Senate OKs Arms Ban to Get Allies to Pay Up : War costs: Less than half of the $54.5 billion pledged for the Gulf effort has been received. But the State Department calls the legislation unnecessary.

Sending a strong, dunning message to several Arab allies, the Senate voted 98 to 1 on Tuesday to ban arms sales to nations that fail to make good on multibillion-dollar pledges to defray costs incurred by the United States in the Persian Gulf War.

The extraordinary prohibition was included in an Operation Desert Storm money bill that authorizes expenditures of $42.6 billion, most of which is supposed to be financed by allied contributions.

The action reflects lawmakers’ concern that oil-rich Arab countries have not fulfilled their aid promises, even though the war is now over.

Of $54.5 billion in allied assistance pledged by six affluent nations, only $25.6 billion has been delivered so far, according to Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and sponsor of the halt in arms sales. The $54.5-billion figure includes contributions not reflected in the Senate appropriations measure.

“Both talk and promises are cheap,” Byrd said in biting language during debate on the bill. “So we have had to take out an insurance policy on the credibility of our allies’ promises, and that should be deeply embarrassing to our allies. . . .”

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the Senate legislation is unnecessary. “Our view is that people are meeting their commitments, that this process is going forward smoothly, that we have been very pleased by the support that we’ve gotten from allies so far, and that we don’t think it’s necessary to legislate on this issue.”

Byrd’s anger was aimed primarily at Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. But his remarks also were directed at Germany, Japan and South Korea.

Byrd gave the following breakdown of major pledges and payments to date:

* Saudi Arabia--pledged $16.8 billion, paid $6.1 billion, or 36%.

* Kuwait--pledged $16 billion, paid $5.5 billion, or 34%.

* United Arab Emirates--pledged $4 billion, paid $2 billion, or 50%.

* Germany--pledged $6.6 billion, paid $4.6 billion, or 70%.

* Japan--pledged $10.7 billion, paid $7.3 billion, or 68%.

* South Korea--pledged $385 million, paid $71 million, or 18%.

The legislation was sent to a Senate-House conference to reconcile differences between the Senate bill and a similar House measure, which did not include a ban on arms sales but set an April 15 deadline for payment of pledges.

During the brief debate on the bill, Byrd noted that the United States already has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to maintain a strong military establishment and sent more than 500,000 troops to the Gulf to do most of the fighting against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

“So let no one say we are asking our allies to pay for the war,” Byrd added. “We are only asking for a modest share to be borne by them.”

Meanwhile, April Glaspie, the previous U.S. ambassador to Iraq, agreed to break her eight-month silence and tell the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about her disputed meeting with Hussein on July 25, just days before the Aug. 2 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

A partial transcript of the Glaspie-Hussein conversation leaked by the Iraqis seems to imply that the United States would not be overly concerned about Iraqi aggression against Kuwait. The State Department has maintained consistently that the interpretation is incorrect and that nothing said by Glaspie or other officials gave Hussein a “green light” for the invasion. Glaspie has never spoken in public about her meeting with Hussein.

Times staff writer Norman Kempster contributed to this report.

ALLIED FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

What countries have pledged and what they have paid so far in Gulf War aid to the U.S. (Figures in billions of dollars) Saudi Arabia TOTAL PLEDGE: $16.8 TOTAL RECEIVED: $6.1 Kuwait TOTAL PLEDGE: $16.0 TOTAL RECEIVED: $5.5 U.A.E. TOTAL PLEDGE: $4.0 TOTAL RECEIVED: $2.0 Germany TOTAL PLEDGE: $6.6 TOTAL RECEIVED: $4.6 Japan TOTAL PLEDGE: $10.7 TOTAL RECEIVED: $7.3 South Korea TOTAL PLEDGE: $0.385 TOTAL RECEIVED: $0.071 Other TOTAL PLEDGE: $0.003 TOTAL RECEIVED: $0.003 Source: Senate Appropriations Committee