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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 9, 1991                   TAG: 9104090309
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ALLIES BACK ENCLAVES FOR KURDS

The United States and its European allies are moving to seek creation of enclaves for refugees along Iraq's northern and southern borders, a move that Iraqi opposition leaders said could further undermine President Saddam Hussein's control of the country.

Also on Monday, Secretary of State James Baker visited a sprawling refugee camp at the Turkish-Iraqi border, where he heard poignant appeals from Iraqi Kurds for urgent international relief.

In a gesture symbolizing U.S. willingness to reach out to the Kurds - even in defiance of Iraqi sovereignty - Baker stepped across the border from Turkey into Iraq to meet with refugees on the other side awaiting entry into Turkey.

Britain won European Community support Monday for its proposal for a Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq under U.N. supervision that would allow the hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees to be sheltered and protected from troops loyal to Saddam.

At the same time, the United States was discussing with the United Nations and Red Cross the possibility of moving up to 40,000 Iraqis now in the U.S.-occupied zone in southern Iraq into a camp the U.S. Army already is running there for displaced Iraqis, according to sources in Riyadh. The southern enclave would be inside the demilitarized zone in Iraq that is to be created as part of the final cease-fire.

At the United Nations, members of the Security Council began informal consultations Monday night on ways to create a buffer zone in the north. But some diplomats, including Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, reacted cautiously to the idea and the council decided to send a team to Iraq "in the coming days" to assess the situation.

"I don't think it is impossible," Perez de Cuellar told reporters, "but of course [the enclave] would be in Iraqi territory, which would raise the problem of sovereignty, and I don't know if we can impose on Iraq a special area."

Thomas Pickering, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said, nonetheless, that the United States "is going to try to crystalize an idea. . . . We'll wait and see whether it can be done."

Iraqi Ambassador Abdul Amir Anbari indicated his government is likely to oppose it. "It's a wild idea," he said. "The whole of Iraq is a safe haven to everyone."

In Washington, U.S. officials said their first priority is getting humanitarian aid into the region to ease the plight of the refugees. Beyond that, they said, they are trying to define the "enclave" concept in terms that would allow its implementation. The main problems, State Department sources said, are how to set up such areas in ways that will provide safe haven for refugees without provoking active opposition from Iraq, and deciding who will administer and protect them.

At an emergency summit meeting in Luxembourg on the aftermath of the war, European heads of government discussed how to expedite aid to fleeing Kurds and halt the brutal crackdown Saddam is waging against opponents of his regime.

The European leaders decided to send $180 million in urgent economic aid that will be flown starting Tuesday to the border regions of Turkey and Iran.

Acknowledging that Iraq's aggressive military designs may have been abetted by the ardor of Western arms sellers, the European leaders also agreed to support further measures to monitor the rapid buildup of military arsenals by any country, especially in the Middle East.

They backed the idea of registering all arms sales with the United Nations so that there would be greater public accountability or "transparency" about Western arms exports, so that any sudden growth in the size and sophistication of a nation's military power would be noticed.

Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti military officer said about 5,000 Kuwaiti citizens still are missing in the war. The Kuwaiti government said it will demand an accounting when a delegation holds talks Thursday with Iraq.

In a very brief encounter with the refugees, Baker stepped from a military Land Rover, walked across the Turkish border and was met by a crowd of Kurds. One of them, Sam Timathwes, 30, shouted to attract Baker's attention, then stepped forward.

"We need doctors, we need medicines, we need enough food, and some people don't want to stay here. They want to go abroad. This is the main point for some people here."

by CNB