U.S. pledges to aid Israel if attacked

JERUSALEM (AP) - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright assured Israel and its Arab neighbors yesterday that the United States would have a "swift and resounding" response to any Iraqi attack in the region.

After extensive talks in Israel, Albright took the message that Arabs, too, are under America's protective wing to Kuwait. She will repeat it today in Saudi Arabia during her tour seeking Arab support for military action against Iraq to enforce U.N. resolutions.

Albright

Unlike in 1990, when an Iraqi invasion of Kuwait congealed most of the Persian Gulf Arabs, none has bought into the necessity of action in the current crisis brought on by Iraq's refusal to let U.N. weapons inspectors do their work.

In 1991, as planes of the U.S.-led coalition blasted Iraq, both Israel and Saudi Arabia were hit by Iraqi missiles before Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's annexation of Kuwait was reversed.

Faced with the growing likelihood of a U.S. bombardment of suspects' arms sites, Israel is worried that Saddam may be inclined to strike again.

During the Gulf war, the Bush administration pressured Israel not to retaliate for the 39 Scud missiles that hit its territory. The worry was that if Israel joined the conflict, the Arabs who had joined the anti-Iraq war coalition would quit.

This time, Israel is vowing to respond to any attack.

At a news conference after inconclusive back-to-back talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Albright addressed the Israeli people.

"The United States stands with you in the face of Saddam's latest threat today," she said.

In Jerusalem, the Haaretz newspaper reported that the United States has agreed to supply Israel with hundreds of thousands of doses of antidotes against biological warfare, specifically anthrax.

U.S. and U.N. experts believe anthrax and other biological weapons ingredients may be stored secretly at Iraqi sites that Saddam's government has declared off-limits to U.N. inspectors.

Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai said he expects an early word on any U.S. military strike against Iraq. "We have been working with the United States for a long time to be prepared today and in the future for a nonconventional weapon attack," Mordechai told reporters.

Speaking on CNN's "Late Edition," Albright warned the Iraqis that if Israel or Arab nations are attacked, the U.S. response would be forceful.

"Were Saddam Hussein to attack ... Israel, or any of the other neighboring countries, our response would be swift and resounding," she said.

Her talks in Israel about the Israeli-Palestinian question were inconclusive. She said she had hoped to get further in prodding Israel and the Palestinian Authority into negotiations on linking an Israeli pullback on the West Bank with new security actions by the Palestinians. Progress was minimal, she said.

Although Albright said she is "not as satisfied as I wish I could be," she announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will send diplomats to Washington next week to keep working on President Clinton's proposal.

Arafat emerged sullen earlier after a two-hour meeting with Albright at Ramallah, a West Bank town turned over by Israel in December 1995 under the Oslo accord.

He made no statement.

Last week, the Palestinian leader responded "definitely not" when asked if he had accepted Clinton's suggestion. State Department officials sought to convince reporters traveling with Albright that he had, indeed, agreed to consider the idea while seeking more details how to acquire more land from Israel.

Netanyahu, having talked to Albright for 4 1/2 hours Saturday night, met with his Cabinet yesterday. He said afterward in a statement that "at this stage there is not yet any agreement on the extent and scale of the (Israeli troop) redeployment."

Albright acknowledged the negotiations had stalled and said there was "too much at stake" not to try to break the stalemate.

"It's a very slow process, there's no question," she told CNN. "And it's a frustrating process. But it is one that is essential. Time is not on our side here, and we would like to see progress made more rapidly."

In Kuwait, Albright went to Dasman palace to meet with the emir, Sheik Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah, and the crown prince, Saad al-Ahmed al-Sabah. Today, she flies to Riyadh for a meeting with Crown Prince Abdullah.

02-02-98