GULF WATCH: Day 68 : A Daily Briefing Paper On Developments In The Crisis : Diplomatic Front:

Fifteen hundred of the Soviet Union’s technicians in Iraq will come home within a month, before their contracts expire, said a top Soviet official. The presence of 5,000 Soviets, including 93 military experts, has been a sore point between Soviet and U.S. leaders.

Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti official said his nation’s government-in-exile will ask the United Nations to allow an airlift of medicine into Kuwait city to help people who are critically ill.

Military Front:

Two American pilots of the Alabama Air National Guard died when their reconnaissance plane crashed on a flight over the southern Arabian Peninsula, and eight Ma-rines were believed dead after their helicopters disappeared.

The Marines were aboard two Huey helicopters that vanished on a routine night operation over the northern Arabian Sea off Oman. The helicopters were from the amphibious assault ship Okinawa. The causes of the three crashes were unclear.

In the Gulf of Oman, British, Australian and American warships fired warning shots across the bow of an Iraqi freighter. The freighter was empty, and after being inspected, it was allowed to continue on its way.

Economic Front:

Persistent uncertainty about the gulf crisis and fear of crude oil shortages have sent retail gas prices in the United States up an average 6 cents per gallon over the last two weeks.

Since the Iraqi invasion Aug. 2, the average price of gasoline nationwide has jumped 26 1/2 cents a gallon at the pump.

The Sea Blockade:

* Number of ship interceptions: 1,676

* Number of ships boarded: 171

* Number of ships diverted: 7