GULF WATCH: Day 34 : A daily briefing paper on developments in the crisis : Diplomatic Front:

Major U.S. allies began getting visits from U.S. officials looking for a minimum of $25 billion in contributions to help defray America’s military expenses in the Persian Gulf and to aid poor countries hit hardest by the trade embargo. Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady, who led one delegation to France, Britain, South Korea and Japan, said the Administration has developed specific targets for each nation. Another delegation will visit oil-rich countries in the Persian Gulf.

On Capitol Hill, Secretary of State James A. Baker III called for a NATO-style security structure to prevent renewed Iraqi aggression even if the crisis ends without warfare. Baker also told a House committee that the world must “avoid at all costs” a negotiated end that rewarded Iraq with territory.

The White House announced that President Bush will ask Congress to forgive Egypt’s $7-billion weapons debt. And Iraq was returned to the U.S. list of governments that promote international terrorism.

Military Front:

The U.S. Navy seized an Iraqi freighter in the Gulf of Oman. Armed sailors and coast guardsmen from a guided missile destroyer boarded the Iraqi ship after determining that it was bound for the Iraqi port of Basra with a load of tea from Sri Lanka.

When the freighter’s captain refused to divert its course, his ship was boarded. The U.S. Navy boarding party was reportedly steering it toward the port of Muscat in Oman on Tuesday night. Crew members of the Iraqi ship offered no resistance.

Trade Front:

Continued fears that the Persian Gulf crisis will escalate into war sharply boosted crude oil futures Tuesday and depressed stocks. It was Wall Street’s lightest trading day of the year. Currency and bond trading was also thin. Treasury securities weakened while the dollar barely budged. Analysts said the market was concerned that “this thing could drag on.”

Crisis Indicators:

* U.S. troops on the ground: 50,000-plus

* U.S. sailors aboard ships in region: 35,000

* U.S. ships in region or en route: 70

* Iraqi troops in/near Kuwait: 265,000

* High temperature in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 106

* U.S. diplomats remaining in Kuwait: 10

* Total Americans in Iraq and Kuwait: 2,693

* Total Westerners in Iraq and Kuwait: about 11,100

* Retail gasoline (U.S. average per gallon): $1.242, down $.004

* Wholesale gasoline (spot price per gallon): $1.04, up $.0072

* Crude oil (spot price per barrel): $29.30, up $1.85

* Dow Jones industrial index: 2,613.37, down 0.99

* Gold (per ounce): $383.70, up $1.40