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Cease-fire in gulf holds amid violations
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia - From the Eu
phrates to the Persian Gulf, U.S. and allied
troops held their Fire along a smoldering battle
front Thursday, weary, muddy but victorious in
a lightning war that freed Kuwait and humbled
Iraq.
Statesmen began what President Bush called
“the difficult task” of securing the peace.
American paratrooper David Hochins had a
warm vision of peace: “My girlfriend, good
friends and good times.”
Kuwaitis told reporters of murder, torture,
rape and kidnapping at the hands of Iraqi troops
who sacked their tiny nation in seven months of
occupation.
“What I could tell you about the Iraqis,” said
optician Nizar A. Naccash. “I hate them from
the inside of my blood.”
Kuwaitis said thousands of their counuy
men, mostly young men, were taken off to Iraq
as hostages in the final days. Kuwait’s U.N.
ambassador put the number at 22,000, in addi
tion to 8,632 Kuwaiti soldiers held prisoner by
Iraq.
The return of Kuwaiti detainees was one
demand set out by President Bush in declaring
the cease-fire for midnight EST Wednesday.
The United States warned Thursday it might
resume the offensive against the Iraqi military
if Baghdad does not meet all the conditions,
which also include the “immediate” release of
U.S. and allied prisoners of war.
“There’s still great concern about the next
several days,” White House spokesman Marlin
Fitzwater said. Bush later announced the Iraqis
had agreed to designate military commanders
to discuss the cease-fire terms.
The U.S. command reported some cease
fire violations Thursday, including an incident
in which Iraqi gunners fired on troops of the
U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps retrieving the bod
ies of American airmen killed in a helicopter
crash. The Americans fired back and destroyed
two tanks and two multiple-rocket launchers,
the command said.
Other isolated clashes continued with pock
ets of Iraqi troops in mid-afternoon Thursday,
Associated Press correspondent Neil MacFar
quhar reported from the field. The Iraqi units
involved had been bypassed in the swift ad
vance of allied forces.
The commander of British forces in the
coalition, Lt. Gen. Peter de la Billiere, said
some Iraqi troops pinned down by Desert Storm
forces appeared “bewildered” by the stand
down.
“I think they’re going to sit it out until they
run out of water and food. Then they’ll have to
surrender,” he told reporters.
Iraqi soldiers straggling north toward the
southern Iraqi city of Basra were screened at
checkpoints by allied troops looking for mem
bers of units suspected of atrocities in Kuwait.
The Saudi ambassador to Washington said
an estimated 85,000 to 100,000 Iraqi soldiers
were killed and wounded as their army was
shattered in 37 days of air bombardment fol
lowed by four days of ground war. Some 80,000
Iraqis are prisoners.
the U.S. command said the American casu
alty toll for the war stood at 79 killed in action,
212 wounded in action and 45 missing in
action. An additional 52 Americans are listed
as non-combat deaths, and nine are known to
be prisoners of war.
The Saudis reported 44 of their soldiers
killed in action, and the British 15.
The fury of the final days could be seen
Thursday on the Kuwait-Basra road, jammed
up with the broken, burned-out hulks of scores
of vehicles that tried to flee north but were
caught in air strikes, both Iraqi army trucks and
civilian sedans commandeered by retreating
troops.
After a 2 1/2-day dash across the trackless
desert in sandstorms and heavy rains, the U.S.
3rd Armored Division and other units swept in
behind Guard positions and caught Iraqi units
as they sought to manage a withdrawal northcas
terward, toward Basra.
Iraq agrees to talks; POWs to be back
WASHINGTON - One day after
halting the war, President Bush an
nounced Thurs
day that Iraq had
promptly agreed
to talks on a per
manent cease
fire and the re
turn of prisoners
of war. “We are
going to get back
our POWs and
we’re going to do it fast,” Bush de
clared.
The administration said Secretary
of State James Baker will fly to the
Middle East next week to begin chart
ing the postwar future of the Persian
Gulf. He will slop in Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, Syria and Israel, as well as
Turkey.
Baker also will go to the Soviet
Union.
As long as Saddam Hussein re
mains in power in Iraq, the admini
stration will urge the U.N. Security
Council to maintain a ban on all weapon
shipments to that nation, officials said.
Bush met with the ambassador of
newly liberated Kuwait. He then went
to the Rose Garden to announce Iraq’s
willingness to discuss peace terms set
out Wednesday night in his announce
ment of a conditional cease-fire.
Allies flew more than 110,000 missions in the Persian Gulf war.
Ninety-seven Iraqi planes and six helicopters were destroyed. More
than 80,000 Iraqi prisoners of war were taken, including 3,000 before
the ground offensive. Here’s a breakdown of U.S. and allied losses in
me war:
5S3 j Allied
Americans j ForcesTotal
Kilted 79 i 47 126
Inaction: (23 before the | (including 19
ground war) j Saudis before
i ground war)
Non-combat 52 j n/a 157
deaths: (1°5 in
Operation
Desert Shield) j
Missing 35 piolirihsh 56
in action: ; 1 Italian
j 10 Saudis
Prisoners 9 | 2 British 13
of war: I 1 Italian (Iraq reports
| 1 Kuwaiti more than 2°)
Planes lost 27 i 6 British 36
In combat; 1 helicopter ; 1 Kuwaiti 1 helicopter
! 1 Italian (Iraq reports
; 1 Saudi more than 180)
Non-combat 7 j 1 British 9
plane losses: 14 helicopters j 1 Saudi 14 helicopters
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Bush said Baghdad had taken a
first step by agreeing to name mili
tary commanders to talk with U.S.
led allies about battlefield arrange
ments to make the pause in fighting
permanent. “We will go promptly
back to them with the arrangements,”
Bush said. He said the meeting will
take place very soon.
Bush said that the return of POWs
and seized Kuwaitis will be a primary
subject “and we expect a prompt
repatriation of them, Kuwaiti detainees
and others.”
“We are going to get back our
POWs and we’re going to do it fast,”
Bush said. Forty-five Americans are
missing, and at least eight are be
lieved to be Iraqi prisoners.
Bush skirted reporters’ questions
about whether he will insist on prose
cution of Saddam for war crimes.
“We’re not going to get into that,"
Bush said. “These matters will all be
discussed in appropriate forums.”
White House press secretary Mar
lin Fitzwater said a pullout might
begin in days, but cautioned that “it
took seven months to get in, it’s going
to take a lot of months to get out. But
we’re going to start a steady with
drawal.” Some 537,000 Americans
are stationed in the gulf.
pentagon spokesman Pete Wil
liams, asked about Fitzwatcr’s com
ment, said, “There is no plan yet for
bringing forces home.”
Bush said the end of the war brings
“a great day for all Americans.” To
visiting French Foreign Minister
Roland Dumas, Bush satd, “You come
here on an exciting day for all Ameri
cans.”
Although reopening the war re
mains an option, Fitzwalcr said, “You
can assume that we wouldn’t have
declared a cease-fire... a suspension
if we had any intention of resuming
(hostilities).”
Americans want troops home,
but most will have to wait
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia - The
U.S. pullout from the Persian Gulf is
expected to take months, and reserv
ists probably will be called up and
sent in with other fresh troops to or
ganize the exodus, the military said
Thursday.
Some of the half-million Ameri
can troops, such as those held past the
end of their military obligation or
those with family crises, could be on
their way home by the weekend, offi
cials said. Many others could be here
far longer.
“It look seven months to get in. It’s
going to take many months to get
out,” White House spokesman Mar
lin Fitzwater said in Washington. ‘‘But
we’re going to start a steady with
drawal.”
The overall plan, updated continu
ously during the six-month U.S. de
basis.
But a date to begin the exodus
cannot be set until peace with Iraq is
certain, military officials said.
‘‘Can I give you a time? No, I
reall} can’t. Marine Brig. Gen. Rich
ard Neal, deputy director of opera
tions for Operation Desert Storm, said
in Riyadh when asked if the com
mand had a timetable for shipping
troops home.
“We’re going to have to find out
how this peace process develops,” he
said. “If things go well, I think you
will sec a quick return for some forces.”
Each unit will have to designate
logistics personnel — such as equip
ment haulers, maintenance workers
and administrative workers — to stay
behind to prepare, pack and inven
tory equipment for the trip home.
And the U.S. command said some
additional logistics, maintenance and
other support units will probably be
brought to Saudi Arabia to help get
the troops on their way back to the
United Stales and other U.S. bases
around the world.
“There may be an opportunity to
replace a lot of those combat-ori
ented forces,” Neal said. “We’ll get
people that can run port facilities.
We II get people that can prepare
equipment, i.e. clean it up and get it
ready to go aboard ship.”
Many units with these specialties
are reserves. Some already are here
and will probably have their stays
extended; other similar units proba
bly will be activated.
Military officials said it is too soon
to say how many troops will be need
to be called up.
It is also possible that new combat
units will be brought in if the U.S. ,
forces are involved in any long
peacekeeping operation in Kuwait,
officials said.
For troops in the field, the cease
fire, although tentative, immediately
brought thoughts of home.
‘‘I can’t wail to get home,” said
Capt. Fred Gellcrt of Detroit and the
101 si Airborne Division. “I just hope
it comes soon.”
Shipping more than a half-million
troops and their gear home to their
bases is a daunting challenge to plan
ners, perhaps even more difficult to
organize than the U.S. buildup.
The buildup accelerated gradually
over the nearly seven months since
the Aug. 2 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait,
yet still proved an unprecedented strain
on air and sea transports.
Some units arc now deep into Iraq
and will have to be brought hundreds
of miles south to ports and airfields in
Saudi Arabia. Heavy equipment trans
ports are in short supply, and ships to
carry equipment home are a month
away at U.S. ports.
Bush asks Soviets to dissuade Sandinistasl
WASHINGTON - The Bush ad
ministration asked the Soviet Union
Friday to dissuade the Sandinista
dommated military in Nicaragua from
sending weaponry to leftist groups
elsewhere in Central America.
“We believe that the Soviets, as
long-time suppliers of the Sandinista
military, have an obligation to take
all appropriate measures to end Sandin
ista military support to regional in
surgent and terrorist groups, the State
Department said.
Although the leftist Sandinista
government was defeated in elections
a year ago. President Violcta Chamorro
permitted the Sandinistas to retain
control over the military as part of her
national reconciliation program.
Assistant Secretary of State Ber
nard Aronson and his chief deputy for
Central America, Joseph Sullivan, flew
to Madrid on Wednesday for talks
with Soviet officials about the al
leged Sandinisla activities. The dis
cussions were held Friday.
The latest incident occurred last
Friday when, the State Department
said, a truck carrying Sandinista Army
weaponry from Nicaragua to Hondu
ras was intercepted by Honduran
authorities near the border between
the two countries.
Officials said the shipment was
earmarked for the Popular Movement
for Liberation, a leftist Honduran group
informally known as the Cinchon
cros. The shipment included 32 So
viet-made rocket propelled grenades,
42 grenade launchers and other equip
ment.
A spokesman for the Sandimsta
Army said the matter was under in
vestigation but he acknowledged that
“certain radical elements" within the
Sandinisla military support like
minded groups in Honduras.
A State Department statement
expressed concern about the “contin
ued Sandinisla support of regional
insurgents and terrorists."