51.   Iraqi troops have continued their withdrawal from the Kuwaiti border but the United States will not yet declare that the crisis has passed, the White House said Wednesday.

52.   Iraq essentially agreed to recognize the Kuwaiti border in return for a promise of an easing of UN sanctions.

53.   Iraq has waged a standoff with the United States since early October after a buildup of Iraqi troops near the Kuwaiti border.

54.   Iraqi authorities arrested two US civilians last Monday after they drove across the Kuwaiti border.

55.   Israeli military sources said Iraq was trying to pressure the United Nations into easing its sanctions by moving troops toward the Kuwaiti border.

56.   Iraq announced earlier it was withdrawing troops which had been massing on the Kuwaiti border, but Washington reacted cautiously and said it would continue to deploy its forces.

57.   A day earlier, the Iraqi National Congress opposition coalition which is based in northern Iraq also said Republican Guard divisions were heading toward the Kuwaiti border.

58.   A UN Security Council resolution adopted Saturday barred Baghdad from deploying its Republican Guards in southern Iraq and from reinforcing its military capacity on the Kuwaiti border.

59.   A visit to Paris was scheduled to have followed the UN talks, but Iraqi troop movements near the Kuwaiti border in October led to it being postponed.

60.   All could be swiftly deployed should the crisis at the Kuwaiti border worsen, a military source said.