Iraq May Free Some Old, Ailing Americans

Saddam Hussein has agreed to release some sick and elderly American captives, the leader of the Iraqi-American Foundation said today. The Iraqi leader also asked his parliament to consider letting all French hostages leave.

American and Australian sailors, meanwhile, halted and boarded an Iraqi freighter in the Gulf of Oman that over the weekend had ignored warning shots and defied orders to return to Iraq, a U.S. military spokesman said.

The 5,200-ton Iraqi vessel was stopped as it sailed toward the Arabian Sea. It had been shadowed during the night by U.S. and Italian warships, said Cmdr. J. D. Van Sickle, a Navy spokesman.

The operation went smoothly with “no shots fired, no resistance met,” Van Sickle said. He said that the boarding was “still in progress” and that “the crew of the Iraqi ship is cooperating with the boarding party.”

The Pentagon later said the Iraqi vessel was allowed to proceed on its way after it was found to be empty. The Pentagon said in a statement that the ship had probably dumped overboard the cargo of steel pipes and plywood that it was carrying to Yemen in violation of the U.N. embargo.

The head of the Iraqi-American Foundation, Salim Mansour, leads a delegation that met with Hussein on Sunday night. He said today that he had received a commitment from the Iraqi leader to release Americans.

“We don’t want to talk about figures or names at the moment, but I’m happy to announce that some good news will come up,” Mansour said.

It was presumed that Mansour spoke about Americans held in Iraq and Kuwait.

About 700 Americans are being held in Kuwait and more than 300 in Iraq, many at strategic sites to deter a possible attack by the multinational forces arrayed against Iraq in the Persian Gulf.

Western diplomatic sources said they had no independent confirmation of Mansour’s claims, but they added, “We understand that what Mansour is saying could turn out to be true.” They said they understood that the Americans released would be “sick or elderly.”