U.N. Leader to Start Separate Talks With Iran, Iraq in 2 Days

Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar said today he hopes to begin separate talks with Iran and Iraq on Wednesday aimed at bringing about a cease-fire in their eight-year war.

He told reporters that it was “perhaps a little early to ask for direct talks,” as Iraq has proposed.

Perez de Cuellar, who was questioned on his way into Security Council consultations on Iran’s complaint that Iraq had employed chemical weapons in last week’s hostilities, added, “I am hopeful we can at some stage contemplate direct talks.”

Announcement Expected

Perez de Cuellar expects to be able to announce in 10 days a date for the start of a cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq War, the Security Council president said today.

“The expectation of the secretary general, which is shared by the members of the council, is that in 10 days’ time it will be possible for him to announce the date, the D-Day,” Brazilian Ambassador Paulo Nogueira-Batista told reporters.

The actual date for the start of the cease-fire would depend on data obtained by a U.N. team of military experts dispatched to the area, he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati was due in New York later today to represent the Tehran government in the talks with the secretary general, who said he expected Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz to arrive on Tuesday.

“I hope my talks will start on Wednesday,” Perez de Cuellar said. “I am hopeful we can make progress in the sense of implementing Resolution 598.”

Immediate Cease-Fire

This is the council’s year-old resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire, the withdrawal of troops to international borders, an exchange of prisoners of war and the establishment of a commission to determine responsibility for the conflict.

Iraq accepted the resolution shortly after its unanimous adoption by the council. Iran announced its unconditional acceptance just a week ago, setting in motion a chain of events that produced the two sides’ agreement to send their foreign ministers here to see Perez de Cuellar.

Meanwhile, Iraq said today it will withdraw from Iranian territory captured in the last week, bringing hopes of quiet on the long border front when peace talks begin at the United Nations.

Time for Withdrawal

Announcers interrupted regular state television programs to say the army would withdraw on Tuesday from territory captured in the central border region.

“They will be withdrawn in line with our declared policy that we have no territorial ambitions in Iran,” said a military communique read by the announcers.

Iraq’s withdrawal announcement came after Iran said its military units attacked Iraqi forces in southern Iran early today, forcing them to retreat 25 miles and killing or wounding 1,500 men.