Baker and Aziz Arrive in Geneva, Both Talking Tough : Diplomacy: Hopes for a breakthrough are dim. Each side says the other must be the one to back down.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz arrived here about 40 minutes apart Tuesday night, repeating hard-line positions that indicate that today’s Persian Gulf crisis talks are headed for deadlock.

As he has for weeks, Baker said the United States will make no deals but will simply demand that Iraq reverse its Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait. For his part, Aziz said, “Iraq does not yield to pressure.”

Both men used almost identical words to say that the only chance for peace is for the other to back down.

Speaking earlier Tuesday in Paris, Baker said, “The chance for peace is in the hands of Saddam Hussein and in the hands of Iraq.”

Arriving at the Geneva hotel where the talks will be held, Aziz said, “The decision on war is with Mr. Bush; it is not ours.”

Baker arrived in Geneva after a grueling day of diplomacy that took him from London to Paris, Bonn and Milan in an effort to prevent any erosion of the international coalition demanding that Iraq end its occupation of Kuwait.

Despite his hectic schedule, however, Baker was able to reach Geneva before Aziz, scoring a victory in the arcane game of diplomatic prerogative. When U.S. officials discovered that both men were aiming at similar arrival times, the Baker party hurried away from its final stop in Milan to be sure it reached Geneva first.

For the most part, Baker was able to claim firm support from France, Germany and Italy, although he did hear some pointed questions about Washington’s unyielding tactics, particularly from the French.

Both France and Germany have made it clear that they are prepared to sweeten the package a bit if Iraq agrees to withdraw, while the United States is adamant against giving Iraqi President Saddam Hussein any concessions that might even appear to reward his aggression.

France has proposed a comprehensive Middle East peace conference to consider the Israeli-Palestinian dispute as well as the Persian Gulf crisis if Iraq withdraws from Kuwait and restores the ousted government. Baker rejects that approach.

With Baker at his side, French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas acknowledged that Washington believes that talk of a conference “could appear to be a concession to Saddam Hussein, and for that reason it could confuse the message that has been sent to him.”

Nevertheless, the French official said that President Francois Mitterrand held fast to the traditional French position during an hourlong meeting with Baker at the Elysee Palace.

With that said, Dumas added that the U.S.-French disagreement “will not change anything--the solidarity, which we have already proven, is a reality.”

For his part, Baker said the United States and France demonstrated “absolutely total and complete agreement” that Iraq must withdraw unconditionally.

However, there is growing speculation that France might try its own peace initiative--possibly sending Dumas to Baghdad--if the Baker-Aziz talks fail. Baker said he would not object to such a move as long as the demand for a complete Iraqi withdrawal remains firm and there is no postponement of the Jan. 15 deadline.

“I think that this (meeting with Aziz) is the last, best chance for a peaceful political solution,” Baker said in Bonn. “But, of course, we would all prefer a peaceful, political solution, and if one could occur before midnight on the 15th of January, we would be delighted.”

It would be possible for the United States and France to approach Iraq with that staple of police fiction, the good-cop, bad-cop routine. Baker could deliver the hard-line position today, and France could follow with the same message couched in more sympathetic rhetoric.

If Hussein decides to defuse the crisis by acceding to the U.N. resolutions, he might find it easier to capitulate to France than to the United States.