Bush Says Freedom for Hostages Isn’t Enough

President Bush today welcomed Saddam Hussein’s dramatic promise to free American and other hostages but insisted that “the man must leave Kuwait without reservation, without condition” before the Persian Gulf crisis can end.

And on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State James A. Baker III embraced the announcement from Baghdad but echoed Bush by saying that nothing short of a complete withdrawal from Kuwait and restoration of its government will end the 4-month-old standoff.

“This is a welcome and significant development, but we do want to see it actually happen,” Baker told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “ . . . It seems to me no coincidence that this comes just one week . . . after the international community has authorized the use of force.”

The State Department, in a message for broadcast by the Voice of America, advised U.S. citizens in Iraq and Kuwait that it is making preparations for their evacuation as soon as they are permitted to leave.

“Until that time, stay where you are, stay in touch with the U.S. Embassy and monitor the VOA closely,” it said. “We will let you know as soon as we have more information.”

Bush stressed that no deal with Hussein is in the works--or would be considered.

“There are no secret negotiations, direct or indirect with Iraq over this question,” Bush said. “None. And there will be none.”

He said he hopes that the Iraqi decision to release the hostages from Kuwait is “credible” and stressed that “no single hostage should have been taken in the first place.”

Bush is in Chile as part of a five-nation swing through Latin America, but his attention was forced back to the gulf crisis with word of Hussein’s initiative.

“We are not going to get diverted from the full implementation of the United Nations resolutions in order to give him some face-saving way out of something he shouldn’t have gotten into in the first place,” Bush said, again rejecting Iraq’s calls to link resolution of the current crisis with the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“He doesn’t need any face--he needs to get out of Kuwait without trying to complicate this matter.”

Iraq on Wednesday accepted Bush’s offer to send Baker to Baghdad for a face-to-face meeting with Hussein. In his testimony today, Baker also rejected Iraqi demands that the talks include discussion of other Mideast crises.