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

me , to kidnap our brother Hani Abed , '' said a leaflet published Friday by Isl

amic Jihad , one of the most strident criticisms yet of the new Palestinian poli

ce . It warned : `` We will not be silent . '' Abed 's surreptitious arrest he w

as lured to police headquarters with a false story and his confinement without c

harges may have far-reaching implications . It is an ominous signal for Palestin

ians who had hoped they had seen the end of midnight arrests common under the Is

raeli military occupation . The incoming police had promised to protect civil ri

ghts . It may also signal the methods that will be used by the police , loyal to

 the Fatah branch of the Palestine Liberation Organization , to deal with opposi

tion Palestinian groups . And it may determine how the new authorities will deal

 with Israeli demands that the police turn over Palestinian suspects in attacks 

on Israelis . The Palestinians so far have not made clear how they will answer t

hat demand . Because of those implications , both Israel and the new Palestinian

 authority are remaining publicly mum about the case . Israel apparently is inte

rested in Abed in relation to a drive-by shooting at a Gaza Strip checkpoint May

 20 in which two Israeli soldiers were killed . The gunmen fled toward Gaza City

 , and Islamic Jihad later claimed responsibility for the attack . It is uncerta

in what , if anything , Abed knows of the attack . Abed is a chemistry teacher a

t the Science and Technology College in Gaza . Married , with four children , he

 works a second job in a press office in Gaza known to be affiliated with the Is

lamic Jihad . According to his family , throughout the Israeli occupation he was

 never arrested for Islamic Jihad activities . Like most Palestinian groups , th

e Islamic Jihad is divided into its armed `` military '' wing and its political 

wing . Abed 's contacts were with the political wing , his family claimed . Last

 week , men in plainclothes saying they were from the Palestinian police visited

 his home six times . They said a new Palestinian arrival who was a relative wan

ted to meet Abed . When he went to inquire , he was taken into custody . ( Optio

nal Add End ) When his family demanded to know his whereabouts , the chief of th

e Palestinian Police , Maj. Gen. Nasser Yusef , told them it was a `` secret , '

' according to his brothers , Awni Abed , 20 , and Amad Abed , 29 . Then they we

re told their brother was being kept in confinement for his protection from Isra

eli collaborators , they said . Finally , three days ago , the family stayed at 

the entrance to the Gaza Central Prison , causing a commotion and demanding to s

ee Abed . The prison was notorious during the Israeli occupation for its confine

ment of Palestinians and was `` liberated '' with great celebration by Palestini

ans when the Israelis withdrew from Gaza May 18 . Abed 's mother , Najiba , said

 her son was escorted from the prison to see her for just a moment to assure her

 he was OK . She has not heard from him since that short Saturday visit , she sa

id . `` If the Israelis arrested him for 20 years , I could accept it , '' said 

Amad Abed . `` But for the Palestinians to arrest him and put him in that jail i

s crazy . ''

 WASHINGTON Not content with trying to broker peace between Israel and Syria and

 head off nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan , the Clinton adminis

tration is wading into another seemingly intractable conflict , the civil war in

 Sudan . Melissa F. Wells , President Clinton 's new special representative on S

udan , is going to Africa this week for exploratory conversations with Sudanese 

rebels and the governments of several neighboring countries . No one thinks she 

can bring about a solution to a war that has raged on and off for nearly four de

cades , State Department officials said last week , but with millions of Sudanes

e on the brink of starvation and the conflict threatening to spill over into adj

acent countries it has become necessary to try to do something . In many ways , 

Wells 's mission reflects perfectly the foreign policy strategy of the Clinton a

dministration . On one level , Sudan is the very definition of a country where t

he United States has few important interests . But it has a high priority in ter

ms of the issues deemed important by the administration : humanitarian concerns 

; the promotion of democracy and regional stability ; prevention of terrorism ; 

the conflict between extremist Islam and the secular state . Wells is one of sev

eral special envoys the administration has dispatched to chronic points of confl

ict , including Cyprus and Angola , in an effort to defuse regional tensions and

 promote human rights . `` The international community has never been able to de

al with Sudan effectively , '' a State Department official said last week . Well

 's mission `` brings American interest to bear on the problem , right up to the

 level of a presidential appointee . We believe we have the president 's attenti

on on this . But it may not be soluble . '' Wells is a respected career diplomat

 who has spent much of her adult life in Africa , including tours as ambassador 

to Zaire and Mozambique . But it is hard to imagine that any of her previous ass

ignments was tougher than the current one . Sudan , the largest country in Afric

a , is an impoverished , thinly populated land ravaged by war , disease and drou

ght . Its government a military dictatorship dominated by Islamic militants and 

allied with Iran has been branded a supporter of international terrorism by the 

State Department . Clinton 's national security adviser , Anthony Lake , recentl

y added it to his list of `` reactionary backlash states . '' According to a May

 24 report by the U.S. . Agency for International Development , about 392,000 of

 Sudan 's 28 million people are refugees in neighboring countries . A larger num

ber are living in refugee camps within Sudan , dependent for food on internation

al relief missions that are frequently disrupted by the war . Many people are ea

ting wild roots and leaves , the AID report said . In the Bahr al Ghazal region 

, `` practically all the trees are picked clean , because the population has res

orted to eating leaves and bark . '' The World Health Organization reported 102,

000 deaths from malaria in 1993 , but also said that AIDS is spreading so fast i

n the southern part of the country that it will overtake malaria as a killer thi

s year . The cause of most of this misery is a war that began in 1955 , went on 

until 1972 and resumed in 1983 . Generally described as pitting the Muslim , Ara

b north against the non-Muslim , African south , it has recently grown more comp

licated because factions among the southern rebels have been fighting each other

 . The south , which wants autonomy and refuses to abide by the Islamic law impo

sed by the north , `` has been totally ravaged by the war , '' Sudanese scholar 

Francis M. Deng told a Washington Symposium sponsored by the United States Insti

tute of Peace . `` There is no infrastructure worth the term , '' Deng said . ``

 A generation is growing up without education , and millions have been displaced

 in their own country or forced into refuge abroad . Cohesive cultures that have

 been studied and assumed to be stable and enduring are now being wiped out . ''

 On her first trip to East Africa as special envoy , Wells will sound out the pr

ospects for reviving regional peace talks and for expediting the flow of relief 

aid , State Department officials said . No political solution , end to the war o

r reconciliation between Washington and Khartoum is in sight , officials said . 

United Nations ambassador Madeline Albright went to Khartoum April 1 to tell Pre

sident Omar Hassan Bashir that `` we were not going to welcome them into the int

ernational community until they totally changed their behavior . '' But State De

partment analysts were intrigued by a recent interview Sudanese foreign minister

 Hussein Suleiman Abu Saleh gave to the Christian Science Monitor . Abu Saleh wa

s quoted as saying Sudan would welcome western `` technical know-how ` ` in draf

ting a power-sharing plan for the government and the rebels .

 The shellacking unions took on NAFTA last year could soon be avenged by passage

 of the most important piece of pro-labor legislation since the Wagner Act of 19

35 . This is amazing since this is not 1935 , union membership has been declinin

g for more than a decade , we have a centrist presidency disposed to ingratiate 

itself with the business community and the Congress is heavily infested with `` 

new '' Democrats , old Republicans and Reaganite new Neanderthals . What gives ?

 Well , the Anti-Striker Replacement Act has already achieved clear majorities i

n both houses . And it will come to the floor of the Senate this summer with onl

y the promise of a filibuster between it and final passage . It may take but a f

ew compromises to win the 60 votes necessary to shut off the gaseous debate and 

get the measure signed . The usual suspects are bellowing ludicrous warnings tha

t the bill is an invitation to American workers to stage an immediate re-enactme

nt of Paris in the Terror enforced by an epidemic of strikes and the brutalizati

on of their less militant comrades . Given the current condition of organized la

bor and the global mobility of manufacturing , these are hardly realistic fears 

. There were only 35 major strikes in all the United States last year . There ha

ven't been more than 100 strikes in any year since 1981 . In 1979 there were 235

 strikes . In 1974 , 424 . One reason is the decline in union membership . Anoth

er is the wretched example Ronald Reagan set in 1981 by firing all the air traff

ic controllers who had the temerity to strike in protest to working conditions o

f appalling stress . Another is increasing global competition and the ease with 

which U.S. companies can transfer operations overseas . Whatever the reasons , t

he results have not been very pretty . The decline of the unions and in the leve

l of strike activity has moved in lock step with stagnation of blue collar wages

 , an explosion in individual wrongful dismissal litigation by workers with no u

nions to defend them , sharp declines in the percentage of companies offering pe

nsion and health care benefits , the overall redistribution of income to the ben

efit of the wealthy , less job security and huge increases in part-time and temp

orary jobs as a percentage of total employment . America with weakened unions is

 simply not a nicer place unless , of course , you are the CEO of a major corpor

ation whose annual compensation has been rising obscenely over the last decade .

 Miraculously , this seems to have sunk in with a majority in Congress including

 more than a few members not normally to be found on the side of organized labor

 . Even among a number of conservative economists , especially those who applaud

 labor 's recent tendency toward greater cooperation with management on producti

vity issues , there is an increasing sense that the nation has lost something es

sential to social fairness something , well , American by tilting the industrial

 playing field too far to labor 's disadvantage . Besides , in an era where it i

s increasingly fashionable to disparage those who don't work even when there are

 no jobs for them it is finally occurring even to some of the cement heads in Co

ngress that it would be nice for a change to do something decent for those who d

o .

 ( c ) 1994 , Newsday World Cup sponsors are gambling $ 500 million on advertisi

ng rights despite Americans ' past indifference to the world 's most popular spo

rt . Coca-Cola , Canon , McDonald 's and Snickers candy bars are among the 19 bu

sinesses spending as much as $ 20 million each for sponsorship rights to the soc

cer championships , which start next month . This is the first time the World Cu

p will be played on American soil . Time Warner , meanwhile , should make at lea

st $ 35 million , according to one analyst , from the licensing and merchandisin

g rights to sales of World Cup apparel and merchandise , which are expected to t

op $ 1 billion . More than 100 American companies have agreements with Time Warn

er to produce World Cup merchandise . The jury is out over whether all this mone

y is well spent . `` These companies are more like pioneers than sponsors , '' s

aid Brandon Steiner of Steiner Sports Marketing , a Manhattan-based consulting f

irm . `` One day soccer will be big in this country , but not this year . You go

 out on the street and you stop 25 people , and I guarantee 20 of them couldn't 

name a single sponsor . That 's where the World Cup is today . '' But do sponsor

s really have to win the hearts and minds of Americans to succeed ? Probably not

 . Most have a larger , worldwide audience in mind . `` The attention of the spo

rting world will be focused on the World Cup , '' said Robert Baskin , public re

lations director for Coca-Cola . `` The games are sold out . You can't book flig

hts into the U.S. during the finals . The World Cup is bigger than the Olympics 

, especially the final games . The scale of this is going to be a real eye-opene

r for Americans . '' In this country , `` it 's a niche play , '' said Walter St

aab , chairman of SFM Media Corp. , media buyers based in Manhattan . `` There a

re certain segments of the population who love soccer and they could be very muc

h involved in the World Cup if it was marketed correctly . '' `` There 's an imm

ense Hispanic audience that is slowly being tapped into , '' says Bryan Murphy ,

 publisher of the Westport , Conn.-based Sports Marketing Newsletter . `` The sp

onsors will probably be very happy if they keep in mind who 's going to watch . 

The World Cup is not going to draw everybody like the Super Bowl , but it 'll dr

aw a lot . '' ( Begin optional trim ) The tournament will last from June 17 to J

uly 17 , with games played at nine sites nationwide . An estimated 1 million peo

ple nationwide are expected to attend the games and spend $ 4 billion on hotels 

, restaurants , shopping and other activities . For sponsors , the games pose un

usual challenges . Because soccer doesn't have time-outs and game breaks like fo

otball or baseball , World Cup TV broadcasters ABC and ESPN will show the games 

without commercial interruptions . As part of an agreement between the broadcast

ers , World Cup '94 and FIFA , the international soccer federation , commercials

 will only be shown during the pre- and post-game shows and at halftime . Names 

of the major sponsors will be displayed in 9-minute intervals on top of a game c

lock in the lower right hand corner of the screen . But that doesn't mean there 

's any shortage of soccer-related commercials and promotional tie-ins : Soccer b

alls are flying in new TV spots by Coke and Adidas ( starring U.S. goalkeeper To

ny Meola ) , among others , and in a contest by Gillette and a soccer gear givea

way by Energizer batteries . McDonald 's is hosting a `` McSoccerfest '' tournam

ent in the nine host cities . Wheaties boxes will offer trading cards with Reebo

k 's soccer endorsers . General Motors will be the exclusive advertiser in a spe

cial World Cup edition of Newsweek . On July 16 , the eve of the final match in 

Pasadena , Calif. , Coca-Cola will run two hours of entertainment and commentary

 from the World Cup games on TNT . Called `` Big TV , '' the telecast is similar

 to one it made in conjunction with the Super Bowl . ( End optional trim ) The i

nternational and U.S. groups organizing the World Cup have designated levels of 

sponsorship , including `` official sponsors , '' who pay $ 17 million to $ 20 m

illion for advertising rights , including billboard space on the playing fields 

in full view of TV cameras during the 52 games ; `` marketing partners , '' who 

pay up to $ 10 million for ads on one side of the World Cup playing fields , and

 a variety of less expensive regional sponsorships . All together , the companie

s are spending nearly $ 500 million . In addition , each TV `` gold '' sponsor i

s rumored to have paid ABC nearly $ 3.5 million for game exposure throughout the

 52 matches and for an undetermined number of 30-second spots during halftime an

d the pre- and post-game shows . Lesser `` silver '' sponsors paid an estimated 

$ 2 million to $ 2.5 million for a similar package that does not include game ex

posure . The World Cup 's final game is expected to grab as many as 2 billion vi

ewers worldwide , compared with 750 million for the 1993 Super Bowl . A `` gold 

' advertising package costing $ 3.5 million includes three 30-second TV spots pe

r game over 52 games . That comes out to approximately $ 22,000 per spot . By co

mparison , a 30-second spot during last year 's Super Bowl cost $ 900,000 .

 WASHINGTON President Clinton departs this week on the first of two back-to-back

 European trips in hopes of reversing his growing reputation as a weak or indiff

erent world leader . The events this week revolve around the 50th anniversary of

 D-Day , providing Clinton a rare opportunity to speak to the entire world . He 

was not yet born when men from the Allied armies waded ashore in Normandy . Nor 

did he serve in the armed forces a generation later , when Americans fought in V

ietnam . But as the U.S. commander-in-chief and president of the only remaining 

superpower , Clinton will occupy a place of honor among the bands , speechmakers

 and aged soldiers who will revisit the site of their sacrifice . White House of

ficials expect the televised ceremonies to bolster the president 's sagging appr

oval ratings . But Clinton has a second mission on his weeklong European trip : 

to reassure jittery foreign leaders that he cares enough about international pol

icy to take the risks needed to conduct it successfully . Clinton is to meet lea

ders in France , Italy and Britain . In July , he plans to attend an economic su

mmit in Naples , Italy , and then travel to Germany and Poland . A topic sure to

 arise , U.S. officials say , is one that has probably done the most to undermin

e confidence in the Clinton administration 's foreign policy : the ethnic war in

 Bosnia . `` My government thinks President Clinton is indecisive when it comes 

to Bosnia , '' said one Western European diplomat stationed in Washington who sp

oke on condition of anonymity . `` Personally , I think it 's because he is preo

ccupied with his domestic policy . That 's what he was elected for and , clearly

 , he 's already thinking about re-election . '' In 1992 , running against an in

cumbent widely respected for his conduct of foreign policy , particularly of the

 Persian Gulf war , Clinton and other Democratic challengers needled George Bush

 for focusing too much on problems abroad . Clinton said that he would focus `` 

like a laser '' on the issues relating to everyday American life , particularly 

the economy . Since inauguration , however , two realities have sunk in on the C

linton team . One is that foreign policy crises cannot be wished away . The seco

nd is that many of the Bush administration positions , including those singled o

ut by Clinton during the campaign , were easier to criticize than to correct . C

linton rebuked Bush for returning refugees to Haiti . He spoke passionately in f

avor of the United States ' being more aggressive in stopping the Serbs ' campai

gn of `` ethnic cleansing '' in Bosnia . He criticized Bush for overlooking Chin

a 's labor camps and other human rights abuses . Yet as president , Clinton sent

 his Justice Department into court to uphold the Bush policy on Haitian refugees

 . He issued threats against the Serbs in Bosnia , but little more and the `` et

hnic cleansing '' continued . On Thursday , he extended the favorable trade stat

us of China , reciting a litany of reasons identical to Bush 's rationale . Thos

e actions have not gone unnoticed in foreign capitals . North Korean leaders hav

e shown little fear of U.S. retaliation in taking the United States to the diplo

matic brink over their nuclear weapons development program . In nations friendli

er to the United States , such actions further the perception that the United St

ates isn't up to the task of coping with Bosnia , the area for which there has p

erhaps been the widest gap between U.S. words and U.S. deeds during the Clinton 

administration . On May 1 , 1993 , Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher vowe

d that `` the clock is ticking '' on Serbian aggression . He then left for Europ

e , where he failed to rally the United States ' allies . One reason , foreign d

iplomats say , was that Christopher signaled that the Clinton administration wou

ld not act unilaterally . `` He says he wants to play a role in making peace in 

Bosnia , but there are no American ground forces there , '' said a Northern Euro

pean diplomat . `` There are Swedish troops in the peacekeeping force . There ar

e Danish troops , Spanish troops French troops , for God 's sake ! Yet the only 

Americans are in Macedonia , where there is no conflict .... '' Such diplomats b

elieve the White House is paralyzed by a fear that an unpopular foreign military

 adventure could jeopardize Clinton 's chances for re-election . ( Optional Add 

End ) Last week , in its annual assessment of global affairs , the respected Int

ernational Institute for Strategic Studies termed the Clinton administration 's 

foreign policy `` a mess '' but noted that other Western powers have not done mu

ch better . `` It was a year in which the powers in the West , and indeed a numb

er of states elsewhere , seemed to be suffering from a serious attack of strateg

ic arthritis , '' said the independent think tank . `` One major problem is the 

reluctance of global and regional great powers to provide the necessary lead . T

he United States , even more than usual , does not seem to be following a steady

 compass . '' Similar criticism has been voiced at home , too , by politicians a