Iraq has offered 500 tons of dates to the Soviet Union as part of international efforts to help tide the Soviets through the winter, the official news agency said Sunday. The Iraqi News Agency quoted the chairman of the Iraqi Red Crescent, Dr. Ibrahim al-Nouri, as saying the organization's offer came ``as a gift from the Iraqi people to the Soviet people out of the spirit of traditional friendship between the two peoples.'' The news agency, which is monitored in Nicosia, said the Soviets had been made aware of the offer but had not responded. The Soviets expect severe food shortages during the winter, and many Western countries, including the United States, have responded with an outpouring of aid. This is the first reported offer of aid from Iraq, which was Moscow's main Middle East ally and received much of its weaponry from the Soviet Union before its Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait. Since the invasion, the two nations have been at odds.
