Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 21, 1991 TAG: 9102210369
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Iraqi radio announced that Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz would go to Moscow "soon" to deliver Saddam's response to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's peace proposal. But allied officials dismissed such talk as a desperate attempt by Iraq to buy time to avert a total defeat.
Statements from both sides emphasized preparations for war, not the possibilities of peace.
"One way or another, the army of occupation of Iraq will leave Kuwait - soon," Secretary of State James Baker declared. "Kuwait will be liberated - soon."
The United Nations mandate demanding Iraqi withdrawal "is crystal-clear, and there can be no negotiation over its meaning," said Baker, who spoke at a ceremony welcoming Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, who is here on a state visit.
Baghdad radio insisted Iraq's army was "impatiently waiting to take on the infidels."
Officials from France and Iran told reporters in Paris that Moscow has given Iraq until sometime today to respond to its peace offer. But administration officials said that regardless of whatever deadline the Soviets set, the allied coalition would not delay its war plans.
"By tonight, tomorrow morning . . . what Saddam Hussein says [about the plan] will be immaterial," said one senior allied official. "We are not interested in dragging this for long."
Officials said that a mere Iraqi pledge to withdraw would not derail the looming ground campaign and that only an immediate and massive pullout of troops, leaving tanks and other heavy equipment behind, would suffice. An administration official estimated that if Iraq started such a withdrawal, all its troops could be out of Kuwait in four days.
If no such withdrawal begins, the ground campaign could now start at any time.
White House officials warned that first word of the assault might not reach the United States until many hours after fighting begins. Administration officials believe Iraqi communications are so badly damaged that Iraqi leaders might not at first get a clear picture of the battle. Thus, they do not plan to make a formal announcement of the ground assault, and will wait until word filters back from press pool reporters in the field before making any statements.
In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokesman Vitaly Churkin told reporters that the Soviet government expected a quick answer from Iraq. "The sooner the better," he said. But officials spent Wednesday waiting in vain for word from Baghdad.
As before, Soviet officials refused to talk in public about the content of Gorbachev's proposals, but statements by officials of other governments, and a report in the Soviet newspaper Komosomolskaya Pravda, provided some additional speculation.
According to the Soviet newspaper, Gorbachev's plan would include a "commitment" by Saddam to withdraw troops from Kuwait in a specified time. That commitment would be followed by a cease-fire.
Once the government of Kuwait is restored, the newspaper account said, the Soviet Union would propose talks on solving "contentious issues" between Kuwait and Iraq, as well as on the Israeli-Arab conflict. U.S.-led forces would gradually be withdrawn from the Persian Gulf and be replaced either by purely Arab or U.N. peace-keeping troops.
According to Baghdad Radio, Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council - Saddam's top leadership group - met late Wednesday and "considered proposals by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who had asked the foreign minister to convey them to the leadership. The RCC decided to send Aziz to Moscow soon carrying the leadership's reply to Gorbachev's proposals."
The report gave no indication what Iraq meant by "soon," or what Baghdad's response might be.
Iranian diplomats at the United Nations said Aziz was due back in Baghdad today after delivering Iraq's response to the Soviets. Aziz has been taking an overland route from Baghdad to Tehran, Iran, then flying from Tehran to Moscow to avoid the danger of being shot down by allied warplanes over Iraq.
by CNB