U.S. SENATE TEAM WANTS MULTINATIONAL GULF FORCE
The leaders of a U.S. Senate team probing
American defense strategy in the MidEast Gulf said they favored
a multinational force to keep oil flowing through the waterway.
    Sen. John Glenn and John Warner, in Kuwait as part of a
Gulf Arab tour, said at a news conference that top officials in
the area appeared ready to discuss extra facilities needed if
the U.S. upgraded its defense role.
    The Senate team next heads for the United Arab Emirates,
their last stop on a fact-finding mission prompted by Reagan
administration plans to let half of Kuwait's 22-tanker fleet
fly the U.S. flag.
    Glenn and Warner said the U.S., Britain and France, should
explore the possibility of a unified Gulf force.
    "The American ships, the British ships, the French ships now
talk to each other and all we've got to do is formalize this
arrangement," Warner said.
    Glenn said a multinational force could be effectively
deployed within 24 hours of a decision.
    Glenn voiced a preference for a United Nations
multinational force, or failing that, an American, British,
French force with cooperation from the Gulf Arab states.
    Warner voiced concern that the Soviet Union might use the
situation in the Gulf to raise its presence. "And,
unequivocally, all GCC states we have talked with, have said
that would not be in the interests of the Arabian peninsula."
 Reuter
