
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 15, 1991                   TAG: 9102150255
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: UNITED NATIONS                                LENGTH: Medium

SECURITY COUNCIL OPENS WAR DEBATE

The U.N. Security Council opened debate on the Persian Gulf War on Thursday in its first closed-door session in 15 years. Iraq's envoy condemned the U.S. bombing deaths of civilians in Baghdad and gave no sign Iraq would vacate Kuwait.

China called the reports of civilian casualties and massive destruction caused by allied raids in Iraq "extremely grave," and offered its own plan for achieving a peaceful solution.

The debate was the first on the war by the 15-member council, which in November authorized the United States and its allies to use military force to drive Iraq from Kuwait after Jan. 15.

The council adjourned Thursday night after 3 1/2 hours of debate and was to reconvene this morning. At least 30 speakers were on the list for a debate that could continue for days.

Cuban Ambassador Ricardo Alarcon said his government was drafting a call for a cease-fire and establishment of a committee that would recommend ways to end the war this month.

The Persian Gulf crisis began when Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2. Allied bombing raids began on Jan. 17. A U.S. air attack on Baghdad killed hundreds of civilians in an underground shelter Wednesday. The allies said the bombed target was a military command and control bunker.

Thursday's session was closed at the insistence of the United States, Britain and other countries who said the spectacle of a noisy debate and criticism of allied tactics would encourage Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

A transcript of Thursday's meeting was to be made available today. Normally, the United Nations gives a detailed running account while the meeting is under way.

Diplomats at the meeting said Iraqi Ambassador Abdul Amir Al-Anbari accused the coalition of war crimes. Al-Anbari, Iraq's highest-ranking diplomat in America, did not mention the word "Kuwait" or give any indication that Iraq would end its occupation, they said.

Saudi Ambassador Samir S. Shihabi told the Security Council that Iraq has rejected all council calls to quit Kuwait. "No usurper in all history was given the chance and time which was given to the Iraqi regime to desist from its adventures and evacuate Kuwait," he said, according to a text given to the AP.

by CNB