New Threat to Westerners : Americans, Britons Told to Assemble at Kuwait Hotels

The 2,500 Americans in Kuwait were given two hours today to move to a hotel to protect them against “unspecified threats.” A senior U.S. official said the Iraqis implied that they would round up Americans who did not cooperate.

The order by Iraqi military authorities was immediately protested by U.S. Ambassador Nathaniel Howell as unjustified and impractical, but Americans were told of the “request,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.

Iraqi military authorities also instructed all Britons to assemble at a hotel in a move that the British Foreign Office condemned as “grave and sinister.” There are about 3,000 Britons in Kuwait.

The Iraqis “implied” in the meeting with Howell that military authorities “would go out and find” Americans who did not voluntarily go to the International Hotel, the senior U.S. official said.

“Obviously the situation is of concern to us,” Boucher said, but he again declined to describe the trapped Americans as hostages.

Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein said today that he was praying for a peaceful resolution to the Persian Gulf crisis but that if a military confrontation erupts, it could result in “thousands of Americans wrapped in sad coffins.”

In his statement read on Iraqi television--billed as an open letter to President Bush--Hussein repeatedly accused Bush of being a liar.

“You, President of the United States, have chosen to be a liar,” he said. “You have lied to your people.”

A day earlier, in a speech at the Pentagon, Bush had said Hussein was a threat to Saudi Arabia--which he has promised not to attack--because he lied about his intentions regarding Kuwait.

The International Hotel is opposite the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait city. Initially, Iraqi authorities told Howell that the Americans should go to central points, such as hotels.

“But then it became clear they meant the Kuwaiti International,” Boucher said.

“We are not instructing them one way or another,” Boucher said.

Howell was summoned about 11 a.m. Kuwait time to a meeting with Iraqi military authorities, Boucher said.

“He was asked to tell all Americans they had to move to a central point. . . . Iraqi authorities asked for compliance within two hours,” Boucher said. “They explained that the order was a result of concerns about the protection of the American community from unspecified threats.”

Howell, Boucher said, told the Iraqis that the order was “not only an impractical impossibility, but he also asked for an explanation and reminded the Iraqi authorities of their responsibility for the safety of Americans.”

Boucher said Howell “made clear that he could inform the Americans of the request but that he had no power to order them to move. The Embassy has contacted the American community . . . to tell them of this order.”

Boucher said the “action is totally uncalled for.”

“Most Americans would be better off in their homes,” he said.