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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 26, 1991                   TAG: 9102260340
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA                                LENGTH: Short

ARMY MPS UNMOVED BY OFFER/ WITHDRAWAL SEEN AS ANOTHER TRICK

The three Army MPs smirked when asked about Baghdad radio's report early today that Saddam Hussein ordered his troops to withdraw from Kuwait.

"I really won't believe it until we actually see it," said Sgt. Arnel Bona, 23. "He's a very sneaky man. He's probably planning something to catch us with our defenses down.

"I just don't trust anything he says."

Bona still was shaken by the bloodshed and devastation he and fellow Sgts. Andre Prado and Daniel Carvajal witnessed only hours before the Iraqi president's reported withdrawal order.

The three California National Guardsmen from Sacramento were just back from crowd control duty at a U.S. military barracks hit by an Iraqi Scud missile.

Military officials said the blast killed 27 Americans and wounded 98. The barracks, a converted warehouse, had housed more than 100 soldiers.

Carvajal, 23, also said he believes Saddam's withdrawal order comes too late.

"It's useless because the guys [allied forces] are going to get to Kuwait [City]. He can't stop them."

Prado, 28, didn't believe the Iraqi president really planned to pull his forces out of the war-scarred city. Nor did he believe it meant the war was nearly over.

"I'll believe it when I see it," he said, referring to the Iraqi withdrawal order. "I still think he has something up his sleeve. He'll do something for the hell of it."

by CNB