Boutros Ghali

Battlefronts across Bosnia heated up ahead of a GENEVA meeting today in which the United States, its European allies and Russia will try to set the agenda for future peace talks. One U.N. military observer was killed and another seriously wounded when they came under fire near SARAJEVO.In WASHINGTON, the Senate voted to require President Clinton to lift the arms embargo against Bosnia, but the amendment was contradicted by a second amendment.United Nations chief Boutros Boutros-Ghali recommended that the U.N. limit its peacekeeping role in the six "safe areas" declared a year ago, and said more peacekeeping troops will be needed in Bosnia.

TO MUCH of the world, Boutros Boutros-Ghali is a mysterious sphinx relocated suddenly to the East River. What is this oddly empowered man -- whom some see as a kind of U.N. emperor -- really thinking about his unprecedented role? Is the secretary-general wise -- or merely wily?In a revealing luncheon interview in his exquisite Sutton Place townhouse on the eve of the U.S. pullout from Somalia, the seasoned Egyptian diplomat presented a very different portrait of himself and his motives from that generally seen.

Here, precisely, is what Chinese Premier Li Peng told U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali about the crisis triggered by American suspicions that North Korea is developing or already possesses nuclear weapons capability:"We hold that denuclearization of the peninsula will be realized at an early date, for this will not only be conducive to peace and security in the peninsula, but also in the interests of both (North and South Korea) and beneficial to peace and stability in the region and in the world as a whole."

U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali's visit to North Korea should reinforce the message that Security Council action will come next year if the Pyongyang regime continues to rebuff international inspection of its nuclear facilities. American officials, who have had their differences with the United Nations leader, are less than enthusiastic about his entry into these intricate negotiations. But since this enhances Mr. Boutros Ghali's image of independence, it may strengthen his hand in his talks with the North Koreans.

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- In a bold and risky rebuke to both the Clinton administration and Somalian warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid, United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali defied even his own staff's security warnings yesterday to visit the once-starving town of Baidoa and the Somalian capital, where angry demonstrators burned tires and waved cow skulls to protest the visit.But the secretary-general never saw the protests.In fact, Mr. Boutros-Ghali never left the heavily fortified Mogadishu airport during his secretive two-hour stop in the capital, where not even the news media knew of his presence until after he departed for Nairobi, Kenya.

Washington. -- On the same day that American dead were being counted in Mogadishu and a battered American captive was displayed on Somali television, the United States voted in the U.N. Security Council to deploy a ''peacekeeping'' force to Rwanda, a small, underdeveloped, landlocked country in the heart of Africa.Their task: to oversee a cease-fire in a country where war is endemic, to establish demilitarized zones, ensure compliance with the cease-fire, ''contribute to the security of the city of Kigali . . . '' etc. etc. etc. This authorizing resolution for a Rwanda force of 2,500 to 4,000 troops meets virtually none of the conditions laid down in President Clinton's speech before the U.N. General Assembly September 27. Its purpose and its cost are unclear (and probably unattainable)

Somalia serves as the latest warning that even the best-motivated foreign interventions can lead to bloodshed, unforeseen entanglements and even the danger of defeat. As a test case for United Nations resolve and capability, it ranks with much larger conflicts because this is the first time the U.N. secretary general has taken official command and control of an enforcement action under provisions of the U.N. charter.Any pretense that the world organization could avoid taking sides in Somalia's internal struggles dissipated after American and Pakistani forces under the U.N. flag launched a full-scale effort last weekend to oust the most powerful warlord, Mohamed Farah Aidid, who had ambushed Pakistani troops earlier.

VIENNA, Austria -- Using some of the most forceful language by a senior American official in recent years on the issue, Secretary of State Warren Christopher has pledged a major new U.S. commitment to the cause of global human rights.Addressing yesterday's opening session of the United Nations World Conference on Human Rights, Mr. Christopher said the Clinton administration would use the issue to define trade and foreign aid relationships with other nations and would press for speedy Senate ratification of four international human rights conventions signed during the Carter presidency, but which have languished since.

Don't toast the reunification of Cyprus yet. But the election Sunday in the Greek-ethnic country, occupying part of the island of the same name, was a step in that direction. It was a ringing mandate for moderation, which is rare these days in little countries with big nationalisms.President George Vassiliou, the candidate of the left, came in first with 44 percent of the vote. That forces him into a run-off on Sunday with Glafcos Clerides, candidate of the right, who won 37 percent, with Mr. Vassiliou the favorite.