Gorbachev Sees Peaceful Exit From Crisis

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev said Monday that a way out of the Persian Gulf crisis can still be found through diplomacy, and he endorsed a broader role for the now-divided Arab world in finding it.

Tass, the official Soviet news agency, said Gorbachev received visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid, even though he was “extremely busy” because of “the escalation of tension in the gulf.”

It quoted Gorbachev as saying that Iraq, a former Soviet ally, has worked itself into a “dead end” and that it is up to Iraq to find a way out of it.

Although the Soviet Union voted Saturday at the United Nations for military enforcement of sanctions against Iraq, Moscow has made it clear that Soviet forces will not take part. On Monday, Gorbachev voiced his fear that an armed conflict is near in the gulf region but emphasized that a peaceful solution is still possible.

“The countdown is quickening,” he said, “and great dynamism is needed to utilize all rational channels and connections to peacefully and justly defuse the crisis. Political means have not been exhausted. It is necessary to exert every effort to realize this opportunity and to prevent an armed conflict.”

Gorbachev and Foreign Minister Meguid called for Arab governments to take a greater part in ending the crisis, which was ignited Aug. 2 by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

Tass said the meeting focused on the need to expand the “Arab factor,” which it said is crucial for preventing armed conflict.

It quoted Gorbachev as saying that “Arabs should display their ability to consolidate quickly, to take joint decisions in their own interest.”

Because of the attack by one Arab state on another, Tass said, a settlement of Arab-Israeli differences and the fate of the Palestinians have been pushed “into the background.”