Patience, Persistence Mark Perez de Cuellar’s Strategy : Diplomacy: The secretary general is known for never closing the door, even if immediate prospects are bleak.

When Saddam Hussein sits down in Baghdad today at a scheduled meeting with U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, he will face a patient, persistent negotiator who will seek to probe his sincerity for a Mideast peace conference and learn precisely under what conditions Iraq could be prepared to withdraw from Kuwait.

The secretary general’s strategy, as described by diplomats familiar with his thinking, has been honed by long years of talks over other crises. It is anchored in the bedrock of never closing the door on solving an international problem, no matter how bleak the immediate prospects may appear.

Some diplomats believe that through careful soundings with all parties to the Persian Gulf crisis, Perez de Cuellar may bring new thoughts to the bargaining table. One thing is certain: He has staked out room to maneuver.

“The first feature of his negotiating style is flexibility. He never slams the door even in the most desperate and hopeless situation,” said a longtime friend and U.N. colleague. “He never finishes the process.”

But flexibility should not be mistaken for any lack of inner toughness, diplomats stress.

Perez de Cuellar, 70, returned to his desk so fast after quadruple heart bypass surgery some years ago that his physicians and staff were amazed at his willpower and endurance.

Diplomats said his endurance could well be tested again during his talks with the Iraqi strongman.

“Perez will be very patient,” a colleague explained. “He will say to Saddam Hussein: ‘Tell me what you want to convey to the Security Council.’ ”

But diplomats familiar with his style and thinking stress that he will not just serve as a messenger.

“The secretary general cannot talk empty-handed. I suspect he is authorized to give Saddam Hussein something,” a diplomat close to Perez de Cuellar told The Times. “He would not go off on that mission if he did not have something up his sleeve. He is not going to negotiate the Security Council resolutions. He is going to give some ideas.”

One possibility is that Perez de Cuellar could quietly pledge that if Iraq withdraws its troops from Kuwait, he could use his influence to help with a comprehensive Middle East settlement.

A careful lawyer, Perez de Cuellar is well versed in the sometimes subtle constituency politics of the United Nations. Descended from Spanish nobility--his father, a wealthy businessman, died when Perez de Cuellar was 4--the secretary general became Peru’s permanent U.N. representative in 1971.

“He always keeps a measure of aloofness from the Security Council’s resolutions. He says: ‘It is my prerogative.’ At the same time, he reports to the Security Council for support,” said a diplomat who has observed Perez de Cuellar closely since he became the fifth secretary general of the United Nations on Jan. 1, 1982, succeeding Kurt Waldheim.

“He is very sensitive to the council, while independent within some limits. . . . He is aware of the delicate balance between the Security Council and the secretary general.”

The adjectives most used to describe Perez de Cuellar are careful, low-key and, some say, bland. But colleagues say that in an organization with 159 nations, often with competing interests, and in a potentially explosive world, unobtrusiveness is a style that suits him well as secretary general.

“The hallmarks of his style are patience, endurance, flexibility,” a co-worker said. “He wants to know what Saddam Hussein thinks.”

In preparing for his meeting with Hussein (he may also meet separately in Baghdad with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz), the secretary general conferred several times with Iraq’s U.N. ambassador, with whom he remains on good terms. He has also seen a broad spectrum of world leaders including President Bush, French President Francois Mitterrand, the foreign ministers of the 12 nations of the European Community and King Hussein of Jordan.

Perez de Cuellar has presided over a political renaissance at the United Nations. He has helped strengthen its finances. He has carefully used better relations between the superpowers to enhance the U.N.’s prestige and influence.

Some cases in point: The United Nations played an important role in getting South Africa out of Namibia and Cuban soldiers out of Angola. It supervised a cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq War and presided over elections recently in Haiti.

Perez de Cuellar was a dark-horse compromise candidate when he was elected secretary general. From the first, it seems, he was determined to give the world organization a sense of new esteem. In his nine years occupying the secretary general’s suite on the 38th floor of the Secretariat Building, he has worked to increase the efficiency of the world body’s organizations, to improve staff morale and to increase the U.N.’s role in protecting the environment.

Perez de Cuellar was married in 1975 to the former Marcela Temple of Lima. He has a son and a daughter from a previous marriage, and he is a grandfather.

The secretary general once said in an interview that if he could live his life all over again, he would become a concert pianist.

Today, he is on stage in Baghdad, with the world as his audience.