Kuwait Offers $5 Billion for Drive Against Iraq : Gulf crisis: Europe will help afflicted nations but won’t fund U.S. buildup. Japan stalls on aid request.

The deposed emir of Kuwait pledged Friday to provide $5 billion over the rest of this year for the U.S.-led military and economic campaign against Iraq, and members of his exiled Cabinet urged Washington to use military force if economic pressures do not work soon.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III announced Kuwait’s commitment--split about evenly between support for U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf region and aid to hard-pressed front-line nations such as Turkey and Egypt--following talks with the exiled ruler, Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah.

In Rome, meanwhile, foreign ministers of the European Community agreed to help Middle East countries feeling the impact of the trade embargo against Iraq, but they pointedly declined to provide direct financial support for the military buildup in Saudi Arabia.

And in Tokyo, the Japanese government rebuffed Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady’s request that it help finance the campaign against Iraq, but indicated that it would consider a companion bid for help in bolstering the economies of Egypt, Turkey and Jordan, which have been hard-hit by the economic embargo.

Defense Department officials in Washington were quoted Friday as saying the buildup in the Middle East could cost as much as $11 billion in the year ahead.

Baker’s announcement in Abu Dhabi marked the first time in his fund-raising swing through the gulf’s oil-rich nations that he has been able to tie down a specific dollar amount.

After meeting with the Kuwaitis, in the Saudi Arabian luxury hotel that has become their capital-in-exile, Baker flew to Abu Dhabi, where he obtained what he termed a “very positive” response from the United Arab Emirates. But he said no specific figures had been worked out.

In Saudi Arabia, Baker and King Fahd agreed that Saudi Arabia would provide a multibillion-dollar contribution. But there again details were left unsettled.

Baker and the Kuwaiti emir met in a lavish suite on the fifth floor of a hotel in the resort town of Taif in Saudi Arabia’s mountain region. With Baker seated at his side, the emir told reporters that he will support whatever effort is necessary to drive the Iraqi occupiers from Kuwait, even if that means turning Kuwait into a battlefield.

Asked if he was urging Washington to substitute military force for economic pressure, the emir replied: “The decision in this matter is up to the United States. We believe the United States has done its duty as well as could be expected.”

However, exiled Housing Minister Yahaya Sumait told a press conference that Kuwait wants the United States to set a deadline for economic sanctions and back up the ultimatum with a military strike if peaceful methods do not produce results.

“We don’t have very much time to give because Kuwaitis inside Kuwait are living a nightmare,” Sumait said. “If it were up to me, I would like to see it (a military offensive) tomorrow.”

Baker said later that the United States would not rule out the use of force, but he said no deadlines would be set.

Before leaving Saudi Arabia, Baker visited an air base where two wings of F-111 fighter-bombers are based. If Washington decides to undertake offensive operations, the F-111s will probably be called on to make deep-penetration bombing raids into Iraq.

Baker, perched on a ladder in one of the bomb-resistant hangars at the base, said: “I wanted to tell you how deeply we appreciate and the American people appreciate what you are doing for your country . . . and for a very important principle.

“God bless each and every one of you, and God bless the United States of America.”

Talking with reporters after his meetings in Abu Dhabi, Baker expressed confidence that he and Treasury Secretary Brady will be able to obtain enough money from other countries to cover most of the incremental costs expected by the end of the year in the region.

“So far, at least, we are making very good progress,” Baker said.

Baker will be in Egypt today for talks with President Hosni Mubarak, the key figure in Washington’s strategy of enlisting moderate Arab states in the confrontation with Iraq. Egypt has sent military units to Saudi Arabia and has offered to provide more.

Also, the Egyptian economy has been severely damaged by the effects of the U.N. economic embargo of Iraq. Baker is trying to raise funds to cushion the impact on Cairo.

He is scheduled to fly to Helsinki to join President Bush for his meeting Sunday with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

At the European Community meeting in Rome, Italian Foreign Minister Gianni De Michelis, speaking for the foreign ministers of all 12 member nations, said that President Bush’s decision to commit troops to the defense of Saudi Arabia was a unilateral U.S. action.

In declining to provide financial support for that action, De Michelis told reporters the Europeans were adhering to the principle of “no taxation without representation.”

An EC official who asked not to be identified by name or nationality said there was little or no support among the foreign ministers for defraying the cost of the U.S. military buildup.

De Michelis said the ministers felt that the United States was justified in asking others to share the burden, “but the position of the 12 (European nations) is that we want to contribute directly, not through the United States.”

He said Europe’s contribution to Jordan, Turkey and Egypt, each of which had sent upward of $1 billion a year in exports to Iraq and Kuwait before the trade embargo, would indirectly benefit the United States.

“The money we give to Jordan, Turkey and Egypt will be money the United States will not have to give,” he said.

De Michelis was pressed to attach a dollar figure to what the Europeans were prepared to commit, but declined.

“We cannot give a figure today,” he said.

Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van den Broek, talking separately with reporters, said the Europeans discussed a figure of $2 billion. The foreign ministers will have another opportunity to agree on a precise amount when they meet Sept. 17 in Brussels.

De Michelis said the Europeans were also calling on the Middle East nations that oppose the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait to assist in the effort to aid Jordan, Turkey and Egypt. And he said the foreign ministers pledged to increase their financial commitment to the refugees who have fled Kuwait with nowhere to go.

“The Community is ready to commit a substantial amount from its own budgetary resources for additional humanitarian aid,” the ministers declared in a communique. “Member states will contribute to the joint effort, notably by providing transportation facilities.”

U.S. officials clearly were disappointed in the Japanese response, particularly in light of the commitments from the Saudis, Kuwaitis and Europeans.

During a Tokyo meeting with Brady, Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu conspicuously declined to commit his country to providing any substantial aid.

“Japan will do its utmost, but we are still in the process of seeing what we can do,” a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

Japan so far has agreed publicly to contribute only $1 billion in support of the multinational force in the gulf region and has offered to send cargo ships and equipment. The latter effort, however, has been snagged by labor disputes in Japan.

U.S. officials said they feared that Japan’s tepid response would spark a backlash in Congress, where lawmakers have already begun calling for Tokyo to share the burden for the gulf operation, both because Japan itself is so wealthy and because it depends so much on oil from the Middle East. U.S. officials say that oil prices would have soared if Washington had not sent troops.

Times staff writers Joel Havemann in Rome and James Risen in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Gulf, Summit News

SOVIET PRESENCE--7,000 Soviet civilians are in Iraq working on projects vital to Baghdad’s economy, U.S. experts said.A6

DIPLOMACY URGED--The Soviet foreign minister said his country will urge a peaceful solution to the crisis at Sunday’s summit.A7

TROOPS INVITED--President Bush invited Soviet troops to the Mideast. There was no immediate sign the Soviets would accept.A10

GROWING TIES--The summit reflects the changing relationship between the superpowers, Soviet officials acknowledged.A15