Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali

Nuclear arms in checkU.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali yesterday -Z rejected allegations that Iraq is still developing a secret nuclear arms program, saying he believes Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction are under control.Mr. Boutros-Ghali was responding to comments by a former U.N weapons inspector, who said Iraq might still be developing a $7 billion to $10 billion secret nuclear plan.

NOW THAT the U.S. has used up precious political capital vetoing a second term for United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, it should stick to its guns. That means resisting blandishments and arm-twisting to back down.Instead, the United States should expand its rationale for this unpopular deed by crusading to change the tradition that secretaries-general serve two five-year terms. Where was it written in stone that Mr. Boutros-Ghali, 74, had to serve 10 years beginning in 1992?

Bosnia's Muslim president, Alija Izetbegovic, stayed away from the GENEVA negotiations for the second day. But the Bosnian delegation was split when its three Croat members walked out to protest the Bosnian army's continued attacks on Croat forces in the center of the republic.A U.S. spokeswoman in WASHINGTON said there is no "firm time line" on starting to use NATO airpower in Bosnia. Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has told Secretary of State Christopher that he wants the advice of the U.N. special representative on the former Yugoslavia before authorizing any air strikes.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton, in a brief appearance at the United Nations, outlined yesterday his proposals for combating terrorism, the drug trade and nuclear proliferation in a speech that targeted Republicans as much as it did foreign adversaries.The president also signed a treaty to ban the testing of nuclear weapons, calling it "the longest-sought, hardest-fought prize in arms control history."In a rebuke aimed at Bob Dole, his Republican challenger, the president used the world forum to criticize the Republican-led Senate for failing earlier this month to vote on a treaty intended to control the spread of chemical weapons.

At least U.S. high level airdrops of food and medicine are finally reaching Bosnian Muslims being raped and starved and tortured and murdered to force them to flee their homes rather than falling into the hands of thugs in Serbian uniform.President Clinton has learned hard lessons since the easy days of the campaign when all that was required was to take the moral high ground, which demanded tangible help to Bosnian Muslims. As president he has learned what President Bush knew, that Americans show no signs of wanting to launch a costly war in Bosnia and that European allies do not want American intervention to provoke reprisals against vulnerable European peace-keeping troops.

NOW THAT the U.S. has used up precious political capital vetoing a second term for United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, it should stick to its guns. That means resisting blandishments and arm-twisting to back down.Instead, the United States should expand its rationale for this unpopular deed by crusading to change the tradition that secretaries-general serve two five-year terms. Where was it written in stone that Mr. Boutros-Ghali, 74, had to serve 10 years beginning in 1992?

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 -- The Clinton administration was surprised by the decision of negotiators Cyrus R. Vance and Lord Owen yesterday to ask the Security Council to impose a solution to end the war in Bosnia, senior administration officials said.The decision, announced by the two mediators in Geneva, puts the administration in an awkward position by forcing it to choose whether to support what senior officials have called a flawed plan.The plan to move the peace talks to the United Nations coincided with Mr. Vance's presentation of a proposal for an interim government that some administration officials have criticized as essentially abolishing the legitimate government of Bosnia-Herzegovina and enforcing the ethnic partition of the country, as has been demanded by the Serbian aggressors.

As the 49th General Assembly cranks up in New York, preparing for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Charter next June, Americans are wondering what the U.N. is for.Americans have been wondering that for 49 years. At first its promise was unfulfilled because of Soviet intransigence in wielding the veto at the Security Council. Then a movement grew among small countries of the underdeveloped world to use the U.N. to redistribute the world's wealth.With the Cold War gone, both Russia and China have wished to be cooperative with the U.S. at the U.N. when their interests allow.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali called for action yesterday to close the ever-widening gap between the world's rich and poor, but he acknowledged that donor countries are suffering from aid "fatigue" that could take years to overcome.Mr. Boutros-Ghali spoke at the opening of the United Nations' seven-day World Summit on Social Development, called to address problems arising from poverty and discrimination.James Gustave Speth, head of the U.N. Development Program, outlined some of the dimensions of the global poverty problem.

UNITED NATIONS -- An international women's organization based in New York is opening a campaign in 75 countries this weekend to get a woman elected secretary-general of the United Nations.The organization, Equality Now, has selected six candidates from what it says is a pool of "many qualified women around the world."The organization is circulating fliers to its 2,000 affiliated groups worldwide, with pictures of the candidates and the names and addresses of the Security Council delegates who must decide by the end of the year whether Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali will have another term.

The West BankYour editorial July 16, "Opposition to Peace," correctly states the various challenges to the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. However, included is the factually incorrect phrase "to turn Palestinian land over to Palestinian rule."The West Bank is not and has never been Palestinian Arab land. The West Bank is disputed land, over which both Israelis and Arabs feel they have legitimate claims.Just as Jerusalem was never an Arab capital, the West Bank was never a Palestinian state.

As Mass Transit Goes, So Goes CrimeRe: Your editorial about "Carroll's Mass Transit Future" (April 10). You guys just don't get it.Most residents of Carroll County have moved here to be "five miles beyond the bus line." The extension of mass transit would, in their minds, only extend the crime, car theft, low-income housing woes, etc., to their backyards and obviate the reason for relocating. The property values of homes near the line would sink like a stone.As a life-long liberal, it hurts me to say that where mass transit goes, crime is sure to follow.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali called for action yesterday to close the ever-widening gap between the world's rich and poor, but he acknowledged that donor countries are suffering from aid "fatigue" that could take years to overcome.Mr. Boutros-Ghali spoke at the opening of the United Nations' seven-day World Summit on Social Development, called to address problems arising from poverty and discrimination.James Gustave Speth, head of the U.N. Development Program, outlined some of the dimensions of the global poverty problem.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Bosnian Serbs delivered a humiliating snub to the world's most prominent diplomat yesterday, refusing to meet U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at the airport here and sounding a death knell on their tolerance of foreign efforts to protect Bosnian Muslims.Mr. Boutros-Ghali flew into the artillery-encircled Bosnian capital on an urgent mission to secure assurances from Serbian rebel leader Radovan Karadzic that his nationalist gunmen would halt attacks on the U.N.-designated "safe area" of Bihac and stop harassing U.N. forces.

As the 49th General Assembly cranks up in New York, preparing for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Charter next June, Americans are wondering what the U.N. is for.Americans have been wondering that for 49 years. At first its promise was unfulfilled because of Soviet intransigence in wielding the veto at the Security Council. Then a movement grew among small countries of the underdeveloped world to use the U.N. to redistribute the world's wealth.With the Cold War gone, both Russia and China have wished to be cooperative with the U.S. at the U.N. when their interests allow.

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration said yesterday that it would help finance and support an expanded United Nations-sponsored peacekeeping force for Rwanda and help create "safe areas" for refugees from the slaughter that has killed at least 100,000 in the past month.The administration had previously said it would consider such financial and logistical support, but this was its first public commitment to provide it. The pledge came after demands from members of Congress for a more active U.S. response to the tragedy.

U.N. officials said the Serbs were pulling back guns that the United Nations said violated the heavy weapons exclusion zone around SARAJEVO.Croatia and rebel Serbs holding a third of Croatian territory opened cease-fire talks in ZAGREB with their positions far apart and warnings of military action if the negotiations fail.A U.N. plane flew 22 tons of food and medicine into TUZLA, the first relief flight to the city in almost two years of war. Regular flights could begin within three weeks.