1\TpTA7C OiaPQt MsSiated Press
X ^ W w Edited by Jennifer O'Cilka
First troops reach refugees,
bringing supplies to Kurds
ANKARA, Turkey - U.S., Brit
ish and French aircraft on Sunday
dropped tons of supplies to Iraqi
refugees on the Turkish and Ira
nian borders, and the first U.S.
troops reached a remote refugee
camp to aid in the relief effort.
About 500,000 refugees, mostly
Kurds, have fled northern Iraq to
the rugged, mountainous Turkish
border and another 900,000 have
sought refuge in Iran, officials in
both countries say.
The Kurds fear the wrath of
Saddam Hussein following their
failed rebellion after the Persian
Gulf war. In the mountains, the
refugees have faced hunger, dis
ease and death.
Saddam insisted anew that in
nocent civilians had nothing to fear
from his troops, and urged Kurds to
return to their homes. Iraqi radio
reported Sunday that he had made
the assurances a day earlier during
a visit to northern Iraq.
In southern Iraq, the remaining
American forces began pulling back
Sunday to a newly established de
militarized zone along the Iraq
Kuwait border, the U.S. Central
Command announced.
Despite the pullback, Defense
Secretary Dick Cheney restated the
U.S. commitment to help the refu
gees stranded on Iraq’s northern
and southern borders.
In an interview on NBC-TV,
Cheney said that for at least “the
next several days” the United States
would maintain responsibility for
providing food and water for the
refugees in the north and south of
Iraq. The United States then plans
to turn the operation over to inter
national relief organizations.
The number of American troops
involved in the relief effort jumped
to about 8,000 Sunday when 3,500
members of the 24th Marine Expe
ditionary Unit arrived at the Turk
ish port of Iskenderun, U.S. Air
Force Lt. Col. PhilipCrowley said.
Crowley, a spokesman for the
U.S.-Turkish Incirlik air base —
which is coordinating relief efforts
— said they would assess refugee
needs and teach them to put up
shelters and provide first-aid. Re
lief workers and religious officials
have estimated that scores of people
have died of dysentery, hunger and
cold in the barren camps.
The Isikvcren camp lies in an
almost inaccessible part of Tur
key, on the western part of the
Turkish border with Iraq. It is the
largest single settlement, with more
Lhan 100,000 refugees.
Final pullout
Troop withdrawal begins
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The fi
nal withdrawal of American combat
troops from southern Iraq began
Sunday, 88 days after the United States
launched its massive offensive to drive
Saddam Hussein’s forces from Ku
wait.
American troop strength in the
region — which had peaked at more
than half a million — has now dropped
below 300,000, the military said
Sunday.
U.S officers said the pullout offi
cially ends the occupation of south
ern Iraq, but that American warplanes
will remain in the air to protect the
withdrawing ground troops. They
spoke on condition of anonymity.
The officers estimated there were
at least 40,000 American troops, per
haps more, in southern Iraq, but they
could not give a precise figure.
They said a division-sized force of
10,000 to 15,000 troops would tem
porarily remain in the newly estab
lished demilitarized zone until a 1,440
member U.N. peacekeeping force is
in place.
The other U.S. troops will return
home as soon as possible, the U.S.
officers said.
The zone reaches six miles into
Iraq from the Kuwaiti border, but
U.S. officers said this is a technical
point and that the troop movement
- ii ---"
We have a very rough
idea of deployment, but
nothing has been
finalized.
Hotter
U.N. official
-- >f _
essentially will end the U.S. occupa
tion of Iraqi territory.
The move back to the demilita
rized zone will be completed within a
few days, they said.
The U.S. military also said the
United States and its allies would not
abandon more than 40,000 refugees
in southern Iraq, many of whom oppose
Saddam Hussein. It said the allies
would protect them from reprisals
and feed and house them.
The command issued an invitation
to any refugees in the area occupied
by the Americans to move with them
into the demilitarized zone. If they
do, “they will be provided assistance
and protection by coalition forces,”
the Central Command said.
Military sources said President Bush
issued the withdrawal orders to has
ten the American pullout to avoid
being dragged into Iraqi’s civil war
tor a prolonged period and risk fur
ther American casualties.
U.S. casualties in thegulf war were
extremely low by military standards
— 139 killed in action, 357 wounded
in action, six missing in action and
117 killed in non-combat circum
stances.
Iraqi war dead were believed to
number in the tens of thousands, but
no figure was ever released.
The U.S. Central Command said
American troop strength has dropped
to 295,000 in the Persian Gulf from a
peak of 540,000 when the war started
on Jan. 17. About 5,000 American
troops are leaving every day.
The command sai.' the last re
maining Army corps, the VII Corps,
was moving from south of the Eu
phrates River in Iraq to the zone along
the Iraq-Kuwait border.
Joachim Hutter, a U.N. official
who is part of the peacekeeping mis
sion, said he could not give a time
frame for getting the troops to the
DMZ because many logistical mat
ters must be worked out.
Some of the U.N. troops should
begin arriving this week, but it is
unlikely they will go straight to the
border, U.N. officials have said.
“We have a very rough idea of
deployment, but nothing has been
finalized,” Hutter said.
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Oil tanker explodes off Riviera;
experts fear ecological disaster
GENOA, Italy - Rocked by one
last explosion, a fire-ravaged tanker
holding millions of gallons of oil sank
Sunday off the Italian Riviera, and
experts worked to avert an ecological
catastrophe in the Mediterranean.
The Cypriot-registered tanker
Haven appeared to have remained
intact on the sandy sea bottom 1 1/2
miles off the Italian shore and it was
believed most of the vessel’s crude
remained inside, officials said.
However, patches of oil washed
ashore on several stretches of beach
along a 15-mile swath of the resort
coast west of Genoa, and currents
moved other slicks that one official
described as “leopard spots” on the
sea.
The officials said no further oil
spills had surfaced by late Sunday,
but that they were wailing for a better
assessment from footage taken by
underwater robots deployed around
the wreck.
The Haven exploded Thursday,
starting a fire that spewed black, thick
smoke for four days. Three more
explosions rocked the sea Saturday,
and the final blast came Sunday
morning — 4 1/2 hours before the
Haven went under, leaving steam and
an oil slick on the surface.
A joint statement issued by the
ministers of civil defense and envi
ronment said the damage was “con
tainable.”
“Now we have to cross our fingers
and hope that the crude still inside the
tanker does not come out,” they said.
The tanker had held nearly 42
million gallons of Iranian crude. A
Genoa port authority official, giving
“an extremely rough” estimate, said
perhaps 15 million gallons of that had
burned up in the fires. The official
spoke on condition of anonymity.
The tanker went down in waters
about 240 feet deep off the resort
town of Arenzano, 16 miles from
Genoa.
As the tanker sank, there was worry
it would cause the Mediterranean’s
worst environmental disaster.
Greenpeace, the international
environmental organization, surveyed
the area with a helicopter and said oil
from the ship could be seen in spots in
a 40-square-mile area.
“We are afraid of a black sum
mer,” said Giandomemco Olivieri, a
tourist official in Celle Ligurc, where
the beach was spotted with tar.
Some English and German tour
ists sunned on the beach just a few
yards from the globs of thick oil.
Motorists gawked at slicks visible
from the scenic highways along the
Riviera.
“We mustn’t be pessimistic nor
optimistic,” said Italy’s environmental
minister, Giorgio Ruffolo. “Neither
can we guarantee that there won’t be
a disaster.”
Scores of boats helped officials set
up floating barriers around the site
where the tanker sank to contain spots
of oil and prevent more from washing
up on beaches. More barriers were
erected 300 feel off about 10 miles of
coastline.
Maurice Aubert, a marine biology
expert from the University of Nice,
and other experts said the extreme
heat of the fires had likely turned the
oil remaining in the tanker nearly
solid. That would make it easier to
remove the oil and lessen the danger
of leaks.
u.b. Embassy back in business
Nel?ra&kan
Editor Eric Planner
472- 1766
Managing Editor Victoria Ayotts
Assoc. News Editors Jana Pedersen
Emily Rosenbaum
Editorial Page Editor Bob Nelson
Wire Editor Jennifer O'ClIka
Copy Desk Editor Diane Brayton
Sports Editor Paul Do malar
Arts & Entertain
ment Editor Julia Naughton
Diversions Editor Connie Sheehan
Photo Chief WlHlam Lauer
Professional Aaviser Don Walton
473- 7301
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1991 DAILY NEBRASKAN
KUWAIT CITY - The U.S. Em
bassy is back in business, but not
business as usual.
After enduring an Iraqi siege and
the dislocations of war, the staff finds
itself at the heart of Kuwait’s efforts
to rebuild, enjoying an access to
government officials unparalleled in
the Arab world.
“Nobody in Kuwait doubts what
the United States did,” said Ambassa
dor Edward Gnchm. “The Kuwaitis
know it in a very emotional, firsthand
way. I don’t need to say it.”
Americans are involved in virtu
ally every aspect of reconstruction,
from restoring electric power to re
equipping the police. Gnehm and his
staff are viewed as advisers and close
friends whose country has proved in
combat its concern for Kuwait.
U.S. influence is evident in mili
tary programs, banking and rebuild
ing of the devastated oil industry. The
embassy serves as a liaison and ad
. viser to American businesses seeking
reconstruction contracts, and diplo
mats expect U.S. firms to get a large
share of the business.
When the war began in January,
several of the current staff, including
Gnehm, served as an unofficial em
bassy to Kuwait’s exiled government
in Saudi Arabia. They said this ar
rangement was a first in U.S. diplo
macy.
There is a sense of excitement, of
making history, as the diplomats help
the battered emirate get back on its
feet.
‘‘It’s a unique opportunity,” said
Gail Rogers, the embassy consul and
a veteran of the Iraqi siege. “You
have the chance to be on the ground
floor of the rebuilding of a country.”
Some at the embassy expect the
warm relationship will cool slightly,
that the Kuwaitis at some point may
separate themselves from the Ameri
cans for domestic or regional politi
cal reasons.
