THE WEEK IN THE GULF

A summary of the fourth week of the Persian Gulf War begins one week ago: MONDAY, FEB. 11

* President Bush meets with Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and joint chiefs Chairman Gen. Colin L. Powell and says the air war “will continue for a while.”

* The Iraqi government announces that it will begin drafting 17-year-olds.

TUESDAY, FEB. 12

* President Bush confers in Washington with the defense chiefs of Britain and France.

* Despite the nonstop air raids, Iraq retains its “lethal developed weapons,” the Iraqi Parliament Speaker says in an apparent reference to chemical and biological weapons.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13

* Allied warplanes destroy an underground shelter in Baghdad, and officials there say 500 civilians were killed. The United States calls it a military command center.

* The Soviet Union says Iraq’s foreign minister, Tarik Aziz, will travel to Moscow over the weekend to meet with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

* Diplomats in Riyadh say the Saudis, facing a budget deficit because of the war, are seeking more than $3 billion in international loans.

* The U.N. Security Council votes to hold its first formal session on the conflict behind closed doors.

THURSDAY, FEB. 14

* Two crewmen of a U.S. Air Force EF-111 are killed when their plane goes down in northern Saudi Arabia, apparently after being damaged in combat. A British Tornado bomber is lost while attacking Iraqi airfields.

* The U.S. command, in response to the death of hundreds of civilians in Wednesday’s Baghdad bombing, says it is looking for new ways to limit such casualties.

* The U.N. Security Council opens debate on the Gulf War.

FRIDAY, FEB. 15

* Iraq offers a conditional plan to pull out of Kuwait, but President Bush dismisses it as a “cruel hoax.”

* CBS News reporter Bob Simon and three crew members who disappeared in the northern Saudi desert last month are reported held in Baghdad.

* The Security Council meets in closed session to discuss Iraq’s conditional offer to withdraw from Kuwait.

SATURDAY, FEB. 16

* Two U.S. A-10 Warthog jets are reported shot down.

* American attack helicopters make their first night raids on Iraqi positions in the Gulf War.

SUNDAY, FEB. 17

* An American Apache attack helicopter destroys two American military vehicles, killing two soldiers and wounding six.

* Allied commanders increasingly believe Iraq has limited data on U.S. troop locations and is sending patrols into Saudi Arabia to get facts on its opponent.