Sunday, September 16, 1990

UN Sec. Council unanimously condemns Baghdad for acts of violence against foreign embassies and their personnel in occupied Kuwait, and promises new steps to tighten embargo against Iraq [NYT, WP 9/17].

King Hussein meets in Amman with George Habash and Nayef Hawatmeh during Arab Popular Conference (cf. 9/17, 9/18) [MEM 9/17; LAT 9/18].

During 8-minutes address (taped 9/12) aired on Iraqi television, Pres. Bush says Iraq stands "on the brink of war," that "Iraqi leadership has miscalculated" but avoids personal attacks on Saddam [NYT, WP, LAT, WT, MEM 9/17; MET 9/25].

Iraqi troops open border crossing from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia, allowing several thousand Kuwaitis to leave: refugees speak of food shortages and brutality by Iraqi soldiers [AFP 9/16 in FBIS 9/17; NYT, WP 9/17].

Egyptian officials announce intention to expand troop strength in Saudi Arabia, by perhaps 15,000 soldiers [NYT 9/17; BVL 9/17 in FBIS 9/17].

Housing Minister Ariel Sharon tells cabinet only 5,000 of the 45,000 apartments approved of by Knesset earlier this year to ease housing crisis are actually under construction; hundreds of Ethiopian immigrants protest in front of P.M. Shamir's office against gov't's failure to bring remaining Ethiopian Jews to Israel [JPD 9/17 in FBIS 9/18].