To ‘Keep Pitching’ for Congressional Approval : Reagan Reassures Kuwaitis on Missile Sales

President Reagan promised the prime minister of Kuwait on Tuesday that he will “keep pitching” for congressional approval for the sale of 40 F-18 fighter jets and 300 Maverick missiles to the Persian Gulf nation, despite a Senate vote to drop the missiles from the $1.9-billion agreement.

The controversial weapons deal has come under close scrutiny at a time of heightened tensions in the gulf and during a period when Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, another U.S. arms purchaser in the region, have turned elsewhere to meet their military equipment needs.

During a photo session at the start of his meeting with the prime minister, Reagan said: “You bet we’re going to fight for it. We want very much to complete that.”

And, during the private session, the Kuwaiti official, Sheik Saad al Abdullah al Sabah, told Reagan that “we need this plane,” according to a senior Reagan Administration official.

The Senate passed an amendment last week deleting the air-to-ground missiles from the sale because of concerns that the weapons could be used against Israel. There have been indications that Kuwait would back out of its request for the planes if the missiles were excluded.

The senior Administration official, who asked to remain anonymous, stressed the Administration’s determination to keep the missiles in the arms package.

Saad made clear during the Oval Office conference, the U.S. official said, that “the Kuwaitis have the means and consider the need important enough that--if they do not obtain the weapons systems from the United States--they will indeed go elsewhere.”

On Sunday, Kuwait announced that it had signed an arms deal with the Soviet Union for unspecified “military equipment,” in what was seen as a signal of their frustration with the U.S. sale.

Two days earlier, Britain announced that it had reached a “formal understanding” with Saudi Arabia on a weapons sale estimated to be worth $17 billion. Included in the sale would be 40 to 50 Tornado fighters, up to 60 advanced Hawk trainers, 80 military helicopters and an unspecified number of patrol ships.

The senior Administration official said Reagan promised Saad, the first senior Kuwaiti official to visit the United States in two decades, that “we will keep pitching for the F-18s.”

The official said there was no talk Tuesday of removing the missiles from the agreement and added, “We are determined to pursue the culmination of the sale as an integrated package.”

The Senate vote, on an appropriations amendment expected to win full congressional approval, did not kill the sale. To be turned down, such arms sales require rejection by both the Senate and the House within 30 days of their formal announcement.

In public remarks on another topic of discussion, Saad said at his departure ceremony that he reminded the President of the Kuwaiti view that the Palestine Liberation Organization must be included in any Middle East peace talks. The United States opposes that approach, citing the PLO’s refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist.