Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 10, 1991 TAG: 9103100272
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The New York Times and The Washington Post
DATELINE: KUWAIT CITY LENGTH: Medium
Baker, the first Bush Cabinet official to visit Kuwait since Iraqi troops were driven out, was also told that Kuwaiti leaders would be prepared to make peace with Israel only if it implemented the U.N. Security Council resolutions that call on Israel to trade occupied Arab lands for Arab recognition.
While this position is not a major breakthrough, American officials said they felt it was encouraging that Kuwaiti leaders, who in the past virtually never spoke publicly about making peace with Israel under any conditions, were discussing it freely.
Also on Saturday, all of the known American former POWs from the war left Manama, Bahrain, en masse Saturday night. Doctors who treated them aboard the Navy hospital ship Mercy said the homeward bound 21 "are in pretty good condition considering the circumstances."
In Kuwait City, Baker met with Crown Prince Saad Abdullah Sabah, the highest-level government official to return home since the Iraqis were evicted.
With Baker seated by his side, Saad, who also is prime minister, was asked by reporters when, or if, his government, which is now ruling by martial law, would re-establish its suspended Parliament and institute democracy.
Saad answered: "This policy is coming very soon," but "I am not going to fix a date now."
Kuwaiti leaders have apparently come to understand in recent days both from internal pressures, and those from abroad, that one cost of expelling the Iraqis with help from Western democracies may be sharing national political power more widely.
by CNB