GULF WATCH: Day 113 : A Daily Briefing Paper On Developments In The Crisis
Diplomatic Front:
President Bush meets today with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, and with Syrian President Hafez Assad in Geneva. Both Mideast nations have contributed troops to the multinational force in Saudi Arabia. Military Front:
Bush visited U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia and warned that Iraq’s progress in developing nuclear weapons gives their mission a sense of urgency and that they may soon face combat--”some pain now to avoid even worse pain later.”
Britain announced that it will send 14,000 more troops to the gulf, bringing its total to more than 30,000. Hostage Front:
More than 100 hostages, mainly British and Swiss, left Baghdad on two chartered planes. Iraq freed them in response to appeals by French and Swiss delegations. Projected Western Troop Deployments in Gulf:
United States: 430,000
Britain: 30,000
France: 13,000
Canada: 450
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