U.S. Seeks U.N. Action Over Iraq’s Use of Gas

The United States is consulting with Britain and other members of the U.N. Security Council on measures to bring a prompt halt to Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against its Kurdish minority, a U.S. official said Saturday.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz was described by a senior aide as “extremely exercised” about the issue and was said to be demanding international action, despite Iraqi denials and equivocal statements by the Turkish government, which has given refuge to about 60,000 Kurds from Iraq.

The aide, who spoke on condition that he not be named, said the State Department places complete faith in its own reports of chemical weapons injuries suffered by the refugees. The reports came Thursday from two members of the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara who journeyed to the rugged border area of northeastern Turkey where the refugees are being sheltered.

Convincing Report

Although neither of the two diplomats is a medical expert, the official said their report is considered an adequate basis for the United States to seek Security Council action. The 15-nation council met in closed session Friday to hear a report from Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar on the progress of peace talks between Iran and Iraq under way in Geneva.

A British U.N. mission official, in a telephone interview from New York, said Washington and London agree that the Security Council must be the channel for any immediate action. The General Assembly convenes Sept. 20, but he said: “Introducing a resolution in the assembly would mean consigning the problem to oblivion. We’re interested in stopping any more killing.”

The council can issue orders, backed by sanctions if necessary. The assembly, in which all 159 member states are represented, can only appeal for compliance.

The Senate on Friday applied pressure of its own in the form of a unanimous voice vote for legislation to bar aid to Iraq and effectively block refinancing of its $60-billion foreign debt unless President Reagan finds that there is no genocide or use of chemical weapons.

The Senate acted within hours of a categorical public denial by visiting Iraqi Minister of State Saddoun Hamadi, who met with Shultz on Thursday night, that Baghdad’s army used chemical weapons against Kurdish guerrillas. State Department spokesman Charles Redman brushed aside the denial and praised the Senate action.

News of the Senate vote, which is expected to be followed by House action this week, brought an angry reaction Saturday from Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz, who ascribed it to “pro-Zionist, anti-Arab” senators, news agencies reported.

“We reject hegemony from America and others,” Aziz said in a broadcast by official Iraqi television. “We reject interference in our internal affairs. The victories of our great Iraq are bigger than the lies of the U.S. Senate.”

At the United Nations, the British official said that some countries contacted about possible sanctions registered fears that the threat of Security Council action might cause the Iraqis to walk out of the peace talks in Geneva, which have made little progress to date. Aziz and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Velayati, sat in the same room Saturday for only the third time since the talks began more than two weeks ago.

Aggressive U.S. Stance

Some diplomats were also reported to be surprised by the aggressive U.S. stance in accusing Iraq because the Administration had increasingly tilted toward Iraq in the course of the eight-year Persian Gulf War. They pointed to the discreet policy of Turkey, which also has close economic ties with Iraq, in avoiding any accusation against its neighbor.

Although Turkey opened its frontier to the Kurdish refugees and permitted the U.S. diplomats to travel to the border, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday that “extensive research and studies” had failed to confirm the use of chemical arms against the Kurds.

The State Department official discussing the case conceded that the department had acted with uncharacteristic speed.