Iraq Accepts Terms, U.S. Says : Speedy Prisoner Exchange Planned: Schwarzkopf : Cease-fire talks: Maps are given to allies to help clear away mines and booby-traps. Baghdad sends a letter to the U.N. announcing acceptance of the latest resolution.

Laying the groundwork for an official cease-fire in the Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi military agreed Sunday to an “immediate” exchange of all prisoners of war and to help locate its mines and booby-traps in Kuwait and the Persian Gulf, said Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the U.S. commander in chief.

He described the more than two hours of cease-fire talks here as “a major step forward in the cause of peace.” Another such meeting of the opposing military commanders, the general said, may not be necessary.

U.S. officers made it clear that the Iraqis agreed to all the demands that the allies brought to the table.

“I’m very happy to tell you that we agreed on all matters,” Schwarzkopf said after meeting with Lt. Gen. Sultan Hashim Ahmad, the Iraqi army’s deputy chief of staff.

“We’re well on the way to a lasting peace,” Schwarzkopf declared after the extraordinary meeting, which took place at this abandoned Iraqi airfield about eight miles north of the Kuwaiti border, below a desert bluff.

Implementing the agreement on mines, the Iraqis on Sunday provided maps to help the allies clear away the explosive devices, the Saudi military said.

The next step, Schwarzkopf said, is for Iraq to accept the terms of the latest U.N. resolution on Iraq--and within hours, the Security Council received a letter from the Iraqi government announcing the required acceptance.

The signing of a permanent cease-fire agreement would be followed by a U.S. withdrawal from the Iraqi territory seized by Schwarzkopf’s allied forces during the four-day ground campaign that began Feb. 24 and ended when President Bush declared a cessation of hostilities at 8 a.m. Thursday in the war zone. But Schwarzkopf made it clear that there will be no withdrawal until Iraq signs the formal cease-fire.

Schwarzkopf, chief commander of the 28-nation anti-Iraq coalition, said that any civilian hostages being held by Baghdad also are covered by the agreement, and that both sides have agreed to an immediate release of some prisoners of war “as a token of good faith on both sides.”

The exchange of POWs, and the return of all Kuwaiti civilians taken hostage by Iraqi soldiers fleeing from Kuwait, could commence “within a day or two,” said Lt. Gen. Peter de la Billiere, commander of the British forces in the Middle East.

The exchanges are to be handled by the International Red Cross. “Both sides have agreed that we’ll do everything we can to work with the Red Cross as rapidly as possible,” Schwarzkopf said.

At the United Nations, Iraq’s U.N. ambassador expressed the belief Sunday that his country has already released 10 allied prisoners of war, including an American woman, as a goodwill gesture.

“We have already, I believe, released 10 POWs as a gesture of goodwill,” Abdul Amir Anbari told reporters. “Six of them are American citizens, including the young lady who was captured. . . . “

He could not give further details.

There was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. military, either in Washington or in Saudi Arabia.

The allies believe that Iraq is holding 13 POWs, including nine Americans. There also are an estimated 65 missing in action, including 45 Americans. The only woman listed as missing is Army Specialist Melissa Rathbun-Nealy, 20, of Newayga, Mich.

At the talks here in the desert, the Iraqis also pledged to provide all available information on allied soldiers missing in action and on any prisoners who may have died while in captivity, and to return their remains.

Over the weekend, Baghdad freed a four-member CBS News team that had been missing since mid-January.

If the terms of Sunday’s discussions are carried out quickly, that would clear the way for an official cease-fire, after which the United States would withdraw from Iraqi soil.

“We’ve also made it very clear that upon signing of a cease-fire--but not before--all coalition forces will be drawn back from Iraqi territory that we currently occupy,” Schwarzkopf said. It was not immediately clear when--or where--such a signing would take place.

“The next step, of course, has to be a full (Iraqi) acceptance of the U.N. resolution that was passed last night,” Schwarzkopf said. That measure, Security Council Resolution 686, requires Baghdad to return all POWs and Kuwaiti hostages, to stop hostile or provocative acts, to formally rescind its annexation of Kuwait, to pay war reparations, and to disclose the location of its mines and booby-traps, among other conditions.

At the United Nations, Anbari on Sunday sent to the Security Council a letter from Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz saying:

“I have the honor to inform you that the Iraqi government has taken note of the text of Security Council Resolution 686 and that it has agreed to fulfill its obligations under the said resolution.”

Schwarzkopf also said after the Sunday meeting that “control measures” had been agreed upon, “ensuring that the units of our coalition do not come in contact with armed units of the Iraqi military that results in any more deaths.” He did not elaborate, but one source described one of the measures as the drawing of a “peace line” between Iraqi and allied forces in occupied Iraq.

Gen. Ahmad of Iraq did not speak to reporters either when he arrived or when he left the airstrip, which members of the Iraqi Republican Guard abandoned late last week after the U.S.-declared cessation of hostilities took hold.

The U.S. military imposed extraordinarily tight security measures for the meeting.

Schwarzkopf arrived from Riyadh, the Saudi capital, by way of Kuwait city, 90 minutes early, descending on the airfield in a swirling cacophony of three armed Blackhawk helicopters and half a dozen Apache attack helicopters loaded with Hellfire missiles.

Wearing his usual desert camouflage uniform, the general said to reporters before the meeting: “I’m not here to give (the Iraqis) anything. I’m here to tell them exactly what we expect them to do.”

The Iraqi military delegation drove to a previously arranged allied checkpoint on the edge of the airfield. From there, the eight officers got into U.S. Humvees and were slowly escorted to the meeting site flanked by a convoy of U.S. tanks and other armored vehicles that flew the American flag and the flag of the Red Crescent, the Arab affiliate of the International Red Cross.

The talks took place in a large, olive-green tent erected just off the airfield’s lone runway. Toward the northern horizon, two black plumes of billowing smoke were visible all day long. To the south in Kuwait, meanwhile, hundreds of oil well fires also continued burning out of control, spewing smoke that sometimes obscured the sunlight.

Schwarzkopf and Lt. Gen. Khalid ibn Sultan, the Saudi prince who heads the Arab coalition forces, faced the Iraqis across a small wooden table that had note pads, teacups, tape recorders and a bottle of water for each officer.

Other allied commanders, including Britain’s Gen. De la Billiere, French Lt. Gen. Michel Henri Roquejeoffre and Arab officers, sat on metal folding chairs behind the two top allied leaders.

Throughout the talks, the tent was surrounded by combat-ready allied troops, and the runway was lined with U.S. tanks, Apache attack helicopters, Bradley fighting vehicles and thousands of armed soldiers, including some carrying grenade launchers.

The Republican Guard unit that ceded the airfield to the 1st Infantry Division was said to be no more than half a dozen miles to the north. Thus, as the talks were held, seven M-1A1 tanks were parked at the northern end of the runway, their guns facing the Iraqis. On the perimeters of the sprawling desert airfield were several antimissile Patriot launchers, also facing north.

Schwarzkopf described the talks as “very frank, very candid and very constructive. . . . “ He said a follow-up meeting may not be necessary, although both sides have worked out details for such a meeting if required.

“We have all the answers for all our questions,” added a smiling Prince Khalid. “It’s every Arab’s dream . . . to have unity, prosperity and peace.”

He said Iraq’s vow to help clear mines and booby-traps from Kuwait and the Gulf extended to providing maps and other information on their locations.

Although the Iraqis seemed “cold” throughout the meeting, De la Billiere added that “they were determined to make progress. There was no argument in them.”

President Bush declared a cessation of hostilities effective here at 8 a.m. Thursday, 100 hours after launching a massive allied ground war that routed Iraqi occupation forces out of Kuwait.

During that assault, tens of thousands of Iraqis surrendered without a fight while American, French and British forces drove deep into Iraq--at one point reaching within 150 miles of Baghdad.

CONDITIONS AGREED TO BY IRAQ

Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf said Sunday’s talks with Iraqi commanders were “very frank, very candid and very constructive.” Here is an overview of the steps Iraq agreed to, leading to a permanent truce: * CONTROL: “Control measures” will be taken to ensure that allied forces will have no more encounters with armed Iraqi units that result in any further casualties. Schwarzkopf did not elaborate on the condition, but it is known that some Iraqi units have been out of communication and may not be aware of the cease-fire or its conditions.

* MINEFIELDS: Iraq will provide maps of minefields in Kuwait and offshore so that removal operations can begin.

* WITHDRAWAL: Allied forces will withdraw from occupied territory in Iraq when a final cease-fire agreement is signed, not before.

* POWs: Release of prisoners of war and civilian hostages is to be made immediately, with details to be worked out by the International Red Cross with full cooperation by both sides. A symbolic release was to occur immediately.

* MIAs: Iraqis have been given the names of all troops missing in action and agreed to provide information as soon as possible about them. Iraq is also to provide names of those who may have died in custody and to return the remains.