Foreigners Living in Kuwait Describe Lightning Attack : Iraq invasion: Reached by telephone, expatriates tell of fear while hearing gunfire, explosions, jets and helicopters nearby.

Foreigners living in Kuwait said they watched from their windows or dived for cover when Iraq staged a lightning invasion of Kuwait today.

Reached by telephone from Bahrain, the expatriates told of hearing gunfire, explosions and jets and helicopters overhead as the Iraqi troops moved in before dawn.

“Unbelievable,” said Catherine Baker, 37, of Illinois, who works for a British design firm in the small, oil-rich nation. “It doesn’t seem real.”

There are about 4,000 Americans among the large expatriate community in Kuwait, where more than 60% of the 1.8 million residents are foreigners.

Baker said she was shocked by the suddenness of the Iraqi strike, although Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had made threats against Kuwait in recent weeks.

“We were totally unprepared,” she said. “One feels like there should have been a bit of warning.”

Diplomats said the British Embassy was hit by shellfire and that the Sheraton and Hilton hotels evacuated their clientele.

Kathy McGregor, 32, a Canadian, said one explosion was close enough to shake her home.

“You know when you see a movie, when people dive for cover? We did it. The explosion blew inside the house, shaking it.”

“It’s chaos, military jets are flying over all the time,” McGregor said by telephone early today as she watched from her window. But in the afternoon, she said things had quieted down considerably.

“There is not much noise or gunfire. I feel better with more people around now,” she said.

Some expatriates said they did not want to leave despite the invasion.

“I think it will be over soon somehow,” said Serge Sejournet, 30, an artist from Paris. “I don’t think I want to get out of Kuwait.”

Sejournet said the Iraqi soldiers on the street in front of his home in downtown Kuwait were “very friendly with everyone, saying hello to all.”

Sejournet, Baker and other expatriates said they gathered together in homes of friends, listening to the fighting.

Anxious friends and relatives of those living in Kuwait found it difficult or impossible to get in touch with them. In Washington, a spokesman for AT&T; said calls to Kuwait reached 2,000 every five minutes. The spokesman, Herb Linnen, said only some of the calls were getting through and that there were long delays because of the heavy volume.

Linnen said the company itself had managed to get only one call through to its employees in Kuwait today and ascertained that its several dozen employees and their families were safe.

AT&T; employees in Kuwait include Americans, Canadians, British, Filipinos and one Sri Lankan who have been working on a project with the Kuwaiti government to improve communications, he said.

The State Department, meanwhile, set up a 24-hour hot line for people seeking information about the safety of American relatives and friends in Kuwait and Iraq. The number is (202) 647-0900.

IRAQ-KUWAIT: WORLD REACTION

Soviet Union: After a meeting between Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze in Siberia, Iraq’s main supplier of arms suspended delivery of all military equipment and called for an immediate withdrawal.

Israel: Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s spokesman said the invasion confirms Israeli warnings that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s war threats should be taken seriously.

Britain: London joined the United States in freezing Kuwaiti assets to prevent Iraq from seizing them.

United Nations: In a rare pre-dawn emergency session in New York, the body swiftly condemned the invasion and demanded Iraq’s immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

France: Iraq’s second-largest arms supplier issued a “total and unreserved condemnation” and demanded an immediate pullout.

China: A “deeply concerned” Beijing appealed for an immediate halt to military action.

Japan: The Foreign Ministry called the invasion “extremely regrettable.” Tokyo depends on Persian Gulf crude oil for 70% of its petroleum needs.

Arab League: An emergency session was convened to consider a response. Only Lebanon immediately condemned the invasion.