Saudi D.M. Prince Sultan says his country could not be used as staging ground for U.S. troops to rescue hostages or launch offensive strikes against Iraq: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not a theater for any action that is not defensive for Saudi Arabia" and "war will be the last option" [NYT, WP 9/2; MEM 9/3].
Pres. Bush, Pres. Gorbachev announce they will meet in Helsinki on 9/9 with the Middle East on the agenda [NYT, WP 9/2].
Arab League Council of Foreign Ministers (attended by 13 of 21 members) announces resolutions on Gulf crisis issued at 2-day meeting in Cairo that call for: Arab solution based on League charter; respecting civilians and property; foreign nationals to be allowed to leave; reopening of diplomatic missions in Kuwait; and compensation for Kuwait. Any peace initiative not coming from League is rejected, an implicit reference to efforts by Jordan, PLO etc. [MENA 9/1 in FBIS 9/4; WP 9/2; MEM 9/3; JPI 9/8].
PLO leadership meets in Tunis, issues formal statement accusing Mubarak of personal responsibility for anti-Palestinian campaign in semi-official Egyptian media [MEM 9/3; FJ 9/10].