrangement . `` That is a far more attractive arrangement op

tion than pleading guilty to crimes that I did not commit , '' Rostenkowski said

 . The decision appears to make it certain that he will be indicted on a series 

of felony charges possibly as early as Tuesday , sources familiar with the case 

said . A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on Rostenkowski 's ann