Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 13, 1991 TAG: 9102130348
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Meanwhile, in a foretaste of all-out war, Marine and naval gunners combined their fire with U.S. air strikes Tuesday to pound Iraqi tanks and artillery massed in southern Kuwait.
Saddam welcomed a Soviet bid to try to end the war short of a bloody fight to the finish in the desert. But he showed no sign of backing off from Kuwait.
The radio, monitored in Nicosia, Cyprus, said Soviet envoy Yevgeny Primakov gave Saddam a message from Mikhail Gorbachev during talks late Tuesday. The message contained the Soviet president's view of the conflict, the radio said, without providing details.
"Iraq is prepared to extend cooperation to the Soviet Union and other nations and agencies in the interest of finding a peaceful, political, equitable and honorable solution to the region's central issues, including the situation in the gulf," the radio quoted Saddam.
The radio report was perhaps the most forthright indication Iraq was ready to negotiate since the war's Jan. 17 beginning.
At the same time, however, Saddam declared the Iraqi people were determined to "beat back the aggressors," the radio said.
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said U.S. officials do not have details of Saddam's comment, but said, "The deciding factor for us is, what does he say about getting out of Kuwait?
"Finding a solution would have to start with Iraq getting out of Kuwait and complying with the U.N. resolutions."
Moscow has expressed concern that allied war plans may exceed the goals set out by U.N. Security Council resolutions, which demand withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait and restoration of the Kuwaiti government.
But Soviet officials stressed that Primakov, Gorbachev's special envoy, was insisting Saddam pull his troops out of Kuwait.
The U.S. command said the thunderous land, sea and air barrage that shook southern Kuwait could be described as part of "our training program" for the major offensive that may lie over the horizon.
Fresh signs emerged of just how tough that fight may be.
Iraq's parliament speaker said the Iraqi military has saved its "lethal developed weapons" - an apparent reference to chemical and biological arms - from the non-stop air raids. And the Iraqis were reported taking new steps to fortify Kuwait City against eventual attack.
In Baghdad, Washington and elsewhere, statesmen and emissaries conferred on the prospects for peace and the outlook for intensified war.
At the White House, President Bush talked over war plans with the visiting defense ministers of Britain and France, allies in Operation Desert Storm.
Allied commanders in Saudi Arabia recommend three to four more weeks of air bombardment before a ground offensive, U.S. military sources say. The British defense minister, Tom King, underlined this view Tuesday, telling reporters after meeting with Bush that "there's some work to be done" before any ground attack.
A senior U.S. military official said the combined-forces bombardment, which began at 4 a.m. Tuesday and lasted three hours, was the biggest battlefield action yet initiated by the allied forces.
Reconnaissance had spotted Iraqi artillery, tanks and other armored vehicles concentrating and "hunkered down" in an area of southern Kuwait, Marine Brig. Gen. Richard Neal, a U.S. command spokesman, told reporters.
The 16-inch guns of the battleship USS Missouri, Marine artillery and warplanes, Saudi artillery and rocket launchers - all were aimed at the target zone and opened fire.
The results could not be immediately determined, but the senior official said there was "a high probability of enemy casualties."
Said Neal: "You almost could say that it's part of our training program of trying to put together this combined arms teams with coalition members, and it worked exceptionally well."
The command also reported Desert Storm air strikes battered an Iraqi armor and truck convoy of more than 20 vehicles in southern Kuwait on Monday, and may have destroyed three mobile missile launchers in Iraq late Monday.
In other developments:
Kuwait's government-in-exile rejected a demand by pro-democracy Kuwaiti activists for speedy elections in a Kuwait freed from Iraqi control. The emirate's information minister said Monday the devastated nation might instead need a martial-law government. On Tuesday, the exiled prime minister issued a more conciliatory statement, saying the leadership still backed "popular participation."
An oil slick stretching down the Persian Gulf coast is expected to foul one of Saudi Arabia's main shrimp nurseries, Dafi Bay, by today, environmental officials said. It has already devastated Manifah Bay, a prime ground for cormorants.
A Turkish shipping company says it has won a contract to supply millions of gallons of water to U.S. troops via ocean tanker. The gulf oil spills threaten Saudi Arabia's vital sea water conversion plants.
by CNB