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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 26, 1991                   TAG: 9102260342
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From The New York Times/ and The Associated Press
DATELINE: UNITED NATIONS                                LENGTH: Medium

SOVIETS PRESENT PEACE PROPOSAL

The Soviet Union said Monday night that President Mikhail Gorbachev had received an official message from President Saddam Hussein stating that Iraq will withdraw its forces unconditionally from Kuwait and that the necessary withdrawal orders have been issued.

The Soviet representative at the United Nations, Yuly Vorontsov, called the Security Council into session Monday night, saying that on the basis of the Iraqi message the council should adopt a new resolution accepting Baghdad's compliance with its demand for unconditional withdrawal and imposing a cease-fire so that its forces can retreat in safety.

But the U.S. representative, Thomas Pickering, and Sir David Hannay, the British representative, opposed such a resolution, saying that Iraq has its own permanent representative at the United Nations and that they wanted to receive the message directly from him.

Iraq's representative, Abdul Amir al-Anbari, arrived at the United Nations Monday night and said he had received official confirmation of the decision to withdraw, which was first broadcast by Baghdad radio earlier Monday evening.

But he gave no indication that Iraq is willing to do more than give up Kuwait, saying that the Security Council only made additional demands on Baghdad because it had refused to withdraw.

The stand taken by the Soviet Union and Iraq appears unlikely to sway the coalition partners, who have made clear that they will not agree to a cease-fire until Saddam personally announces that he is ready not just to give up Kuwait but also to accept all its demands as spelled out in 12 Security Council resolutions.

The Soviet Union had presented another peace initiative Monday hours before Baghdad radio reported that Saddam had ordered the withdrawal.

The terms of the new Soviet plan were said to be quite close to conditions set forth last week by President Bush.

The announcement by Baghdad radio did not make clear whether Iraq was referring to the new plan or a previous one.

Soviet sources and the official Tass news agency said the Soviet Union circulated the first proposal and wanted the Security Council to discuss a package of Soviet ideas.

by CNB