GULF WATCH: Day 79 : A Daily Briefing Paper On Developments In The Crisis

Diplomatic Front:

Soviet envoy Yevgeny Primakov met with President Bush to discuss solutions to the Persian Gulf crisis and said afterward that a peaceful resolution is possible. Bush said he remains firmly opposed to any deal that would reward Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait. There have been reports that President Saddam Hussein might settle for a Kuwaiti oil field or another compromise.

In Moscow, Soviet Defense Minister Dmitri T. Yazov said worsening economic conditions in Iraq are likely to force Hussein to withdraw his occupying forces from Kuwait. Military Front:

Gen. Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will go to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to talk with the field commander of Operation Desert Shield and U.S. and Saudi officials.

The Pentagon announced plans to move several hundred of its top-of-the-line M-1A1 tanks from Europe to Saudi Arabia for use in Operation Desert Shield. The shipment will mark the first significant transfer of European-based ground armor to the gulf. Hostage Front:

Six more Americans were allowed to leave Iraq during the last week, and a seventh was released into the custody of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the State Department said.

Iraq ordered foreigners in Kuwait to register with authorities by Nov. 5 and said it would revoke residency cards of those who don’t, leaving them subject to fines and imprisonment. Economic Front:

Iraq said it will begin rationing gasoline next Tuesday. Although Iraq is awash in unsold crude oil, the international embargo has curtailed supplies of chemicals needed in refining. U.S. Forces in the Persian Gulf:

U.S. troops: 200,000

Tanks: 200

Armored fighting vehicles: 300

Warships: 55

F-117A Stealth fighters: 22

F-111F bombers: 14

B-52 bombers: 6-plus

F-15 and F-16 fighters: 150

A-10 anti-tank aircraft: 70

Carrier-based aircraft: 240