U.S. CENTCOM Military News Briefing

Brig. Gen. Neal spoke to reporters in Riyadh on the second day of the cease-fire ordered by President Bush in the Persian Gulf war. Earlier, President Bush had announced that Iraq was willing to send its military commanders to meet with coalition commanders to work out the details of the cease-fire; Gen. Neal affirmed that the process of working out the details of such a meeting was going on. Brig. Gen. Neal said the U.S. armed forces in the Persian Gulf region were in defensive positions, but were prepared to take an offensive stance should they be fired upon. He also announced that the U.S., Canadian, French and British embassies in Kuwait City were open and operating. He also announced the combat engagement of a division of U.S. troops standing guard at a checkpoint in Kuwait with a number of Iraqi soldiers. There were no U.S. casualties, and a number of Iraqi P.O.W.'s were taken. Two U.S. casualties occurred due to land mines in the previous 24 hours, Gen. Neal announced, and he st close