Thatcher Rejects King Hussein’s Gulf Plan

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher rejected proposals Friday from Jordan’s King Hussein for resolving the Persian Gulf crisis after she conferred with President Bush, a government official said.

“They were quite far apart in their assessment of the causes of the dispute and ways to resolve it,” the official said of Thatcher’s talks in London with Hussein.

The Jordanian monarch, whose country shares a border with Iraq, is on an international mission to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis sparked by Iraq’s Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait.

Diplomats in the Middle East have said he wants a simultaneous withdrawal of foreign forces from the gulf and of Iraqi troops from Kuwait and their replacement by an Arab peacekeeping force. This would be followed by negotiations between Kuwait and Iraq within six months to a year.

Before meeting Hussein, long regarded as a close ally of the West, Thatcher spoke by telephone with Bush for 25 minutes.

“They (Thatcher and Bush) continue to be absolutely together upon everything that is going on,” the official said.

Thatcher told Hussein that U.N. economic sanctions must be rigorously applied and that Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait and restore its rightful government.

The king, whose country has been accused of being soft on sanctions, told reporters, “The government of Jordan makes it very, very clear that it abides by these United Nations resolutions.”

Hussein will go on from London to Paris, Bonn and Rome. He arrived in Britain after visiting five North African states.