The Palestine Chronology

Sec. Baker says U.S. will release $400 million in loan guarantees for housing Soviet Jewish immigrants as a result of Israeli assurances [JDS 10/2 in FBIS 10/3; NYT, LAT, WP, MEM 10/3].

Joint resolution expressing Congress' approval of Pres. Bush's handling of Gulf crisis passes Senate by vote of 96-3 [WP, LAT, NYT, WT 10/3].

Soviet Union complains Iraq is delaying exit visas for Soviet specialists whose contracts have expired and who want to return home [LAT 10/3].

Senate Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations approves admin. proposal to forgive Egypt's $7 billion military debt; also authorizes Israel to redirect up to $200 million of U.S. economic assistance to "defense purposes" during the Gulf crisis [CDS 10/3 in FBIS 10/5; WP 10/3].

Chief of Soviet General Staff, Gen. Mikhail A. Moiseyev, says economic sanctions against Iraq are working and that no force should be used in Gulf unless it is approved by the UN [NYT 10/3].

Addressing UN Gen. Assembly, Saudi F.M. Prince Saud al-Faisal urges Iraq to leave Kuwait in order to strengthen rights of Palestinians [NYT, MEM 10/3].

Bethlehem University reopens, becoming the 1st university to open after 30 months [IDF 10/2 in FBIS 10/2].

Japanese P.M. Toshiki Kaifu arrives in Cairo for meeting with Pres. Mubarak [MENA 10/2 in FBIS 10/3; WT 10/3].

IDF troops shoot dead 3 W. Bank Palestinians, another dies from wounds received last week, in one of the highest single-day death tolls in recent months [MEM 10/3].

Jordan reopens its borders to Gulf-bound trucks; ban had interrupted flow of Lebanese, Syrian, and Turkish produce and meat to Gulf states. Jordan says it lifted ban to "test the good intentions" of Saudi gov't, implying ban would be reimposed if trucks were not given passage through Saudi Arabia; Saudis claim Jordan "caved in" to Syrian pressure [MEM 10/3]. 

UN Sec.-Gen. Javier Perez de Cuellar meets in Amman with Iraqi F.M. Tarik Aziz for talks designed to lessen tension in Gulf (cf. 9/2) [INA 8/31 in FBIS 8/31; NYT 9/1].

Commander of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia, Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, rules out possibility of preemptive strike against Iraq, saying "there is not going to be any war unless the Iraqis attack" [LAT, NYT 9/1].

Mikhail Gorbachev says the superpowers are cooperating well in Gulf region and that he does not believe U.S. is seeking permanent military presence there [LAT 9/1].

Pres. Bush agrees to forgive Egypt's $7 billion military debt to U.S. as reward for Cairo's support of embargo against Iraq and contribution to multinational force (cf. 9/25, 9/30, 10/2) [LAT 9/1].

According to U.S. officials, Bush admin. is preparing to transfer as much as $1 billion worth of advanced weapons to Israel to buttress Israeli defenses against Iraq and offset recent arms sales to Saudi Arabia [NYT 9/1; JPI 9/8].

Israeli D.M. Arens gives permission for Vatican-run Bethlehem University to reopen [JDS 8/31 in FBIS 9/4; LAT 9/1].

UNLU call no. 61, "The Victory Call," opposes U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia [SVP 8/31 in FBIS 9/7].

Japanese P.M. Toshiki Kaifu pledges $1 billion in aid for military buildup against Iraq after U.S. officials expressed unhappiness over original aid proposal [NYT 8/31].