The Day in the Gulf

PEACE PROPOSAL: Iraq and the Soviet Union agreed on steps that could lead to an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait and an end to the Gulf War, said Kremlin spokesman Vitaly Ignatenko. He made the announcement in Moscow after more than two hours of talks between President Mikhail S. Gorbachev and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz. He said the two sides agreed on eight points, starting with Iraq’s agreement to withdraw from Kuwait.

WASHINGTON REACTION: President Bush discussed the Soviet-Iraqi proposal on the phone with President Gorbachev, said Marlin Fitzwater, the White House press secretary. He said the United States is reviewing the proposal with its allies but will continue to prosecute the war. Bush has several reservations about the plan, Fitzwater added, and is concerned about whether it meets the demands of U.N. resolutions on the crisis.

HUSSEIN SPEAKS: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said his country is ready for all-out war unless President Bush accepts Iraq’s proposals for ending the Gulf War. In a radio address to his people earlier in the day, Hussein reiterated the linkage between an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait and an Israeli withdrawal from occupied lands.

FATAL COPTER CRASHES: Seven American soldiers were killed when an Army medical evacuation helicopter crashed in Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials reported. Two more Americans died in the crash of an Army OH-58 scout helicopter. An Air Force F-16 fighter-bomber and a Marine CH-46 helicopter were also lost, but there were no deaths.

MORE SCUDS: Five or six Iraqi Scud missiles were fired at Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, several in a rare daylight attack, the U.S. command said. The Scuds were intercepted by Patriot missiles, and the debris caused no damage, it said.