Gulf Allies Assure U.S. They Will Stand Firm : Diplomacy: Baker meets with Europeans, and no ‘wavering’ is reported. Delay of deadline is rejected.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III, touching base with U.S. allies in advance of his crucial meeting with the Iraqi foreign minister, received reassurances Monday that the international coalition will stand firm even if the Persian Gulf crisis results in war, a senior U.S. official said.

“There was no indication whatever of any wavering,” the official said after Baker met with the foreign ministers of Britain, Spain and Luxembourg and the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

At the same time, Baker and British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd rejected any postponement of the United Nations’ Jan. 15 deadline for Iraq to withdraw its forces from Kuwait.

Reacting to news agency reports that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had suggested to visiting French envoy Michel Vauzelle that the U.N. Security Council should hold a new meeting to postpone the potential confrontation, both Baker and Hurd said there can be no slippage.

“We have our ears cocked for a message from Baghdad, but that is not the message,” Hurd said. “The message that the world is waiting for from Baghdad is not one of delay but of compliance. That is what we are hoping for.”

Baker added, “We need to hear less talk from Baghdad, and we need to see some action.”

Baker is to meet Wednesday in Geneva with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz to press home the U.S. warning that unless Iraq pulls its forces out of Kuwait, the United States and its allies will go to war to force Hussein’s army out of the sheikdom. Baker said his objective is “communication, not negotiations” because Washington is unwilling to even talk about any sort of deal that might reward Iraq for its aggression.

However, the senior U.S. official said the United States has never rejected post-crisis diplomacy once Iraq pulls its forces out. And, although he said the Bush Administration would not support anything that smacked of “linkage,” Iraq might be able to win several of its stated objectives in such talks.

“After Iraq withdraws completely and unconditionally, there would be a number of issues that would still need to be discussed, between Iraq and Kuwait, for instance . . . (and) other questions concerning peace and stability in the region and beyond,” the official said.

The United States suggested such a “no-deal deal” weeks ago. Iraq has never indicated any interest in it, but U.S. officials hope that the plan may look sweeter as the deadline approaches for the use of force.

Jacques Poos, foreign minister of Luxembourg and the current president of the European Community’s council of foreign ministers, said Europe strongly supports new efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli dispute but refuses to permit the initiative to appear to be a concession to Iraq.

“We accept no linkage,” Poos said. “But, of course, if Iraq leaves Kuwait on the indicated date, there will be an after-crisis discussion in some manner or other.”

Poos renewed his invitation--already rejected by Iraq--for Aziz to stop in Luxembourg on Thursday after talking with Baker. Iraq said such a meeting would serve no purpose because the European Community would simply follow Washington’s lead.

Poos agreed that his message is similar to the one Baker plans to deliver.

“It seems he doesn’t hear it, so it must be repeated again and again,” Poos said.

Baker summed up the current state of his diplomatic effort: “They (the Iraqis) must withdraw totally and completely from Kuwait or they will be forced out. It is that message that I intend to communicate, and that is the only real message that needs to be communicated.”

In recent speeches intended to prepare his people for war, Hussein has taken a particularly hard line, vowing to defeat the international coalition and “liberate” Muslim holy places in Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Asked if the speeches indicate that the Iraqi leader is not getting the message, Baker replied: “Well, it would certainly look that way, wouldn’t it?

“But then, he’s been saying these things before,” Baker added. “We’ll have an opportunity to present the message in person to Foreign Minister Aziz.”

In addition to Hurd and Poos, Baker met in London with Spanish Foreign Minister Francisco Fernandez Ordonez and NATO Secretary General Manfred Woerner. Today, Baker visits Paris, Bonn and Milan for meetings with French, German and Italian officials, including French President Francois Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Monday’s meetings were relatively easy because there have been few differences of opinion between the United States and Britain, Spain, Luxembourg and the NATO secretariat. For instance, Hurd said “We are very close, in fact, we are in identical positions on this subject.”

But the talks with Mitterrand and Kohl may be more pointed.

Baker has criticized the French president for an apparent willingness to offer Iraq a quid pro quo for its withdrawal from Kuwait. Kohl has been firm in his support of the U.S. position so far, but the deployment of German warplanes to Turkey has kicked up a growing political row within Germany.

Briefing reporters on Monday’s meetings, the senior U.S. official said Baker sought to drive home “the need for the coalition to remain together if (the use of force) comes to pass, just as it has so far.”

He said none of the leaders indicated any hesitation over the use of military action.

“Everything we heard today indicated these people are realistic,” the official said.