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

DATE: SATURDAY, February 16, 1991                   TAG: 9102160259
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: BARRY SCHWEID ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

HOPE TURNS TO MEETING IN MOSCOW/ GORBACHEV ANTICIPATES AZIZ MEETING `WITH

With allied ground forces massing ominously in the Saudi desert, attention will now focus on an Iraqi diplomatic mission to Moscow. The meeting begins with anew bottom line. As Bush said, Iraq's statement indicates that Baghdad finally recognizes it must leave Kuwait.

Now the question becomes: At what terms? At what cost?

Bush staked out high ground on Friday. He dismissed the mixture of new and old conditions for withdrawal as a "cruel hoax" by Saddam Hussein against people who hoped the Gulf War would end without a bloody ground fight.

Confident of victory on the battlefield, U.S. military officials said they were keeping up the air bombardment against Iraqi troops.

Some discerned a ray of hope for a cease-fire. If Saddam is trying to concoct a recipe for surrender, there will be enormous pressure on Bush to go the extra mile. Clearly, Friday's proposal from Iraq fell short.

"If there are conditions attached to the withdrawal, then I don't think it will go very far toward a cease-fire," said Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga. But, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman added: "This could be the opening bid in Saddam's move toward diplomacy."

Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole said the Iraqi offer "might be a slight crack" in Baghdad's intransigence, but said the allied air war should not let up. "There should be no pause, no cease-fire, no time outs."

Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., had a similar view: "The [Iraqi] statement appears to be the first time that the Iraqi leaders have backed away from their contention that they would not withdraw from Kuwait under any circumstances. This represents an acknowledgment that the war is not going well for them," Robb said.

"Unfortunately, the modified Iraqi position is top-heavy with conditions and linkages," Robb added. "The president was right to reject it, while expressing long-term hopes for peace in the Persian Gulf."

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said he looked forward "with impatience" to meetings early next week with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. In a statement, the Soviet leader said "the positive report from Iraq was received with satisfaction and hope in Moscow."

Clearly the Iraqi offer was not intended for a quick agreement. It was laden with conditions that seem farfetched coming from a nation taking heavy losses on the battlefield. Among the conditions that U.S. officials found particularly obnoxious: that the allied coalition rebuild Iraq, that Iraq's debts be forgiven, that Western forces withdraw from the gulf in a month's time, that the Kuwait ruling family be replaced, that Israel give up the West Bank and Gaza.

"No linkage," Bush vowed anew.

There are good reasons to move carefully. Bush's Arab allies seem in no hurry to accept peace terms that leave Saddam in power and his military intact. Along with Israel, they would worry about future aggression even if Iraq were to give up its occupation of Kuwait for now.

Bush himself discovered a silver lining in the Iraqi withdrawal offer. "There is nothing new here," he said, "with the possible exception of recognizing for the first time that Iraq must leave Kuwait."

Thats a significant shift from Iraq's reference to Kuwait as its 19th province.

If Saddam wants to survive the war and back his troops out of Kuwait, diplomats will search the Iraqi statement for the seeds of a settlement.

"It's an opening that has to be examined to see if it's real," said Judith Kipper, Middle East specialist for the Brookings Institution.

With serious domestic problems and a large Moslem population, Gorbachev would cherish a role in resolving the dangerous Gulf War.

The Iraqi offer may hold some appeal to other elements of the Desert Storm coalition. French President Francois Mitterrand, while backing Bush with military muscle, campaigned hard before the war for a peace formula that would include prompt attention to the Arab-Israeli dispute. Arab members of the coalition, most prominently Saudi Arabia and Egypt, also are eager to promote Palestinian demands.

Secretary of State James Baker placed a call to Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh on Friday. He was assured the Soviets would not accept anything short of Iraqi compliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions, including a pullout from Kuwait, said a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.