France Cool to King Hussein’s Plea

King Hussein of Jordan pleaded Monday for dialogue with Iraq, but French President Francois Mitterrand said that only an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait could lead to a peaceful outcome to the Persian Gulf crisis.

“There has to be no embargo on dialogue, there has to be dialogue to get us to achieve results,” the king told reporters after nearly an hour with Mitterrand at the Elysee Palace.

A Mitterrand spokesman quoted the French leader as reiterating that “nothing has fundamentally changed since Aug. 2,” the day Iraq invaded Kuwait.

“The only way to have a peaceful solution is to obtain Iraq’s compliance with United Nations Security Council demands” that Baghdad pull its troops out, free all foreign hostages and restore Kuwaiti sovereignty, Mitterrand said.

King Hussein, who met Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz on Saturday, said he brought no message from Baghdad. Mitterrand has said his government has had no negotiating contacts with Iraqi leaders.

The king stressed that a solution should also encompass the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He would not comment on whether Iraq should pull out of Kuwait first.

“Obviously, we are against occupation by war. . . . We are against the annexation of territory,” he said.

The king, caught between neighboring Iraq and dependence on Western aid, reiterated that Jordan, which has an $8-billion foreign debt, is complying with U.N. trade sanctions despite its former heavy reliance on Iraqi oil and other trade.