The Day in the Gulf

* DIPLOMATIC DANCE: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has told Soviet envoy Yevgeny M. Primakov that Baghdad is prepared to cooperate with the Soviet Union and other nations to find a peaceful solution to the Gulf War, Baghdad Radio reported. Primakov gave Hussein a message from Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev during talks in Baghdad.

* IN CONTROL: Britain’s naval commander in the Middle East said allied forces have neutralized Iraq’s naval threat and now effectively control the Persian Gulf. Commodore Chris Craig said that of Iraq’s 22 prime war vessels, 14 have been sunk or incapacitated and another three have been disabled.

* BLAZES IN KUWAIT: U.S. military officials reported that as many as 50 fires were burning at locations throughout Kuwait, but it is unclear whether they were caused by Iraqi sabotage or errant allied bombs.

* FIREPOWER: Marine and naval gunners combined their fire with U.S. air strikes to pound Iraqi tanks and artillery massed in southern Kuwait. About 2,600 sorties were flown. American fliers reported knocking out at least four Scud missile launchers and a convoy of up to 50 vehicles in Kuwait. The barrage could be described as part of “our training program,” the U.S. Central Command said.

* MINISTRY HIT: Allied air strikes reportedly demolished the headquarters of an Iraqi ministry headed by Saddam Hussein’s cousin, as well as the fourth of the six bridges across Baghdad’s Tigris River.

* MILITARY TARGETS: In an unusual military communique read on Baghdad Radio, Iraq reported nearly 100 air raids on military targets in southern Iraq and Kuwait. Normally, such reports are not aired. The Baghdad government claimed that civilian targets, including a maternity hospital, were hit.