Boutros Boutros Ghali

When American officials warned U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to stay out of Somalia's capital, those closest to him knew the issue was settled. "Once he has made up his mind," an aide said, "you cannot change it. No matter how you protest, he sticks to his original idea. The stronger the protest, the more stubborn he becomes. If you tell him not to go to Mogadishu, he will go to Mogadishu. I can assure you that he is going to Mogadishu." A couple of days later, on Oct.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, eased out as United Nations chief last year under U.S. pressure, was unanimously elected head of the 49-member La Francophonie grouping of French-speaking nations, seen by many as a guardian against domination by Anglo-Saxon influences.

WHEN DIEGO ARRIA, VENEZUEla's ambassador to the United Nations, sat down at his ornately carved wooden desk, he was stunned. In the fuzzy world of diplomatic-speak, the letter he found there amounted to a bristling reprimand of him and the rest of the members of the U.N. Security Council. And it was signed by Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the mild-mannered, professorial Egyptian who has led the United Nations as secretary general only since Jan. 1.

As several hundred staff members clapped, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, 74, left the United Nations complex Tuesday, ending a turbulent five years as the world's top diplomat. "Thank you for everything you have done. I wish you a happy New Year. I wish success for the United Nations. I wish success for my successor, Kofi Annan," he said. Annan, 58, of Ghana, a longtime U.N. bureaucrat, takes over today as secretary-general. Boutros-Ghali expressed regret over the U.N.'

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, eased out as United Nations chief last year under U.S. pressure, was unanimously elected head of the 49-member La Francophonie grouping of French-speaking nations, seen by many as a guardian against domination by Anglo-Saxon influences.

U.N. diplomats and officials--who couldn't believe the news at first--are now convinced that 71-year-old Boutros Boutros-Ghali is serious about seeking a second term as secretary general of the United Nations. The decision is worrisome in Washington. A reelection bid by the moody, stubborn Egyptian diplomat could lead to a confrontation with the Clinton Administration. In fact, relations are so bad that U.S.

No U.N. secretary-general has had more opportunity and more snares. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the 70-year-old Egyptian professor and diplomat who has run the United Nations for a year, is the first secretary-general elected after the collapse of Soviet communism and end of the Cold War. The new era has freed the United Nations of paralysis. It is no longer locked by enmity between the United States and the Soviet Union. The United Nations can now step out.

Facing strong U.S. pressure to slash costs, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali proposed a new two-year budget that would cut 500 jobs and trim expenses by about 7%. The United States welcomed the proposal. Washington is withholding about $1.5 billion from the world body, partly to press it to cut costs and increase efficiency. Boutros-Ghali's budget outline proposes a $2.4-billion budget for 1998 and 1999, a reduction of 6.9% from the 1996-97 budget.

Bosnian officials Thursday rejected the U.N. chief's conclusion that a Serbian soldier acted alone two weeks ago in killing Bosnia's deputy prime minister. Bosnia's U.N. ambassador accused Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali of trying to evade responsibility for the assassination of Hakija Turajlic while he was under U.N. escort.

At a time of tense relations between the United States and the United Nations, Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali arrives in Washington Thursday to deliver the commencement address at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. The visit is unofficial and no calls at the White House or State Department are planned. But Boutros-Ghali sometimes irritates the Clinton Administration with speeches brimming with complaints about its U.N. policy.

Departing Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali bore the American veto that forced him from office like a medal of honor Tuesday in a farewell address that gently scolded the United States for failing to fully support the world body. The speech, alternately defensive and defiant, did not specify the United States. But Boutros-Ghali reflected a common complaint about the U.S.

The U.S. effort to deny Boutros Boutros-Ghali a second term as U.N. secretary-general has now succeeded, as it was bound to. Though the secretary-general has technically not withdrawn his candidacy, his decision to "suspend" it amounts to the formal recognition by this intelligent, vain and imperious Egyptian diplomat that the United States will not be dissuaded from its determination to unseat him.

The search for a new U.N. secretary-general shifted Thursday to a French-African summit after Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt suspended his candidacy in the face of unrelenting U.S. opposition. Boutros-Ghali on Wednesday asked the U.N. Security Council not to include him in further votes until he again presents his name as a candidate for reelection.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali "suspended" his candidacy for reelection as United Nations secretary-general Wednesday, a move that diplomats here said clears the way for selection of a new U.N. leader more acceptable to the United States. The U.N. Security Council, charged with nominating the secretary-general, is expected to begin considering alternative candidates Friday and could make a selection as early as Monday, council sources said.

In a blow to Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the president of Africa's regional association is urging Africans to submit candidates for the top U.N. job because of U.S. opposition to the Egyptian incumbent. The move by President Paul Biya of Cameroon, chairman of the Organization of African Unity, appeared to break a deadlock following the Nov. 19 veto of Boutros-Ghali by the United States.

Re "U.S. Vetoes 2nd Term for Boutros-Ghali," Nov. 20: The United States should stop stiffing the U.N., and should state with particularity the facts (if any) upon which it opposes the reelection of the popular and capable Boutros Boutros-Ghali. THOMAS PRINDIVILLE HIGGINS, Ventura Having served in the United Nations, I read your Nov. 19 editorial, "When All Is Said, a Debt's a Debt," with a mix of amusement and consternation. While I agree that the U.N. "remains an essential forum for international communication and cooperation," it is nonetheless an institution so thoroughly flawed that I have reached the reluctant conclusion that it serves little useful purpose in its present state.

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali warned Wednesday that the United Nations' financial crisis, contrary to what doubters think, is so real and dangerous that he may have to start closing the organization down next summer if the United States and others refuse to pay what they owe. The U.S. failure to pay has induced many other countries to hold back, the secretary-general told reporters and editors in the Los Angeles Times' Washington Bureau.

The search for a new U.N. secretary-general shifted Thursday to a French-African summit after Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt suspended his candidacy in the face of unrelenting U.S. opposition. Boutros-Ghali on Wednesday asked the U.N. Security Council not to include him in further votes until he again presents his name as a candidate for reelection.

The Clinton administration vetoed the reelection of U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on Tuesday, fulfilling a threat that has isolated the United States in the world body and alienated America from some of its closest allies here. U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright cast the lone vote against Boutros-Ghali in a 20-minute closed meeting of the 15-member Security Council.

In a move Monday that left the United States alone in the U.N. Security Council, the Clinton administration repeated its vow to block the reelection of U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to a second five-year term. Although the 15-member council postponed a formal vote on renominating him until today, it was apparent Monday that U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright will have to exercise America's rarely used veto power against the Egyptian diplomat. U.S.