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U.S., Britain Issue Tough Terms for Iraq Peace Accord : Persian Gulf: Topping the list are the ‘supervised destruction’ of Baghdad’s chemical arsenal and setting aside of oil revenues to pay for devastation in Kuwait.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Iraq must yield to the “supervised destruction” of its chemical weapons and pledge some portion of its future oil revenues to pay for the destruction of Kuwait as part of any permanent peace agreement to end the Persian Gulf War, President Bush and British Prime Minister John Major agreed Saturday.

The two conditions were part of a lengthy list of terms disclosed by the American and British leaders at a news conference after roughly two hours of talks here, part of a series of consultations Bush has held with leaders of the anti-Iraq coalition over the last four days. Bush plans to return home today after greeting returning troops in Sumter, S.C.

The remarks by the two leaders were the most detailed public disclosure to date of the conditions that the U.S.-led international coalition plans to insist upon in return for ending the economic sanctions against Iraq, yielding control of Iraqi territory seized in the fighting and putting a formal end to the war.

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U.S. and British representatives are expected to put the new terms into a resolution to be considered by the U.N. Security Council, Administration officials said. The Security Council could take up the new resolution later this week, Major said at the news conference.

“There’s a good deal we need to see,” Major said. “We do need to see, for example, the destruction of the chemical weapons.”

In addition, he added, Iraq will have to offer formal and “permanent recognition” of Kuwait’s independence and sovereignity, agree to set aside some portion of oil revenues “to meet some of the loss and costs that have been incurred in Kuwait” and release all Kuwaiti detainees.

Bush, saying he agrees with Major’s list, added that Iraq will also be required to agree to the presence of some form of international peacekeeping force to guard against renewed attacks on Kuwait.

An Administration official said that British and American diplomats agreed on the list of terms and have received general agreement on it from other leading members of the coalition and the Security Council.

The list would address the major concerns of several Middle Eastern states, including Kuwait’s demand for war reparations and Israel’s continuing concern about Iraq’s chemical weapons capacity.

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An agreement to set aside some of Iraq’s oil revenue could be key to settling the reparations issue. Virtually all of Iraq’s oil exports flow out of the country through two pipelines controlled by members of the anti-Iraq coalition--one goes through Saudi Arabia, the other through Turkey.

Bush also used the press conference to repeat his warnings to Saddam Hussein against the use of aircraft in suppressing rebellions against the Baghdad government.

Allied military intervention in Iraq to support anti-Hussein rebellions “would be going beyond our mandate,” Bush said. Nonetheless, he added, Iraq “must abide” by agreements reached among military commanders to govern the current temporary cease-fire. Administration officials have said those agreements bar Iraq from flying military aircraft or using helicopters except for transport purposes.

The President declined to say what he might do if Iraq refuses to comply with those terms. “None of us want to move forces into Baghdad,” he said. “We don’t want to have any more fighting.” But he added later, “we’re not ruling anything in or out.”

When he was asked if the United States was “sending a message to Saddam” with the recent decision to move U.S. troops forward, back into Iraqi territory that had been abandoned shortly after the fighting stopped, Bush simply nodded yes. Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater later declined to elaborate, saying: “We’ll leave it unstated. Let them guess.”

Bush also reiterated that he believes the Soviet Union can play a “constructive role” in future Middle East peace talks. “They have interests in the Middle East. We don’t view that as something that’s against us,” he said.

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Along with Major, Bush also expressed some optimism about the course of arms control talks with the Soviets. Soviet officials have been pushing for a Bush-Gorbachev summit in Moscow in May, something Gorbachev would very much like in hopes that international applause might improve his image at home.

For their part, Administration officials have been trying to make clear to the Soviets that no summit can take place until the Soviet military stops trying to evade troop reduction agreements reached in last year’s European arms control treaty.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials charge that the Soviets have been trying to evade the treaty by reclassifying infantry troops as naval units, which are not covered by the treaty. Administration officials hope that Gorbachev will order the military to comply with the treaty once he realizes that Bush and his aides are serious about the issue, and both Bush and Major said they see signs that the message is getting through.

“I think Mr. Gorbachev has taken the point,” Major said. “His military are a good deal more hard-line about that matter than I think he is.”

Administration officials say that if the troop issue is resolved, Bush would be willing to go ahead with a springtime summit, even though a separate treaty reducing long-range nuclear missiles will almost certainly not be finished by then. Bush aides had once hoped to have the nuclear treaty finished by the end of last year, but the discussions have been stalled for months.

Bush declined to respond when asked if he still thought a summit in May was possible, saying he wanted to speak first with Secretary of State James A. Baker III, who returns today from a weeklong trip.

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