GULF WATCH: Day 130 : A daily briefing paper on developments in the crisis : Hostage Front:

A U.S.-chartered Iraqi airliner carrying about 175 Americans touched down early today in Frankfurt, Germany, after a flight from Baghdad, the day after a smaller group of freed hostages touched down in Texas. Another jet carrying about 160 Italians and a sprinkling of hostages of other nationalities arrived in Rome, and a British-chartered jet is scheduled to leave today.

Diplomatic Front:

Secretary of State James A. Baker III urged Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to meet with him by Jan. 3, noting that the Iraqi suggestion of Jan. 12 is only three days before the U.N. deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.

Baker, anticipating a peaceful end to the crisis, said that U.S.-led multinational forces would remain in the region during possible negotiations later between Baghdad and a restored Kuwaiti government.

Baker also said the United States is working to avoid an international conference on the Palestinian issue now because that would imply a linkage with the gulf crisis.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s King Hussein proposed a peace plan that calls for compromise, for talks among Arabs and for linking other regional problems, such as the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Military Front:

An American soldier became the 53rd serviceman to die during Operation Desert Shield when the tractor-trailer truck he was driving overturned during a routine water supply mission.

In London, the Observer newspaper said Iraq appears to be redrawing the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border by putting up a barbed-wire fence around the northern part of Kuwait, a sign that Saddam Hussein may be planning a partial withdrawal.

Western Europeans Still in Iraq and Kuwait:

Britain: 1,200

France: less than 300

Ireland: 140

Netherlands: 133

Italy: 25

Denmark: 15

Germany: 15

Portugal: 8

Switzerland: 7

Norway: 6

Spain: 6

Sweden: 5

Finland: 4