The World - News from Sept. 28, 1988

After intense lobbying by the Reagan Administration, a joint congressional committee dropped a ban on the sale of Maverick air-to-surface missiles to Kuwait. The Senate had approved the ban last July as an amendment to a foreign operations money bill, but the House version of the bill did not contain the ban, and a conference committee met to iron out the difference. The Administration argued that the ban jeopardized a $1.9-billion military sale to the Persian Gulf nation that also included 40 F-18 warplanes and other missiles. To address concern that the weapons might be used against Israel, the Administration said Kuwait primarily will receive the anti-ship version of the Maverick, rather than the model used against tanks.