Iraqi Terms for Leaving Kuwait Reported by Palestinian Leader
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would give up most of Kuwait if he could keep a border strip without fear of U.S. attack and be sure the deposed emir would not return, a top Palestinian leader was quoted as saying today.
The remarks by guerrilla chief Abu Iyad in the French newspaper Liberation seemed to be a trial balloon from the Iraqi government.
He said Hussein fears that even if he pulls out and releases Westerners held in Iraq and Kuwait, the United States will still attack to destroy his nuclear and chemical weapons programs.
“He’s convinced that keeping or surrendering Kuwait won’t change that American determination,” Abu Iyad said. “That’s his real problem today. Can Europe guarantee that he won’t be attacked?”
Abu Iyad is Yasser Arafat’s influential deputy in the Palestinian guerrilla group Fatah, mainstream of the PLO.
Middle East analysts said his precise description of Hussein’s thinking had the standing of an all-but-official leak from Baghdad.
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