GULF WATCH: Day 40 : A daily briefing paper on developments in the crisis : Diplomatic Front:
Secretary of State James A. Baker III announced that he will visit Syria on Friday to coordinate anti-Iraq efforts with President Hafez Assad, despite major differences that include Syria’s place on a U.S. list of sponsors of international terrorism. Baker said Syria’s cooperation graphically “illustrates the isolation of Saddam Hussein.”
Iraq had made inroads with at least one Arab neighbor, however, as the nation restored diplomatic relations with Iran.
And Iraq tried to buy friends by offering Third World countries free oil.
In Washington, President Bush announced that he will make a televised address tonight on his Persian Gulf deployment and details of the plan to help bolster the Soviet economy.
Hostage Front:
A plane carrying 164 Americans who had been trapped in Iraq landed at Baltimore-Washington International Airport Monday night. Another plane, chartered by the United States and Britain, is expected to take more women and children out of Kuwait and Iraq on Wednesday.
Trade Front:
Energy Department officials cautiously predicted that fuel oil supplies will be adequate this winter--but only if the weather isn’t severe, if refineries avoid operating problems and if Mideast developments don’t disrupt oil shipments further.
Current stocks of heating oil are “well above normal,” although gasoline stocks are at their lowest level since 1988, and localized problems could develop, officials reported.
On Wall Street, oil prices surged in the afternoon on rumors that Iraqi troops were heading toward Jordan. The rumors were later scotched by U.S. officials.
Crisis Indicators:
* U.S. troops on the ground: 100,000
* U.S. sailors aboard ships in region: 35,000
* U.S. warships in region: 50+
* U.S. reservists to be mobilized: up to 49,703
* Iraqi troops in/near Kuwait: 265,000
* Iraqi tanks in Kuwait: 1,500
* U.S. diplomats remaining in Kuwait: 8
* U.S. diplomats, dependents held in Iraq: 58
* Other Americans detained in Iraq and Kuwait: 90
* Total Americans in Kuwait: about 1,500
* Total Americans in Iraq: about 200
* High temperature in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 109
* Wholesale gasoline (spot price per gallon): $.9456, up $.015
* Crude oil (spot price per barrel): $31.30, up $1.26
* Dow Jones Industrial Average: 2,615, down 3.96
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