U.S. Defense Dep't. says threat of Iraqi attack on Israel is "very realistic" and that American intelligence analysts believe Iraq would use chemical weapons against coalition forces in event of...
Overnight, at least 19 U.S. sailors on leave from Gulf duty drown off Israeli port of Haifa when ferry carrying them back to USS Saratoga capsizes and sinks [JDS 12/22 in FBIS 12/24; LAT 12/22;...
Iraqi F.M. Tarik Aziz arrives in Moscow and meets with Pres. Gorbachev and F.M. Shevardnadze; Soviet Union demands that Iraq release more than 3,000 Soviet citizens stranded there, charging for...
Iraq's deputy P.M. Ramadan says Iraq prefers war to capitulation and that any decision to pull out of Kuwait must be linked to Israeli withdrawal from O.T. [WP 10/5].
Kuwaiti and Western...
Read more
U.S. Defense Dep't. says threat of Iraqi attack on Israel is "very realistic" and that American intelligence analysts believe Iraq would use chemical weapons against coalition forces in event of war [NYT 12/27]; Israel signals it will not launch first strike against Iraq [WP 12/27] and asserts it has no aggressive intentions toward Jordan [JPI 1/5].
Iraqi cargo ship carrying tons of food bound for Iraq is seized by U.S. and Australian soldiers after having to use stun grenades to subdue crew members; Baghdad protests to UN [NYT, LAT, WT, WP 12/27].
U.S. orders dependents of American diplomats out of Jordan and Sudan "well before 15 January" because of fears of anti-U.S. violence (cf. 1/3) [WT, WP 12/27].
Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rules death sentence against author Salman Rushdie still stands, despite Rushdie's 12/24 statement [LAT, WT, CSM 12/27].
3 Jewish militants are freed after serving less than 7 years of their life sentences for killing 3 Arabs and maiming 2 Palestinian mayors in early 1980s car bombings. Jewish Underground members Menachem Livni, Shaul Nir, and Uzi Sharbav are greeted as heroes by Jewish settlers [JDS 12/26 in FBIS 12/26; NYT, LAT, WP, CSM 12/27; FJ 12/31; JPI 1/5].
Gaza youth is shot dead by IDF after reportedly attacking soldier with knife [JDS 12/26 in FBIS 12/26].
Overnight, at least 19 U.S. sailors on leave from Gulf duty drown off Israeli port of Haifa when ferry carrying them back to USS Saratoga capsizes and sinks [JDS 12/22 in FBIS 12/24; LAT 12/22; NYT, WP 12/23; JPI 12/29; MET 1/1].
Gulf Cooperation Council opens 11th annual summit meeting in Doha, Qatar with the 6 member nations' leaders in attendance [WAKH 12/22 in FBIS 12/24; NYT 12/23; MET 1/1].
New York Times reports that in early November, Pres. Bush authorized American oil companies to import limited amounts of crude oil from Iran, partly relaxing ban on all Iranian goods imposed in 1987 near end of Iran-Iraq war [NYT 12/23].
PFLP reopens its Baghdad office after a 10-year absence [INA 12/22 in FBIS 1/3; MET 1/1].
IDF shoots dead "terrorist" cutting through fence along Israeli-Jordanian border north of Argaman settlement [JDS 12/22 in FBIS 12/24].
PLO statement says 12/20 UN Sec. Council resolution is insufficient and disproportionate compared to the volume of aggressions committed by Israel against Palestinians [AVP 12/23 in FBIS 12/24; AFP 12/22 in FBIS 12/27].
Iraqi F.M. Tarik Aziz arrives in Moscow and meets with Pres. Gorbachev and F.M. Shevardnadze; Soviet Union demands that Iraq release more than 3,000 Soviet citizens stranded there, charging for 1st time that Baghdad was preventing them from leaving [FNS, MEM 11/26; TASS 11/26 in FBIS 11/26; PRA 11/27 in FBIS 11/27; NYT, WT, WP 11/27]; Pres. Gorbachev warns Saddam Hussein that "time is running out" and that USSR will agree to tougher UN action if Iraq does not leave Kuwait [LAT 11/27].
Saddam orders release of 3 American hostages; National Assembly votes to free all 58 Swedish hostages [BADS, AFP 11/26 in FBIS 11/27; LAT 11/27; MET 12/4].
U.S. army orders 10,567 more reservists into active duty in Gulf [LAT 11/27].
Israeli police report number and gravity of "terrorist" incidents perpetrated by Negev Bedouin have risen sharply since 10/8 Haram al-Sharif killings [DAV 11/27 in FBIS 11/27].
Police also report the arrest of 3 Meir Kahane followers for attacking Jewish shops that employ Palestinians [WT 11/27; MET 12/4; JPI 12/8].
P.M. Shamir's gov't. survives 2 no-confidence motions in Knesset brought about by Shamir's 11/18 "sea to Jordan" remark [JDS 11/26 in FBIS 11/28; MET 12/4].
22-year-old Egyptian police conscript is arrested in Suez and charged with 11/25 shooting deaths in Israel [MEM 11/27].
Iraq's deputy P.M. Ramadan says Iraq prefers war to capitulation and that any decision to pull out of Kuwait must be linked to Israeli withdrawal from O.T. [WP 10/5].
Kuwaiti and Western officials report Kuwait's underground resistance movement is giving up much of its armed struggle after wave of executions by Iraqi troops that has left up to several hundred civilians dead [WP, LAT 10/5].
Soviet envoy Primakov arrives in Baghdad with message from Pres. Gorbachev, meets with F.M. Aziz and is to meet with Saddam (cf. 10/6) [INA 10/4 in FBIS 10/5; MEM 10/4; NYT, LAT, WT 10/5]; F.M. Shevardnadze meets Saudi F.M. Saud al-Faisal in New York [SPA 10/4 in FBIS 10/4].
Japanese P.M. Kaifu meets in Amman with Iraq's deputy P.M. Ramadan, then with King Hussein and offers Jordan $250 million in development loans [MEM 10/4; NYT, LAT, WT 10/5].
Pres. Mitterrand meets King Fahd in Jeddah, assures Saudis of French solidarity against Iraq NYT, LAT, MEM 10/5].
Aircraft carrier USS Independence leaves the Gulf after 3 days [LAT, NYT, WT 10/5].
British F.M. Hurd and Italian F.M. de Michelis say in separate interviews that Israel must move quickly to make peace with Palestinians as soon as Gulf crisis is over. "Algeria has told us: 'Within one minute of the end of the crisis, we Arabs, including the moderate, will demand that the UN impose exactly the same sanctions on Israel as on Iraq.' They have a right to do so and plenty of reasons.... Israel must open up on this" says de Michelis [WT, MEM 10/5].
