U.S. Seeks to Hold Line on Iraq Embargo : Mideast: Christopher, Gulf states present united front against pressure to ease sanctions.

The United States and six Persian Gulf monarchies launched a counteroffensive Wednesday against growing international pressure to ease economic sanctions against Iraq, just one day after Baghdad agreed to accelerate steps required to lift the three-year embargo against it.

On the first stop of his Middle East swing, Secretary of State Warren Christopher held talks with six foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council to “unanimously and strongly express our common resolve to maintain the sanctions until Iraq complies fully with all U.N. resolutions.”

But three of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council--France, Russia and China--are either pushing for a schedule to lift the oil embargo as the first step in ending the broader sanctions or are neutral on the issue.

France and Russia are reportedly interested in exploring lucrative trade deals with Baghdad after the oil embargo is removed.

Turkey, which borders Iraq and was a key member of the U.S.-led coalition in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, has also been pressuring the United States to ease the embargo. Use of Turkey’s oil pipeline from Iraq to the Mediterranean has been frozen for three years, costing more than $100 million and further crippling Ankara’s troubled economy.

The embargo, which is reviewed every 60 days, is due for discussion at the United Nations again early next month. U.S. officials have been concerned that the push to end the oil embargo could lead to a phased plan that would ease the political and economic squeeze on the regime of President Saddam Hussein. “Once you start talking about deadlines or ways to end the embargo, then the game is up,” one senior U.S. official said.

Among many ongoing violations, Christopher specifically cited Iraq’s suppression of its own citizens; its refusal to recognize Kuwait’s independence or borders, and its promotion of terrorism, most recently in the assassination this month of a leading Iraqi dissident in Beirut.

“Our resolve to defend this interest against aggression from any quarter is as strong today as it was when the United States led the coalition effort to liberate Kuwait from Iraq’s aggression,” Christopher said at a news conference here. “We remain vigilant and determined. We are conscious that the region is far from free of threats.”

The talks in Riyadh came a day before a report is due at the Security Council from Rolf Ekeus, chairman of the U.N. Special Commission on Iraq, on Baghdad’s progress in complying with various U.N. resolutions.

After talks in Iraq on Tuesday, Ekeus and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz agreed to expedite efforts to create an arms-monitoring program to prevent Baghdad from developing weapons of mass destruction, a key condition for lifting sanctions.

A joint statement expressed appreciation from the Special Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency “for Iraq’s expeditious and positive responses to their requests for assistance and support.”

Ekeus has also said recently that Iraq is cooperating with U.N. monitors, in contrast to its obstruction of the inspectors in the early days of their work. In recent weeks, the United Nations has increased the number of monitors inspecting Iraqi installations and has begun installing equipment, including cameras and sensors, at critical facilities.

But U.S. officials say they are very skeptical about Iraq’s compliance and intentions. Baghdad “retains the desire to threaten its neighbors and U.S. interests (and) has no apparent intention of actually giving up its determination to retain its weapons of mass destruction,” Ronald Neumann, the State Department’s director of Gulf affairs, said recently in a speech in Washington.

U.S. officials believe the next 18 to 24 months will be critical in determining if the Hussein regime can survive economically--and therefore politically. At the time of the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraq was estimated to have between $5 billion and $7 billion in foreign exchange reserves. But because of the sanctions, Baghdad is now believed to have gone through much of its reserves. Its oil-based economy is deteriorating seriously, with widespread shortages of basic goods.