Jordan Reopens Iraqi Border to Refugees : Exodus: Amman hopes to limit the flow to 20,000 a day. Thousands are backed up awaiting passage home.

The government Friday formally reopened Jordan’s border with Iraq, a frontier it was unable in fact to fully shut down because of the press of refugees fleeing Kuwait who trekked across the desert despite intense heat, lack of water and threat of disease.

Jordan announced that it would try to regulate the flow of migrants into the country and keep it at 20,000 a day, but that goal seemed unrealistic. As of late afternoon, border officials at Ruweished, the main border crossing, had counted 27,000 migrants in the past 24 hours.

There were conflicting reports on the number of refugees backed up at the Iraqi border post in Tuaybil, 50 miles away. Jordanian officials said that only 4,000 were awaiting passage, but witnesses put the number in the tens of thousands and said bus and car traffic stretched dozens of miles into Iraqi territory.

On Wednesday, Jordan had announced that it was closing its border because of the overwhelming flood of refugees. But with thousands stranded in the buffer zone between the two border posts, Jordanian border officials in fact continued processing newcomers.

There are an estimated 2 million foreigners in Kuwait and Iraq. Most have been fleeing Kuwait, but more and more Iraqi license plates are being seen on cars crossing the border into Jordan.

Jordanian border officials moved quickly Friday to clear the tens of thousands who were sitting in buses and cars in the no-man’s-land beyond the Ruweished crossing. Ambulances patrolled the caravan up and down the long highway, trying to tend to the ill. One child was reported to have died of heat stroke while awaiting entrance to Jordan.

“The problem was, we could not get an ambulance through the crush of people,” said Fahmi Bisharat, who directs hospitals in the northern Jordanian towns of Mafraq and Ruweished.

The Jordanian government had tried to staunch the flow from Iraq in order to reduce a backlog of refugees, mostly Egyptian, at Aqaba, a port in southern Jordan, where they were awaiting ferries to carry them to Egypt. A military airlift was under way and easing the crowding in Aqaba, but it was still not able to keep up with the new arrivals.

Meanwhile, Syria announced that Egyptians wanting to leave from its Mediterranean coast could cross Syrian territory if they entered from Jordan. Syria has closed its border with Iraq.

Turkey, which is also absorbing thousands of refugees, warned that it may have to close its lone border post with Iraq unless the arrivals are quickly transported home.

Prime Minister Yildirim Akbulut said Turkey had information that refugees were massing on the Iraqi side of the border at Habur. Although he emphasized in a written statement that Turkey wants to do its humanitarian duty, he added that “it is not possible for us to provide food, housing and transportation for tens of thousands of people.”

Turkish border officials said that about 4,500 foreigners have entered Turkey through Habur since Aug. 2, the day of the invasion of Kuwait. Of these, about 2,900 were Pakistanis, with the next largest groups being Romanians and Yugoslavs. Pakistan has been unable to provide planes to pick up the refugees.

U.S. Embassy officials said the United States was considering mounting an airlift, but that no decision had been reached. It would be politically sensitive for American military planes to land in Jordan because Jordan’s King Hussein has criticized the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.

At Ruweished, refugees crossed calmly and a speedup in immigration procedures kept the traffic flowing smoothly.

The road from Ruweished to Amman was almost bumper to bumper with cars and buses, all stacked high with luggage. Some Egyptian workers were loaded onto open-backed trucks for the trip to Aqaba.

Other nationalities--including Indian, Filipino, Pakistani and Sri Lankan--traveled to Amman to catch special flights. For lack of money, many were camping on sidewalks, in parks and at their embassy grounds. Jordan has opened auditoriums as well as fairgrounds and camps normally reserved for Muslim pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Mecca in order to shelter the refugees.

In Aqaba, at least 3,000 Egyptians were waiting to board ships, while several hundred were taken to Aqaba airport to catch C-130 cargo planes home. Another 2,000 were waiting at campgrounds north of the city.

To help Jordanians cope with the influx, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced the dispatch of 40 tons of tents, blankets, food and medicine from its headquarters in Geneva. The Red Cross also was going to set up two medical tents at Ruweished and send tank trucks with drinking water into the buffer zone.

Also Friday, Austrian President Kurt Waldheim arrived in Jordan en route to Baghdad for talks today with Saddam Hussein about freeing foreign nationals. Waldheim and King Hussein discussed the Persian Gulf situation, and a Jordanian official said the monarch “might accompany Mr. Waldheim to Iraq for a short mini-summit.”

During his 10 years as secretary general of the United Nations, Waldheim was personally acquainted with most Arab leaders, including Saddam Hussein.

Jordanians generally are taking the refugee influx in stride, an equanimity attributed by many to the combination of Islamic and desert traditions of helping strangers.

“Guests have certain rights in this society,” said Kasper Werner, who heads the Red Cross delegation here.

Few Westerners were making the crossing into Jordan, although a group of families of British diplomats from Kuwait arrived early Friday.

The wife of one diplomat interviewed by Britain’s Independent Television News said foreigners were eager to be rescued by American forces gathering in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.

“Nobody is optimistic anymore,” the unidentified woman said. “If the Americans don’t come in, it could drag on for years.”

Food was running short in the occupied city, she said, adding, “Everyone is living in fear, especially British, Americans and Australians. Each day, instead of feeling better, you feel less secure and worse.”

The woman reported that Iraqi authorities were trying to crack down on widespread looting by hanging thieves in public places. “They created fear by introducing the death penalty, but there is still looting,” she said, adding that Iraqi soldiers hanged three civilians and two Iraqi soldiers two days ago on charges of looting.

A group of Swedes and Finns were permitted to leave Iraq to enter Turkey on Friday, reports from the Turkish border said. A total of 113 tried to leave, but 72 were sent back without explanation. Like Jordan, Turkey is considering closing the border because of the rush of refugees flowing into the country.

In Aqaba, Egyptian refugees reported that Iraqi troops had taken over an orthopedic hospital in Kuwait and converted it into a potential facility for treating victims of chemical warfare.