He’s Ready for Mission to Iraq, U.N. Chief Says : Diplomacy: Perez de Cuellar cautions against a ‘psychosis of war’ over the Jan. 15 deadline. He points to ‘other options.’

Warning of the danger of a “psychosis of war,” U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar said Thursday that he is prepared to go to Baghdad if it can help bring peace and that he will meet with Iraq’s U.N. ambassador to try to create a meaningful diplomatic dialogue.

“In the 12 days that are left, I think that every effort should be made in order to find a solution to the present impasse,” the secretary general said, referring to the Security Council-imposed Jan. 15 deadline for Iraq to give up its occupation of Kuwait. “I myself am doing my best quietly.”

” . . . What we need is to start a dialogue--either directly, between the Americans and their allies and the Iraqis, or through any third party, including the secretary general, among others,” he said.

“I am afraid there is a tremendous misunderstanding,” Perez de Cuellar added. “People think that on the 15th of January they will start shooting, but that is not what the resolution says. Of course, that is one option, but there are other options, for instance to take other measures.

“Perhaps the Security Council could decide to apply other sanctions or to take any other measure which is not a military action. . . ,” he said. “I think it is wrong to create this kind of psychosis of war on the 15th of January.”

If nothing happens by midnight on the 15th, he said, it will be for the members of the Security Council to decide what to do.

In November, in a historic vote, the council authorized war to drive Iraqi troops from Kuwait. But it gave Iraq until Jan. 15 to comply.

After the 15th, war will not automatically break out. The resolution, while allowing military force as an option, does not require it.

In the midst of the dozen-day diplomatic countdown, the subject of another Security Council session was so sensitive that the secretary general was forced at dinner time to clarify an earlier statement that some reporters had interpreted to mean he was suggesting that the council might want to meet before the 15th to decide what to do if Saddam Hussein’s troops do not leave Kuwait.

That controversial possibility was among a range of options discussed by Perez de Cuellar and the Security Council’s president for January, the ambassador from Zaire, when they met Thursday morning, U.N. sources said.

Responding to Perez de Cuellar’s initial statement Thursday, both the United States and the Soviet Union immediately make public their displeasure at the possibility of any council meeting before the deadline.

“We’re not looking for another Security Council session at this point,” a senior State Department official said. “We made clear in November that additional action would not be required to carry out the intent of the resolution.”

Asked if the United States would mount a diplomatic campaign to prevent such a Security Council meeting, the official said, “I’m sure we will make our views known to others.”

And Yuli M. Vorontsov, the Soviet Union’s U.N. ambassador, agreed.

“My personal opinion is we shouldn’t do anything that will nullify the resolution that has been adopted inviting Saddam Hussein to vacate Kuwait by the 15th of January,” he said.

“Any other utterances of the Security Council will nullify that kind of thing. I should say that we should keep that resolution absolutely clear, not undermine it in any way.”

Later in the day, Perez de Cuellar took pains to say he had never really suggested to reporters that the council meet before the 15th.

“Unfortunately, it was a misunderstanding,” he said. “I never thought that the Security Council should meet before the timetable it has imposed on itself. It would be a contradiction in terms if the Security Council meets before the 15th.”

” . . . If on the 15th of January at midnight nothing happens, if the Iraqis do not withdraw, it will be for the members of the Security Council to decide what to do. . . . The resolution is there. It is only after the members of the council realize the resolution was not implemented that they should move.”

The secretary general termed “positive” President Bush’s proposal for a meeting next week in Geneva between Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Iraq’s Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz.

When the council passed its use-of-force resolution in November, Perez de Cuellar expected to become deeply involved in negotiations.

But the United States launched its own diplomatic initiative, proposing a meeting in Baghdad between Baker and Hussein and a separate meeting in Washington between Aziz and President Bush.