BOUTROS-GHALI DEFIES U.S. THREAT NOT TO BACK HIM FOR 2ND U.N. TERM.

Byline: Alan Cowell The New York Times

Defying a U.S. threat to prevent him from serving a second term, U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali began canvassing European allies for support Thursday.

He received no explicit promises of endorsement. But in France and Germany, his record of overseeing crises from Bosnia to Somalia drew praise, opening a split with Washington, which is portraying Boutros-Ghali as ill-suited to the task of streamlining the organization and managing it effectively.

While several possible candidates took the opportunity to say they would not seek the job, German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel emphasized that Germany's praise for Boutros-Ghali did not amount to an endorsement.

France came closest to openly backing Boutros-Ghali, while Britain confined its response to diplomatically phrased plaudits.

The American action against Boutros-Ghali appeared to catch many Europeans off-guard. Some suggested that Washington's decision was a function of the presidential election campaign.

At the United Nations on Thursday, diplomats said they were stunned by the American decision and the manner in which it was leaked anonymously rather than announced publicly.

A Western diplomat said that Europeans expected a more formal statement and some consultation with other U.N. missions.

Diplomats from several friendly countries said they first heard of the Clinton administration's plans in news reports. ``Once again the United States has managed to offend 180 nations,'' one U.N. official said.

In Bonn, Boutros-Ghali limited his public comments on the Washington action to saying, ``I hope they will change their mind.''

He was in Bonn to mark the formal transfer from Geneva to Bonn of a small agency, the U.N. Volunteers.

He spent the day feted by horns and kettledrums, signing modest cooperation agreements and making inoffensive speeches. He refused substantive comment on the dispute, which erupted Wednesday night when senior officials let it be known that the Clinton administration would veto a second term if he sought one.

In turn, Boutros-Ghali announced that he would indeed run for a second term, to the evident surprise of German officials.

Until Wednesday, Kinkel said, Boutros-Ghali had been saying that he was undecided about running again.

``I believe the American announcement persuaded him,'' he said, but indicated that the issue would have to be discussed at length before any decision is made on an endorsement.

Kinkel took issue with American criticism that the United Nations is bloated and needs bureaucratic trimming down if it is to survive. ``The U.N. is only as strong as its members want it to be,'' he said at an official ceremony with Boutros-Ghali.

By contrast, the White House spokesman Michael McCurry said President Clinton ``now believes it is very important to get new leadership of a very vital international organization that has many challenges.''

``It is important to have leadership that is capable of reforming the U.N. bureaucracy and decreasing the cost of financing the United Nations,'' he said.

Germany's position is complicated because, as the third-largest contributor to the U.N. budget after the United States and Japan, it is seeking a permanent seat on the Security Council - a position it regards as commensurate with its financial commitment. Kinkel indicated Thursday that Boutros-Ghali had supported this ambition in a conversation Wednesday.