Iraq on Friday ordered all foreigners in occupied Kuwait to report to authorities or face punishment, and announced it would ration gasoline to save imported chemicals used in refining fuel. The gasoline rationing was the latest indication that international trade sanctions against Iraq are having an impact. The U.N. embargo was imposed two months ago to force Iraq out of Kuwait, which it invaded Aug. 2. In New York, there was good news about oil. Prices were down $2.00 a barrel in early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $34.70. Traders said prices eased after conciliatory remarks by an Iraqi official. Iraq's deputy prime minister, Taha Yassin Ramadan, said Thursday in Amman, Jordan, that he thought both sides in the crisis were reassessing their positions and that peace talks could be in the offing. But in Washington, President Bush said he saw no chance for compromise in the Persian Gulf crisis. ``I am as determined as I was the day the first troop left, that Saddam Hussein's aggression not be rewarded by some compromise,'' Bush said in a meeting with Italian-American leaders. Bush met later with a Soviet envoy, Yevgeny Primakov, who said he agreed that the world should not relax its insistence on an unconditional Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. ``One cannot allow a situation where actions that are incompatible with a civilized society would be in order,'' Primakov said after the meeting. A report published in Iraqi newspapers Friday said all foreigners in Kuwait must register with local authorities before Nov. 5. Those who fail to do so ``will be responsible before the law, and their residency cards will be canceled,'' the report said. Under Iraqi law, foreigners found without residency cards are punished with fines and imprisonment. The exceptions are citizens from Arab Cooperation Council nations - Egypt, Jordan and Yemen. About 400,000 foreigners are believed in Kuwait, including 2,000 Westerners that the U.S. State Department says are hiding from Iraqi soldiers. Hundreds more are held in Iraq, many at strategic sites to deter attack by the multinational force. About 200,000 U.S. soldiers and thousands from other nations are facing an estimated 430,000 Iraqi troops in the region. Saddam's forces overran his southern neighbor in a dispute over oil, land and money. With Kuwaiti oilfields, his share of world reserves increased to 20 percent, second only to Saudi Arabia. Despite Iraq's vast reserves, the Oil Ministry announced Friday gasoline rationing would begin next week. The U.N. embargo on Iraq has squeezed Baghdad's supply of imported chemicals used in refining oil. ``There is nothing to get worried about. ... The rationing is just a precaution,'' said oil minister Issam Abdul-Rahim al-Chalabi.``There is a lot of waste and by introducing the rationing we are going to cut that waste.'' Iraq is already rationing food staples such as milk, meat and bread. Baghdad says there are shortages of all such products - and many more. Car owners were ordered to pick up ration coupons at special centers, although the minister did not say how much gasoline would be allocated to each person or how long the rationing would last. Iraqis rushed to gasoline stations to stock up on gasoline Friday and long lines formed outside gas stations. In Moscow, U.S. Defense Secretary Richard Cheney praised Soviet cooperation in bringing diplomatic and economic pressure to bear on Iraq and said ``we have not given up on that policy.'' ``I have also made it clear ... that we have not ruled out other options,'' said Cheney. He declined to speculate on possible U.S. military steps. Cheney later traveled to Paris for three days of talks with the French government on cooperation in the gulf crisis. France has deployed 13,000 troops in the gulf, the second-largest Western contingent after the United States. At the United Nations, the Security Council was considering a resolution that would allow nations hurt by Iraq's invasion to seek reparations from Baghdad's frozen assets abroad or against its future oil earnings, diplomats said. The resolution also threatens Baghdad with unspecified ``further enforcement measures,'' condemns Iraq's human rights violations in Kuwait, and demands that Iraq release all Western hostages, the diplomats said. No vote has yet been scheduled on the new resolution, they said. It would be the 10th U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Iraq. In other developments: -U.S. military officials in Saudi Arabia said there had been 2,500 interceptions, 240 boardings and 11 ``diversions'' of commercial ships since the embargo against Baghdad was imposed. -Iraqi troops have placed explosives at oil fields, gas and gasoline storage tanks as well as on bridges and viaducts in Kuwait, according to Sheik Mishal Mohammed al-Sabah, a member of the emirate's exiled ruling family. He was quoted as telling the Amsterdam newspaper De Telegraaf that Iraq plans to blow up the facilities if its soldiers are forced to withdraw. -Canada suspended operations at its embassy in Kuwait, Ottawa said Friday. Saddam ordered embassies in Kuwait closed after he annexed the emirate, and although only the British, French and U.S. embassies now remain open, most nations still recognize Kuwait as a separate nation.
