U.N. Chief May Propose Peace Force in Kuwait

U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar left on his mission to Baghdad on Thursday as the White House said his trip offered a “glimmer of hope” for resolving the Persian Gulf crisis.

President Bush consulted with Perez de Cuellar at least twice by telephone Thursday before the U.N. leader left New York, and Administration officials made it clear that the veteran diplomat’s trip to Iraq may be the last chance to avert war.

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev also gave the secretary general encouragement for his mission, stressing through Moscow’s U.N. ambassador that the Soviet Union is strongly in favor of a political settlement to the crisis. Sources said a similar message was sent by Gorbachev to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Iraq’s leader was urged in the words of a knowledgeable diplomat to “give something to the secretary general.”

“I hope that there is still a chance for peace. That is why I am going,” the secretary general told reporters before departing. “I will listen and hope I will be listened to.”

The secretary general changed his travel plans late Thursday, deciding to stop first in Paris today, at the request of the French government, rather than in Geneva. Sources said he is expected to meet with President Francois Mitterrand or Foreign Minister Roland Dumas before continuing on to Geneva, where he is scheduled to confer later today with the 12 foreign ministers of the European Community.

In his talks Saturday with Hussein in Baghdad, the secretary general is expected to determine if he is willing to withdraw from Kuwait in exchange for meaningful movement toward a Mideast peace conference to deal comprehensively with the problems of the region.

Diplomats at the United Nations said Perez de Cuellar is also likely to raise the possibility of a U.N. peacekeeping force for Kuwait that could be put in place if Iraq withdraws. Such a force might allow Hussein to claim that his often-expressed security concerns have been addressed as part of a settlement.

U.S. and U.N. sources both conceded that there is still no evidence of any Iraqi willingness to withdraw from Kuwait. But Administration officials said that, although they have virtually no hope that Iraq would offer concessions in any meeting with an American, there is a chance that Hussein will be more flexible with Perez de Cuellar.

“Yesterday was the advertisement for the show,” said one Administration official, referring to deadlocked Geneva talks between Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz and Secretary of State James A. Baker III. “The real stuff’s starting tonight with Perez de Cuellar.”

The secretary general’s “last-minute effort” offers a “glimmer of hope” for peace, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said.

Bush met with Perez de Cuellar for lunch last Saturday at his Camp David, Md., retreat, then called him Wednesday after the conclusion of the Baker-Aziz talks and again Thursday morning to discuss his trip to Baghdad, Fitzwater said.

Later Thursday, during a photo session with senators before a meeting on the gulf, Bush said he planned to talk to the secretary general again and added that he is “pleased he’s going (to Baghdad).”

White House aides provided no details of what the two discussed, saying only that the talks concerned Perez de Cuellar’s trip.

At the White House, aides self-consciously went through their normal daily routines as officials completed final paperwork that would, if diplomacy fails, clear the way for war.

Bush reviewed papers to approve Defense Department authority to increase military reserve call-ups and keep reserve units on duty longer. And officials made final plans for a meeting today of the International Energy Agency, which will consider releasing oil from international strategic stockpiles should war begin.

By contrast with Wednesday, when everyone had clustered around television sets to watch the back-to-back-to-back press conferences by Baker, Aziz and Bush, the mood Thursday was somber, calm, “business as usual,” officials insisted.

A few protesters carrying anti-war placards gathered outside the White House fence and passed out cards with prayers for peace, but the scene was little different than the normal assortment of demonstrators on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Before leaving New York, Perez de Cuellar thanked world leaders for their support for his mission. “I would like to tell you that I am leaving the United Nations headquarters with really tremendous, moving support from the President of the United States, the president of the Soviet Union, the 12 ministers of the European Community, the prime minister of Japan, the Nordic countries, the chairman of the nonaligned group,” he said.

“Everybody wished me good luck,” the secretary general added. “I will do my best to preserve peace.”

Outside analysts, however, expressed some doubts about how much Perez de Cuellar’s visit to Baghdad can accomplish.

The secretary general, who met with Aziz earlier in the crisis and with Hussein in 1987 during the Iran-Iraq War, is “a thoughtful and dedicated diplomat, but he does not have the creative touch needed to find a compromise or an alternative,” said one long-time diplomat.

“More important,” the diplomat added, “he does not have the power” to negotiate any sort of deal on his own.

On the other hand, the mission could provide Saddam Hussein an out if he is, in fact, seeking one.

“War does not make any sense for any parties to the conflict,” said Henry Shuler, a Middle East analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies here. “One has to hope that if something doesn’t make any sense, reason will prevail.”

Most suggestions for solving the crisis revolved around a formula that would include a pledge by Perez de Cuellar or by other world leaders to seek an international conference to try to settle the Palestinian issue. Israel has rejected that idea, and Administration officials have insisted that to link Palestinian grievances with Kuwait would reward Iraq for its aggression.

Some U.S. allies, however, have been less insistent on that point. Saudi officials, for example, have called for an international conference on Middle Eastern issues, as have French leaders. And Administration officials, although repeating U.S. objections to such plans, did so quietly, avoiding any strong condemnation.

A State Department official, for example, shrugged off the latest Saudi statements supporting such plans, noting that “the Saudis have always been in favor of an international conference.”

Perez de Cuellar, for his part, voiced support for a Middle East conference, saying, “At some time, this conference has to take place. When is a question for the parties to decide.”

The New York Times reported that Arab diplomats at the United Nations were told that Hussein plans an initiative soon after the Jan. 15 deadline for withdrawal from Kuwait that will express his support “in principle” for withdrawing his troops while simultaneously calling for an international conference to address Palestinian grievances against Israel.

In Washington, a knowledgeable State Department official said that he had heard “not even an inkling” about the reported Iraqi peace initiative. “This is completely new,” he said.

The official, who requested anonymity, said the Bush Administration would probably reject any such proposal on two grounds. The United States has demanded a complete Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait by Jan. 15, he said, and it has rejected any linkage between a withdrawal and the Arab-Israeli issue.

The official noted that Baker and several of his key aides were in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, and he could not say if Baker had been told of the reported initiative.

Perez de Cuellar’s discussions in Baghdad will take place in the broad context of the dozen resolutions that the Security Council has passed since Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2, Perez de Cuellar added. “But, still, I think there is room to make some progress,” he said.

After his talks in Baghdad with Hussein, the secretary general plans to return to New York in time to privately brief members of the Security Council on Monday morning.

Lauter reported from Washington and Goldman from New York. Times staff writers Robin Wright and Doyle McManus, in Washington, contributed to this report.