THE GULF WAR: The Diplomatic Front : In the Mideast

Only A DOZEN FOREIGN EMBASSIES remain open in BAGHDAD, where a month ago more than 100 ambassadors were manning their posts in the Iraqi capital, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo said. “The Soviets, who once had a staff of 250, are down to 12, and they rarely leave their solidly built premises,” it said in a dispatch from Baghdad. “The Jordanians, Mauritanians, Algerians, Palestinians, Yemenis and Vietnamese do little more than survive and issue the odd declaration of solidarity.” It added that the missions of India, Bangladesh and Sudan are still open but said that only the Cuban Embassy and the Apostolic Nunciature are running normally.