Friday, August 31, 1990

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].