Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 17, 1991 TAG: 9103170112
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: HAMILTON, BERMUDA LENGTH: Medium
The two conditions were part of a long list of terms disclosed by the American and British leaders at a news conference after roughly two hours of talks here, part of a series of consultations Bush has held with leaders of the anti-Iraq coalition over the past four days. Bush plans to return home today after greeting returning troops in Sumter, S.C.
The remarks by the two leaders were the most detailed public disclosure to date of the conditions the U.S.-led international coalition plans to insist upon in return for ending the economic sanctions against Iraq, yielding control of Iraqi territory seized in the fighting, and putting a formal end to the war.
U.S. and British representatives are expected to put the new terms into a resolution to be considered by the U.N. Security Council, administration officials said. The Security Council could take up the new resolution later this week, Major said at the news conference.
"There's a good deal we need to see," Major said. "We do need to see, for example, the destruction of the chemical weapons." In addition, he added, Iraq will have to offer formal and "permanent recognition" of Kuwait's independence and sovereignity, agree to set aside some portion of oil revenues "to meet some of the loss and costs that have been incurred in Kuwait" and release all Kuwaiti detainees.
Bush, saying he agreed with Major's list, added that Iraq will also be required to agree to the presence of some form of international peacekeeping force to guard against renewed attacks on Kuwait.
An administration official said British and American diplomats had agreed on the list of terms and had received general agreement on it from other leading members of the coalition and the Security Council.
The list would address the major concerns of several Middle Eastern states, including Kuwait's demand for war reparations and Israel's continuing concern about Iraq's chemical weapons capacity.
An agreement to set aside some of Iraq's oil revenue could be key to settling the reparations issue. Virtually all of Iraq's oil exports flow out of the country through two pipelines controlled by members of the anti-Iraq coalition - one goes through Saudi Arabia, the other through Turkey.
Bush also used the news conference to repeat his warnings to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein against the use of aircraft in suppressing rebellions against the Baghdad government.
Allied military intervention in Iraq to support anti-Saddam rebellions "would be going beyond our mandate," Bush said. Nonetheless, he added, Iraq "must abide" by agreements reached among military commanders to govern the current temporary cease-fire. Administration officials have said those agreements bar Iraq from flying military aircraft or using helicopters except for transport purposes.
The president declined to say what he might do if Iraq refuses to comply with those terms. "None of us want to move forces into Baghdad," he said. "We don't want to have any more fighting." But he added later, "We're not ruling anything in or out."
When he was asked if the United States was "sending a message to Saddam" with the recent decision to move U.S. troops forward, back into Iraqi territory that had been abandoned shortly after the fighting stopped, Bush simply nodded yes. Presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater later declined to elaborate, saying: "We'll leave it unstated. Let them guess."
by CNB