DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190499

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   83 lines

STEALTH FIGHTERS, B-52S ADDED TO GULF BUILDUP

Strengthening his hand in the standoff with Iraq, President Clinton ordered a fresh buildup of U.S. firepower in the Persian Gulf Tuesday even as signs emerged of an accelerated push for a diplomatic solution.

Clinton told the Air Force to dispatch six F-117 stealth fighters, six B-52 long-range bombers and four refueling planes. Pentagon officials said the decision was based in part on a heightened state of alert by Iraq's air defenses.

The warplanes are to arrive in the region by the end of the week, officials said.

Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said Clinton also authorized Gen. Anthony Zinni, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, to send up to 30 other warplanes - including F-15 and F-16 fighters and B-1 bombers - if he deemed it necessary.

A U-2 surveillance plane flew over Iraq without incident - despite Iraqi threats - and the Pentagon said at least one more U-2 mission would be flown this week.

The president's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, said the addition of U.S. warplanes, pushing the total to more than 300 in the region, was a precautionary step - not a signal that Clinton had concluded a military clash was inevitable.

A military solution, where it to come, would not necessarily solve the problem of Iraqi weapon stockpiles.

Analysts say it would be impossible for bombs and missiles to destroy the chemical and biological weapons scattered among hundreds of sites.

The military has been unable to build a weapon that can reliably penetrate bunkers and tunnels while burning hot enough to destroy chemical and biological weapons where they lie.

On the diplomatic front, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the Iraqi deputy prime minister devised a proposal Tuesday that could avert a military confrontation, Russia's foreign minister said.

Yeltsin sent a letter to the Iraqi leader several days ago, and Saddam Hussein's response arrived Tuesday, hand-carried by the Iraqi minister, Tariq Aziz.

``In the course of the (Yeltsin-Aziz) talks, a certain program has been worked out that allows us, we think, to avoid a confrontation, to avoid the use of force and achieve a settlement,'' said Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, who also met with Aziz.

White House spokesman Michael McCurry said Tuesday that U.S. officials had not yet learned details of the Russian initiative.

The United States and Britain, however, will oppose any new measures that they feel threaten the independence and integrity of the U.N. commission overseeing the weapons inspections.

Primakov refused to release any details of the plan.

However, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Sergey Lavrov, indicated that Russia wants the U.N. Security Council to assure Iraq that the commission's reports will not be ``biased'' and that the council will lift sanctions against Iraq once the commission certifies Iraqi compliance with U.N. orders to destroy weapons of mass destruction.

At the United Nations, the Security Council will meet today to discuss the crisis.

In Baghdad, the government said Iraq is not a ``camp of refugees'' as it rejected a U.S. offer to ease economic sanctions and help end the stalemate.

Iraqi officials said the 3-week-old crisis will continue until the U.N. accepts Iraq's conditions for the resumption of U.N. weapons inspections in the country, including a balanced composition of the inspection team. Iraq says American inspectors dominate the team.

Saddam expelled the six American weapons experts on the U.N. inspection team Thursday, prompting the remaining 68 non-American inspectors to withdraw in protest.

Iraq also began rationing cooking gas to the public Tuesday, fearing U.S. air strikes on the oil refineries that produce natural gas. In addition, thousands of Iraqis continued to gather at factories, forming ``human shields'' to lessen the likelihood of American strikes on those facilities. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The Associated Press and

Knight-Ridder News Service. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

Locally

A squadron of 18 F-15 Eagle fighters from Langley Air Force Bases in

Saudi Arabia.

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