Kremlin Differs With U.S. on Hussein’s Offer

In the greatest divergence in superpower views since the Persian Gulf crisis began, the Soviet Union said Monday that Iraq’s offer to free Western hostages in exchange for a U.S. military pullback and other concessions deserves “serious attention,” and the Soviets hinted that they could act as go-between.

Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze told the official Soviet news agency Tass, after conferring with a special Iraqi envoy, that the Kremlin is still studying Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s proposal, which was advanced Sunday and promptly rejected in Washington.

Shevardnadze said he is aware of the negative Western response to Hussein’s proposal but added his belief that “there are elements deserving attention.”

“We are now conducting intensive work at the expert level,” he said.

Shevardnadze met for three hours with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Saadoun Hammadi, who arrived here unexpectedly earlier in the day.

The Soviet Union was Iraq’s primary source of weapons and a longtime ally, but it suspended arms shipments to protest Iraq’s Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait. The Soviet Union has also joined with the United States in demanding an immediate and unconditional Iraqi military withdrawal from Kuwait.

“We care not only for our own people but also for citizens of other states,” Shevardnadze said. “We would not like to claim the role of a mediator in settling this question. Nevertheless, we believe it is our duty . . . to take into account the interests of other states and peoples.”

Some observers interpreted Shevardnadze’s remarks as a trial balloon, for at one point he told Tass: “Later, we shall respond (to the Iraqi proposal) in an appropriate manner.”

Still, it was the clearest parting of the ways between the superpowers since Shevardnadze and Secretary of State James A. Baker III stood shoulder-to-shoulder in Moscow on Aug. 3 and called for a worldwide arms embargo against Baghdad.

On Sunday, after Hussein offered to free the foreigners detained by his government if U.S. troops were withdrawn from the region and the international trade embargo against Iraq were lifted, Washington refused. The White House noted that Hussein made no move to meet the key international demand that Iraq end its military occupation of Kuwait.

President Bush, in a speech Monday, demanded that Iraq “release all foreigners now.”

Shevardnadze and Baker had pledged to keep in contact, so it is considered likely that U.S. officials will be advised of what Shevardnadze and Hammadi discussed.

Significantly, Shevardnadze said there will be “more intense consultations” during Hammadi’s two-day stay in Moscow and afterward.

The common stance with the United States on the Persian Gulf crisis had been regarded as a shining example of President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s “new thinking” in foreign policy, and despite the position taken Monday, Shevardnadze was at pains to point out that his country is not bargaining independently.

Although Shevardnadze’s spokesman, Yuri A. Gremitskikh, had repeatedly told reporters that Hammadi would be getting into “negotiations” here, Shevardnazde emphasized that the talks should be referred to as “consultations, an exchange of information, opinions, the comparison of views, taking into account the present situation in that region.”

Shevardnadze said his government has no “special concern” about the evacuation of Soviet nationals from Kuwait, a process now under way. And he seemed no more concerned about the fate of Soviet oil workers, diplomats and military consultants in Iraq.

He said the repatriation of women and children living there had already begun. As for the men, a decision will be made “taking into account developments in the region,” he said.

“Iraqi authorities assist and cooperate with us to make the process of evacuation normal, painless and without any difficulties,” he said.

On Saturday, the Soviet Union joined with the United States and other members of the U.N. Security Council in calling on Iraq to permit the departure of all foreign nationals, and Tass said that Shevardnadze impressed that position on Hammadi on Monday.

The agency said Shevardnadze, “expressing satisfaction over the activity by the Iraqi side in sending Soviet people back home . . . called for such a decision to be taken also for the citizens of other countries.”

Earlier in the day, Gremitskikh told reporters that the evacuation of Soviet nationals from Kuwait is proceeding rapidly. The first arrived by plane Saturday in Moscow after being driven overland to Baghdad and then to Amman, Jordan.

Meanwhile, a Kremlin envoy continued a swing through Arab capitals seeking a negotiated end to the conflict. Gremitskikh said Mikhail Sytenko, a Soviet specialist in Middle East affairs, had met with President Hafez Assad of Syria, Egyptian Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid and officials of the Libyan Foreign Ministry.

On Monday, Sytenko was in Sana, the capital of Yemen, and will soon visit Jordan and Iraq, Gremitskikh said.