U.N. Chief Sets Aug. 20 as Gulf War Cease-Fire Date

Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar on Monday set Aug. 20 as the date for a formal cease-fire in the eight-year-old Persian Gulf War, and both Iran and Iraq pledged to try to halt the bloody conflict immediately.

The climax of two weeks of intensive negotiations came at a session of the 15-nation U.N. Security Council, where Perez de Cuellar also announced that he was inviting Iran and Iraq to participate in face-to-face peace talks in Geneva beginning Aug. 25.

“The restoration of peace will bring to the peoples of both countries victories far greater than those of war,” Perez de Cuellar said in a statement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, in a letter to Security Council President Li Luye of China, declared that Tehran “is prepared to refrain from all military action on land, at sea and in the air, starting today.” But “if we are attacked, there will be no hesitation to respond,” he added.

And Iraqi Ambassador Ismat Kittani, asked by reporters outside the council chamber when peace would begin for his nation, replied, “Starting today.” He added, “This is a happy day, and I am a happy man.”

An air of euphoria pervaded U.N. headquarters, and members of the Security Council applauded at the news of an accord in the war, in which 1 million people are believed to have been killed since it began in September, 1980.

The announcement represented a personal victory for Perez de Cuellar, who had been trying for a year to persuade both sides to accept U.N. Resolution 598, a peace plan that mandates a cease-fire, the withdrawal of forces to internationally recognized borders and a comprehensive settlement.

The starting time for the cease-fire of 3 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Aug. 20 is 8 p.m. PDT Aug. 19.

In Cincinnati, President Reagan, speaking to the annual meeting of the National Governors’ Assn., said the announcement of the cease-fire was “news the world has waited for and the United States has pressed for. . . .”

Calling the accord “an affirmation of a policy of strength and commitment” in the Persian Gulf, he said he would send Perez de Cuellar the message, “The hopes of the world are with you.”

The Security Council is scheduled to meet today to authorize an unarmed 350-man, 24-nation observer force to supervise the truce for an initial six-month period. A report to the council recommended that the force include a small naval unit to patrol “certain sensitive areas in or near the Shatt al Arab,” the waterway dividing the two countries that serves as the primary channel for Iraq’s marine exports.

Praise From Iranian

At a news conference following the council session, Velayati praised Perez de Cuellar’s peacemaking efforts. But he again accused Baghdad of using chemical weapons on the battlefield as recently as last week.

Since the conflict began, Iran and Iraq have engaged in huge land battles, traded missile attacks in a “war of the cities” and threatened global oil supplies in the gulf by attacking tankers from neutral nations.

Iraq had steadily been gaining the upper hand on the battlefield, and the biggest break in the war came July 18, after Iran finally accepted Resolution 598. But since then, the two countries had deadlocked primarily over the issue of whether to hold face-to-face negotiations before putting a cease-fire into effect.

On Saturday, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein agreed to end the hostilities if Iran would begin face-to-face talks immediately afterward.

Sidesteps Two Issues

Velayati also evaded a direct reply when asked if he had abandoned Iran’s earlier demands for massive compensation and the ouster of Hussein.

In a signal that not all points are resolved, he said, “Needless to say, direct talks only take place after implementation of Paragraph 4” of Resolution 598, which requests the two nations to mediate a “comprehensive, just and honorable settlement, acceptable to both sides, of all outstanding issues.”

The bearded foreign minister pledged Tehran’s intentions to establish good relations with all its Arab neighbors--relations strained by their general sympathy to Iraq during the war.

But Velayati refused to bend toward Washington, telling reporters that the United States “started hostility against us” a decade ago. The latest demonstration of such enmity, he said, was the shooting down last month of an Iranian airliner by a Navy cruiser, with the loss of 290 lives.

Help on Hostage Issue

On the question of U.S. hostages in the Mideast, Velayati turned more sympathetic, saying he would work to use Iran’s “historical relationship” with Shia Muslims in Lebanon to gain the release of the captives there.

Meanwhile, Perez de Cuellar dropped his customary diplomatic caution and confessed to occasional despair during his lengthy talks with Velayati and Iraq’s Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz, who returned to Baghdad on Saturday.

“Everyone has helped me in this special effort, and I am grateful to all of you,” the 68-year-old Peruvian diplomat said in the Security Council meeting.

Asked how he would react if he is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work, he replied, “If the prize can be given to the organization as a whole, I shall be extremely pleased.”

Other Problems Remain

He said that in addition to the hurdles that remain before a final settlement can be negotiated between Iran and Iraq, the world organization soon must deal with three other areas: Angola and South-West Africa, or Namibia; a resolution of the long battle between Morocco and nationalist rebels in Western Sahara, and the resumption of talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots on Aug. 24 in Geneva.

In Baghdad, according to wire service reports, thousands of people poured into the streets in celebration late Monday after the General Command of the Armed Forces announced the cease-fire date.

Crowds of revelers danced in the streets, while others fired guns into the air, honked car horns and chanted “Long live Iraq!” and “Long live President Saddam Hussein!”

The Iraqi announcement said the news was “a great victory for Iraq and for the Arab people,” and Hussein declared the next three days a public holiday.

There was no immediate reaction from Tehran.

Times staff writer James Gerstenzang contributed to this article from Cincinnati.