Iraqi President Saddam Hussein offered to release all foreign women and children in Iraqi custody Tuesday after he proposed a broadcast debate with President Bush and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during a televisedmeeting with Western hostages.
State Department spokesman Adam Shub could not confirm the hostage release announcement, saying, 'Obviously, we hope it is true, but we haven't heard anything official from the Iraqis to confirm it.'
Earlier in the day, the United States blamed Iraq for the death of an unidentified American hostage who suffered a heart attack in the Iraqi port city of Basra.
'Clearly, being used as a human shield and being deprived of one's liberty is a source of severe stress,' said State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler.
The State Department said Iraq promised to turn the body of the man, a private citizen believed to be in his mid-50s, over to the U.S. consulate in Baghdad.
In a brief announcement, Iraqi Television quoted Saddam as saying 'the women and children of foreign guests will be free to choose starting tomorrow whether they want to stay in Iraq or leave.'
It wasnot immediately clear if Saddam's offer included foreign nationals in occupied Kuwait, which Iraq designated Tuesday as another Iraqi province.
Since Iraq's Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait, Saddam has not allowed foreign nationals of countries which have sent military forces to the Persian Gulf to leave either Iraq or Kuwait, holding them as a human shield against attack.
Iraqi troops have forced many foreigners to leave Kuwait for Iraq. American, British and Japanese citizens have been rounded up from their homes and hotels and some have been transferred to Iraqi strategic and oil installations to ward off allied bombing raids.
There are an estimated 600 Americans in Iraq and about 2,500 others in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait.
Of those Americans, the State Department said the Iraqi government had rounded up nine more Americans during the past 24 hours, bringing to 70 the confirmed number of Americans in the custody of the Iraqi authorities.
'I'm as high as the moon,' said Madhavarao Murikipudi, 46, of Milwaukee, whose wife and 10-year-old daughter were being held in Iraq. 'Now I need everything to come true. It's the first good news we've had since this began.'
The announcement came only hours after Saddam appeared in a televised meeting with a number of unidentified Westerners in Iraqi custody and proposed a TV debate with Bush and Thatcher.
'For my part, being responsible here in Iraq, I'm prepared now for direct talks with President Bush and Mrs. Thatcher immediately,' Saddam said. 'And if they wish ... Let's have a debate on television for the whole world to see.'
The United States dismissed Saddam's offer as 'sick, not worth a response ... there is nothing to debate,' and a spokeswoman for Thatcher reiterated British policy that, 'he has to get out of Kuwait before there can be any kind of discussions.'
Bush interrupted his Maine vacation to meet with congressional leaders in Washington, warned Iraq that it will pay a 'stiff price' if it does not withdraw from Kuwait.
'Let no one at home doubt my commitment to work with the Congress and let no one abroad doubt our national unity or our staying power,' Bush said in brief remarks at the opening of a session with members of Congress.
The session was prompted by congressional complaints that there had not been enough communication with the White House during the Middle East crisis. Bush planned to stay in Washington until Thursday.
In his second televised meeting with foreign hostages in a week, Saddam mixed threats against the United States and its allies with appeals for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
'If war were to come about ... Iraq would lose sons, women and children, and the aggressive countries would also lose their own men, women and children,' Saddam said.
'So if the United States were to attack our installations in which we have women, children and civilians accomodated, these people would be killed,' Saddam said, leaving it unclear if he was referring to Iraqis or foreigners believed held at strategic installations as a human shield against attack.
In what the official Iraqi News Agency described a 'the most beautiful gift,' Saddam earlier Tuesday gave permission for the unidentified British family to return home after he apparently met with them.
The British Foreign Office said it was investigating the report.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, leading Arab efforts to secure Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, begged Hussein for 'just one word (that) would save us from catastrophes for years to come.'
Syrian President Hafez Assad and Mubarak met in the latest round of diplomatic efforts to prevent a war. Jordan's King Hussein completed talks in Tunisia and traveled to Algeria as part of his personal efforts to find an 'Arab solution.'
Several U.S. legislators held talks on the Gulf crisis with Mubarak Tuesday, including Republican Senate leader Robert Dole, R-Kan., and Georgia Democrat Sam Nunn, chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
Former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson arrived in the Jordanian capital on his way to Baghdad where is expected to meet Saddam for a program to be broadcast on NBC News, state-owned Amman Radio said.
The diplomatic efforts came as the U.S. fleet in the Red Sea intensified the interception of ships heading toward Jordan to make sure the U.N.-mandated economic embargo against Iraq was not violated.
Iraq has reportedly ordered its tankers not to run the U.S.-led blockade in a move Western diplomats said indicated Saddam's attempt to avoid a military confrontation.
Shipping sources in the Jordanian port of Aqaba said U.S. warships Tuesday prevented a Chinese cargo vessel from entering the Gulf of Aqaba. The sources said the ship was to unload 'general cargo' bound for Jordan and Iraq. No details were available and the report could not be independently confirmed.
'Last week cargo was slipping through,' one shipping source said. 'Now they (U.S. naval vessels) seem to be tightening up quite a bit.'
Assad and Mubarak met for five hours Tuesday in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and discussed ways to reach a 'suitable Arab solution to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti crisis with the aim of preventing a terrible catastrophe from happening,' Egypt's Middle East News Agency reported.
Mubarak said he hoped Iraq would not 'commit provocative actions' that would compel a strike by foreign countries whose citizens Iraq holds. In answering one question, Mubarak reiterated an earlier proposal and said no countries could oppose the reciprocal withdrawal of Iraqi and foreign forces, with their replacement by an all-Arab force.
'I would be the first to stand against the foreign presence in the area if Iraq withdrew from Kuwait,' Mubarak said. 'All Arabs will have one stand against the foreign presence when Saddam gets his troops out of Kuwait.'
The Baghdad government announced the oil-rich occupied state had become the 19th administrative province of Iraq. Iraq insists its has historical rights to Kuwait and British colonialism was to blame for the division.
The Iraqi News Agency Tuesday again published Saddam's Aug. 12 initiative.
In his proposal, Saddam called for the withdrawal of Israel from the occupied Arab territories and Syria from Lebanon, resolution to Iraqi and Iranian territorial disputes and subsequent 'arrangements for the case of Kuwait.' American and other foreign troops also would withdraw from the region and the economic sanctions would end under Saddam's plan.
Calls for the Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait and release of foreigners held by Saddam are the two primary points U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar plans to concentrate on during his talks Thursday in Amman with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz.NEWLN:In other developments:
--The Iraqi government told the U.S. envoy in Baghdad Tuesday that it will retaliate for the State Department's expelling 36 Iraqi diplomats from the United States. The State Department said its representative, Joseph Wilson, was told by Iraqi Foreign Ministry officials that Iraq's action was directly related to the State Department expulsionorder.
--In Vienna, the Iranian oil minister walked out of OPEC talks as delegations from 10 other countries put the final touches on an agreement to allow a temporary rise in oil output. Belief that some OPEC countries would raise output contributed to a $4 drop in crude oil prices Monday on the New York Merchantile Exchange.
--The Soviet Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Soviet Union does not plan to follow the U.S. example and expel any Iraqi diplomats even though the Soviets were forced to evacuate their embassy in Kuwait. The United States has ordered the expulsion of 36 Iraqis, including seven accredited diplomats.
--Lloyds of London said Gulf of Aden and Red Sea ports had applied, effective Tuesday, a 'extra risk surcharge' of $700 for 20-foot containers, $1,400 for 40-foot containers and $35 per metric ton on part container loads and breakbulk cargoes. Breakbulk is any cargo not shipped in bulk or generally shipments besides grain or oil.
Two ships on Monday were inspected by U.S. vessels, Lloyds Casualty Reporting Service said. But Lloyds retracted part of an earlier dispatch on activities by the U.S. naval forces and said it had incorrectly reported that a U.S. vessel prevented the French container ship CGM Paris from entering the Gulf of Aqaba on Sunday.
Scandutch Operations, the vessel's operator, told Lloyds Tuesday 'at no time was the vessel approached or contacted by the U.S. Navy, let alone denied entry to the Gulf of Aqaba.' A scheduled Aqaba call was cancelled by the operator, Scandutch reported.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein Tuesday offered to release all foreign women and children currently being held in the country, the official Iraqi News Agency said.
'President Saddam Hussein ordered that all foreign children and women in Iraq would be free to stay or leave Iraq whenever they feel, including the families hosted by Iraq, as from tomorrow Wednesday, August 29th,' INA said in a one-paragraph dispatch from Baghdad.
In Washington, a spokesman for the State Department task force on the Persian Gulf crisis said: 'We have heard such rumors. But only rumors.'
The announcement came only hours after Saddam appeared in a televised meeting with foreign hostages and proposed a TV debate with President Bush and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
'For my part, being responsible here in Iraq, I'm prepared now for direct talks with President Bush and Mrs. Thatcher immediately,' Saddam said. 'And if they wish ... Let's have a debate on television for the whole world to see.'
Shortly after Saddam spoke, the State Department reported his government has rounded up nine more Americans during the past 24 hours, bringing to 70 the confirmed number of Americans in the custody of Iraqi authorities.
As Bush interrupted his Maine vacation to meet with congressional leaders in Washington, the State Department blamed Iraq for the death of an unidentified American hostage who suffered a heart attack in Basra, Iraq.
'Clearly, being used as a human shield and being deprived of one's liberty is a source of severe stress,' said State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler.
The State Department said the Iraqi government had promised to turn the man's body over to the American consulate in Baghdad. It was not clear when the man, a private citizen believed in to be in his mid-50s, died.
Iraq continued to put out mixed signals Tuesday. While Saddam released a British family, his government announced it was designating occupied Kuwait an Iraqi province.
In what the Iraqi News Agency described a 'the most beautiful gift,' Saddam gave permission for the unidentified British family to return home after he apparently met with them. The British Foreign Office said it was investigating the report but could not independently confirm it, and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal said the move was the latest measure designed to abort hope for peace.
Shortly after the announcement, Iraqi television broadcast a meeting between Saddam and a group of unidentified Westerners under Iraqi control.
In his second such appearance in a week, Saddam mixed threats against the United States and its allies with appeals for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
'If war were to come about ... Iraq would lose sons, women and children, and the aggressive countries would also lose their own men, women and children,' Saddam said.
'So if the United States were to attack our installations in which we have women, children and civilians accomodated, these people would be killed,' Saddam said, leaving it unclear if he was referring to Iraqis or foreigners believed held at strategic installations.
A government-run Iraqi newspaper has described foreign nationals detained in Iraq and Kuwait against their will as a weapon 'in the battle of history.'
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, leading Arab efforts to secure Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, begged Hussein for 'just one word (that) would save us from catastrophes for years to come.'
Syrian President Hafez Assad and Mubarak met in the latest round of diplomatic efforts to prevent a Middle East war. Jordan's King Hussein completed talks in Tunisia and traveled to Algeria as part of his personal efforts to find an 'Arab solution' to end the crisis.
Several U.S. legislators also held talks on the Gulf crisis with Mubarak Tuesday, including Senate minority leader Robert Dole, R-Kan., and Georgia Democrat Sam Nunn, chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.NEWLN: more
The diplomatic efforts came as the U.S. fleet in the Red Sea intensified the interception of ships heading toward Jordan to make sure the U.N.-mandated economic embargo against Iraq was not violated.
Iraq has reportedly ordered its tankers not to run the U.S.-led blockade in a move Western diplomats said indicated Saddam's attempt to avoid a military confrontation.
Shipping sources in the Jordanian port of Aqaba said U.S. warships Tuesday prevented a Chinese cargo vessel from entering the Gulf of Aqaba. The sources said the ship was to unload 'general cargo' bound for Jordan and Iraq. No details were available, and the report could not be independently confirmed.
'Last week, cargo was slipping through,' one shipping source said. 'Now they (U.S. naval vessels) seem to be tightening up quite a bit.'
Assad and Mubarak met for five hours Tuesday in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and discussed ways to reach a 'suitable Arab solution to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti crisis with the aim of preventing a terrible catastrophe from happening,' Egypt's Middle East News Agency reported.
Mubarak said he hoped Iraq would not 'commit provocative actions' that would compel a strike by foreign countries whose citizens Iraq holds. In answering one question, Mubarak reiterated an earlier proposal and said no countries could oppose a reciprocal withdrawal of Iraqi and foreign forces, with their replacement by an all-Arab force.
'I would be the first to stand against the foreign presence in the area if Iraq withdrew from Kuwait,' Mubarak said. 'All Arabs will have one stand against the foreign presence when Saddam gets his troops out of Kuwait.'
The Baghdad government announced the oil-rich occupied state had become the 19th administrative province of Iraq. Iraq insists its has historical rights to Kuwait and British colonialism was to blame for the division.
The Iraqi News Agency Tuesday again published Saddam's Aug. 12 initiative.
In his proposal, Saddam called for the withdrawal of Israel from the occupied Arab territories and Syria from Lebanon, resolution to Iraqi and Iranian territorial disputes and subsequent 'arrangements for the case of Kuwait.' American and other foreign troops also would withdraw from the region and the economic sanctions would end under Saddam's plan.
Calls for the Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait and release of foreigners held by Saddam are the two primary points U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar plans to concentrate on during his talks Thursday in Amman with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz.
In other developments:
--The Iraqi government told the U.S. envoy in Baghdad Tuesday that it will retaliate for the State Department's expelling 36 Iraqi diplomats from the United States. The State Department said its representative, Joseph Wilson, was told by Iraqi Foreign Ministry officials that Iraq's action was directly related to the State Department expulsion order.
--In Vienna, the Iranian oil minister walked out of OPEC talks as delegations from 10 other countries put the final touches on an agreement to allow a temporary rise in oil output. Belief that some OPEC countries would raise output contributed to a $4 drop in crude oil prices Monday on the New York Merchantile Exchange.
--The Soviet Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Soviet Union does not plan to follow the U.S. example and expel any Iraqi diplomats even though the Soviets were forced to evacuate their embassy in Kuwait. The United States has ordered the expulsion of 36 Iraqis, including seven accredited diplomats.
--Lloyds of London said Gulf of Aden and Red Sea ports had applied, effective Tuesday, an 'extra-risk surcharge' of $700 for 20-foot containers, $1,400 for 40-foot containers and $35 per metric ton on part container loads and breakbulk cargoes. Breakbulk is any cargo not shipped in bulk or generally shipments besides grain or oil.
Two ships on Monday were inspected by U.S. vessels, Lloyds Casualty Reporting Service said. But Lloyds retracted part of an earlier dispatch on activities by the U.S. naval forces and said it had incorrectly reported that a U.S. vessel prevented the French container ship CGM Paris from entering the Gulf of Aqaba on Sunday.
Scandutch Operations, the vessel's operator, told Lloyds Tuesday 'at no time was the vessel approached or contacted by the U.S. Navy, let alone denied entry to the Gulf of Aqaba.' A scheduled Aqaba call was cancelled by the operator, Scandutch reported.
