U.N.-Iraq Talks Resume Today; Progress Hinted

Talks billed at first as only an exchange of views appeared to have been raised to the level of negotiations Friday as U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz unexpectedly agreed to meet again today on resolving the Persian Gulf crisis.

Perez de Cuellar and Aziz, who worked together three years ago on negotiations that eventually ended the Iran-Iraq War, met for five hours in two sessions at the palace of King Hussein, the Jordanian leader.

In statements after the meetings, little appeared to have changed in the position either of Perez de Cuellar, who is bound by U.N. resolutions that call for Iraq to immediately pull out of Kuwait, or of Aziz, who did not mention Kuwait, invaded and annexed by Iraq.

Perez de Cuellar indicated that he is pleased by the decision of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to free women and children detained as hostages, although few of the foreigners have yet been permitted to leave Iraq.

“Of course, from my point of view,” Perez de Cuellar added emphatically, “it is not enough. I welcome this first decision . . . which I hope will be followed by other decisions which allow all foreigners to leave the area.”

Aziz responded by reiterating his government’s promise to release the hostages if the United States guarantees that it will not attack. He said that only citizens of countries participating in the military buildup against Iraq are being detained. If guarantees against attack are “provided, then the situation of civilian foreigners would be resolved,” he said.

Perez de Cuellar and Aziz announced that teams of experts from both sides will trade ideas this morning and that the two men will convene again in the afternoon.

Jordanians viewed the decision to continue talks today as a positive sign.

“You do not need two days of meetings to exchange views,” said one official at the palace. “You do not even need two hours.”

In the initial sessions, Aziz appeared to be pleading for time, calling for “quiet diplomacy” to resolve a situation he and Perez de Cuellar both called dangerous.

“Such a situation cannot be resolved by a magical solution,” he told reporters gathered on the front porch of the palace.

In the month since Iraq invaded Kuwait, Baghdad has taken steps to incorporate the sheikdom; this week it declared Kuwait its 19th province.

The Iraqi diplomat repeated Saddam Hussein’s demand that if the invasion of Kuwait is to be discussed, then so should other festering problems in the region, including Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Syria’s occupation of part of Lebanon.

Iraq would comply with international law, Aziz maintained, “but in this respect, there must not be double standards. We feel great bitterness about the double treatment that has been used against us.”

The word Kuwait never passed his lips as he talked to reporters, leading to speculation that the issue of withdrawal had indeed been raised during the day. When asked about it, Aziz responded, “I will not answer your question.”

Pressed on whether Iraq had changed its position on Kuwait and would leave, he answered, “No comment.”

The explosive situation “is a result of American, Western and Atlantic deployment in the region,” he argued. “It is not the responsibility of Iraq.”

Aziz, a Christian in a predominantly Muslim country, hinted at a possible negotiating position by praising efforts of Jordan’s King Hussein to find an “Arab solution.” The solution, as outlined in Jordan, focuses on getting Western troops out of the area, recognizing Iraqi claims to oil and territory and permanently ousting the exiled Kuwaiti royal family, all in return for an Iraqi pullback and annulment of its annexation.

In contrast with Iraq’s often bellicose rhetoric, Aziz pledged that his country would not “ignite” a war and said that “Iraq is seeking the means and ways to a peaceful solution.”

Perez de Cuellar reported that he tried to impress on Aziz the importance of U.N. resolutions passed in the crisis. The resolutions demanded not only the unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait, but also the restoration of the “legitimate” government there as well as the release of foreign hostages.

The release of hostages, Perez de Cuellar added, would “very much help to reduce tensions in the area.”

When Perez de Cuellar arrived in Amman on Thursday, he discounted the idea of the talks here as negotiations, saying he had come to seek compliance with the U.N. resolutions.

What remains to be seen is whether he was sticking to the letter of the U.N. resolutions or was in fact discussing possible negotiating positions that would make Iraqi withdrawal something less than unconditional. Such a move would run counter to the official Bush Administration policy on Kuwait.

Aziz’s highlighting of King Hussein’s efforts seemed an effort to break down the consensus on unconditional withdrawal. The Jordanian government has complained that calls for restoration of the status quo back Saddam Hussein into a corner and make war more likely.

King Hussein is on a visit to Europe, the end of a tour that also has taken him through North African capitals. Like Saddam Hussein, the monarch has taken the position that the dispatch of American and Western forces to the gulf has aggravated the situation and is a colonial venture disguised as enforcement of international law.

King Hussein, like Saddam Hussein, has placed the crisis in the context of historical efforts by the West to subjugate the Arab world. Jordanian government officials say the king is acting as a diplomatic mouthpiece for Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Arab foreign ministers opposed to Iraq demanded Friday that Saddam Hussein pull his troops out of Kuwait, immediately release hostages and pay war damages as conditions for a peace settlement.

A total of 13 of the Arab League’s 21 members, attending a meeting in Cairo, decided on a five-point blueprint as a basis for peace.

SHIFT IN POLITICS: The gulf crisis is affecting coalitions and policies. A7

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