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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 1991)
Crisis in the Gulf 3 iiesday, January 15, 1991 The Battalion IVar appears imminent jsociated Press Iraq and the United States ap- (ared locked on a course for war landay. Both sides insisted the kr must yield a day before the N. deadline for Saddam Hussein pull his troops from Kuwait or ite attack. Yemen, meanwhile, tried to keep apes for peace alive by sending a jh-level delegation to Baghdad .iihanew proposal. Around the world, anti-war pro- am took to the streets, and Israel Jed up more reservists. Stocks and bonds tumbled and oil jices soared on world markets. U.N. Secretary-General Javier >erez de Cuellar, who said he lost :ope for peace after meeting with ie Iraqi president on Sunday, iheduled a briefing for the Security [ouncilon Monday night. “We declare here and now that we ie ready to sacrifice everything for because of Palestine,” National As- speak said. “Palestine should be liberated and rights of Pal- estinians re- stored.” The lawmakers voted to give Sad dam full authority over the gulf cri sis. “It is either life with dignity or death,” said one deputy, Muslim clergyman Abdul- waham al-Hitti. President Bush de Cuellar called Iraq’s ap parent intention to keep troops in Kuwait beyond Tuesday midnight “a tremendous mistake.” Saddam said Sunday, “A last-min ute initiative is up to the Americans. If they are bent on war, no one can prevent it.” But Secretary of State James A. Baker III said Monday only Baghdad can avert war. Baker, in Ottawa on the final stop of a tour of nations allied against Iraq, told reporters he was disap pointed by the failure of Perez de Cuellar’s trip to Iraq. He said he hoped that “as the clock ticks down to midnight Jan. 15th that there will be opportunity to resolve this crisis peacefully and politically. That opportunity now must come from Baghdad.” The international coalition against Iraq “is fully prepared politi cally, economically and militarily to deal with possible alternatives,” Baker said. “There is total solidarity among the coalition,” he said. Also Monday, the European Com munity foreign ministers met in Brussels and decided not to try an other peace initiative. Despite the U.N. deadline, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said, “There’s never a deadline for peace initiatives.” Kuwaiti officials meanwhile urged the anti-Iraq alliance to stand tough and said they were willing to have their country leveled in order to save it. Qulf jyvelopments | • The White House issued a statement that military ac- [ tion could occur at any time after the deadline, and that Iraq was living on borrowed time. | • President Bush signed the resolution approved by Congress authorizing force against Iraq. He said the measure sends a clear mes sage to Saddam Hussein that Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait without delay. • United Nations Secre tary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, who met in Baghdad with Hussein, said he has given up hope of peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Middle East. • France readied a new plan for the United Nations Security Council calling for Iraqi withdrawal, a U.N. peacekeeping force and a Mideast peace conference. rtT American citizens face-to-face with war Associated Press About 500 American citizens re main in Iraq and Kuwait, staring war in the eye as zero hour approaches. Elizabeth Girard’s daughter is among them. And her son, an Air Force fighter pilot, is on alert in Saudi Arabia. Do not tell Girard the Persian Gulf crisis is only about oil. “It’s about much more than that. These are real people,” she said Monday from Worcester, Mass. “This is my son, and my daughter.” The State Department estimates about 300 U.S. passport holders are in Kuwait and about 180 are in Iraq. The majority are women and their children, many of whom carry dual citizenship. Some wives refuse to leave their husbands behind; some may be held against their will. Many have chosen to stay in order to fight for Kuwait, and for their principles. Others have no where else to go. “One woman had just recently buried her 4-year-old,” said Mary Kondrat, who escaped to Boyne City, Mich., with her husband and four young children. “And somehow she just couldn’t leave him there alone.” But if war breaks out, those who have stayed behind face death in the crossfire. Civilians in hiding must rely on homemade basement bomb shelters. Their gas masks are rough affairs made of charcoal wrapped in cotton. “It is so fearful, what she is going through. And her babies,” said Ruth Bany of West Linn, Ore. “Why is my son-in-law not doing something to see that they’ll be safe?” Grab a bite of home cookin'. Now there’s home cookin’ worth going out for, right in your neighborhood. At our new Black-eyed Pea Restaurant you’ll find all the good food that gives home cooking a good name. Like hand-battered, chicken fried steak, juicy pot roast, and tender charbroiled chicken. Garden-fresh vegetables, mashed potatoes and old- fashioned cornbread. Fruit cobblers, homemade from scratch, creamy banana pudding, and other tempting desserts. Our service and prices will suit your taste, too. So visit the new home of home cooking in your neighborhood. The Black-eyed Pea. glack-eyed Pea RESTAURANT Home cookin’ worth going out for. 5 201 E. University College Station, 260-1092 Only few of allied countries will join battle if United States, Iraq go to war NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Although 28 countries have contributed to the U.S.-dominated multinational force in the Persian Gulf, only a few are likely to join an offensive against Iraq if war breaks out. The United States and Britain have clearly said they are willing to fight to force Iraqi troops out of Kuwait, including possible ground and air attacks on Iraq itself. France, the only other Western nation with ground troops in the force, has been more ambivalent. The most important Arab allies, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, have coordinated closely with the Americans, but have not spelled out their role in any offensive. Even Kuwait’s 7,000 troops, while ready to fight for the liberation of their homeland, are not expected to join an attack on Iraqi territory. Syria has one of the largest contingents — 19,000 troops, including an ar mored division. But President Hafez Assad says they are deployed only to defend Saudi Arabia and will leave the alliance if Israel becomes involved. Countries ranging from wealthy Germany to impov erished Niger also have contributed money and equip ment to the multinational force. But few, if any, of those who have sent soldiers are expected to join any all-out offensive. Many of them — both Western and Muslim — face strong anti-war sentiment at home. There were large protests over the weekend across Europe, while in Pakistan even Cabinet ministers have joined a call for withdrawing the 10,000 Pakistani troops commited to Saudi Arabia. Stocks fall, oil rises Potential conflict affects economy NEW YORK (AP) — Prices fell on Wall Street as traders braced for war in the Middle East but clung to hopes that fighting might be averted before Tuesday’s deadline. The market, eager for any good news, jumped on news ticker reports that quoted Cable News Network as saying Iraq would be willing to con sider withdrawing from Kuwait. The Dow Jones industrial aver age, which had been down more than 54 points during the afternoon, recovered to close 17.58 lower at 2,483.91 after word of the CNN re port. The report was attributed to an unidentifed Iraqi official who was quoted as-saying his country did not want to operate under the pressure of the Tuesday deadline for a with drawal set by the United Nations Se curity Council. Oil prices jumped more than three dollars per barrel, as the immi nent deadline for Iraq to relinquish Kuwait sent a shiver of war fears through that market. Home heating oil and unleaded gasoline also posted huge price in creases at the New York Mercantile Exchange, with a last-minute peace ful solution to the Persian Gulf crisis appearing all but impossible. “We’re moving here on war nerves,” said Bob Baker, an analyst with Prudential-Bache Securities Inc. Iraq has been told to retreat from Kuwait by midnight Tuesday or face forcible eviction, but Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has said he is ready to fight. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in February had opened about four dollars per barrel higher in New York, but it eased back to close at $30.78 per barrel, up $3.49 for the day. At its peak, moments after the market opened, oil was at $32 per barrel, up $4.71 over Friday’s close, but it moved steadily lower through out the day. “It never exactly went in the toi let,” said Ed Kevelson, an oil trader at Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. “It just didn’t explode like some people thought.” pacts about jraq THE LAND Capital: Baghdad. Area: 167,924 square miles. Slightly larger than California. Topography: Mostly an alluvial plain, including the Tigris and Euphrates riv ers, descending from north ern mountains to southern desert. The Persian Gulf re gion is marshland. PEOPLE Population: 18,782,000 (1990 estimate). Ethnic groups: Arabs 75 percent, Kurds 15 percent, other (including Turks, As syrians) 10 percent. Language: Arabic (offi cial), Kurdish. Religion: Moslem 95 per cent (Shiites 60 percent, Sunnis 35 percent), Chris tian 5 percent. ECONOMY Industry: Oil, petro chemicals, textiles, cement. Agriculture: Grains, rice, dates, cotton. GOVERNMENT Type: Ruling Council. Head of State: President Saddam Hussein. Saddam came to power July 19, 1979. 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