The post of U.N. secretary-general is one with no candidates, following the abrupt announcement Wednesday by incumbent U.N. chief Boutros Boutros-Ghali that he is suspending his race for a new five-year term.

“The secretary-general, Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali, has indicated to me that he intends to suspend his candidature for the time being,” said Italian Ambassador Francesco Paolo Fulci, the current president of the 15-member Security Council.

But Fulci added that there would be further votes, possibly including Boutros-Ghali, to determine a new leader for the world body once other candidates come forward.

“The Council this afternoon has once again underlined the need to have as soon as possible candidates from African states,” Fulci said, noting the current consensus that Africa retain the seat held by Boutros-Ghali, an Egyptian.

But for now, the Italian envoy conceded, “no candidature for the post of secretary-general has been received” — aside, that is, from the incumbent.

The suspension of Boutros-Ghali’s race thus places the world body in an even greater state of uncertainty. For now, there are many potential candidates, but no declared contender.

The only certain candidate for a future round, in fact, is the man who suspended his candidacy Wednesday. “The secretary-general is maintaining his candidacy for a second term,” U.N. spokeswoman Sylvana Foa said. But the incumbent, she added, would not seek a vote where he is the only candidate.

For the secretary-general’s supporters, the move shows Boutros- Ghali’s confidence that he can come out on top even if the field of candidates is enlarged. But for his critics, the suspension spells the beginning of the end of Boutros-Ghali’s turbulent term as U.N. head.

The deadlock for the United Nations’ top spot has occurred because Boutros-Ghali cannot win the support of the United States, which has veto power on the Security Council and has written the Egyptian off as a failure at U.N. reform. On Nov 19, the United States vetoed Boutros-Ghali’s extension, although all 14 other Council members voted for him.

In the days that followed, Washington encouraged Africa to drop its support for the incumbent. But only one nation, Ethiopia, has suggested that other candidates be found. On Monday, President Paul Biya of Cameroon, which chairs the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), wrote to African governments, recommending that other names be submitted in addition to Boutros-Ghali’s.

But no African nation decided to break ranks by submitting another name, frustrating the U.S. plan to replace the troubled incumbent with an African choice more acceptable to the rightist U.S. Congress.

“We hope this (suspension) will clear the logjam,” a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It should open room for new candidates to come forward.”

Two countries have already quietly pushed strong contenders: Ghana, which backs U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Kofi Annan; and Tanzania, home to OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim.

Ironically, Salim was the last diplomat to suspend his candidacy for secretary-general when he ran in 1981 with the strong support of China. The United States, which saw Salim as too independent, vetoed him repeatedly, while China returned the favour by repeatedly vetoing Washington’s choice, incumbent Kurt Waldheim of Austria. Ultimately, the Security Council dropped both men to pick Peruvian diplomat Javier Perez de Cuellar as a compromise.

A similar solution could be found this time, the U.S. diplomat suggested.

The problem is that no side is in any mood for compromise. France, China and Africa — all of whom back Boutros-Ghali — resent the way in which the United States has single-handedly blocked the incumbent. Washington, whose debts to the world body are the largest by far at 1.5 billion dollars, has also offended U.N. member-states with its non-payment of dues.

The U.S. image here is so low that diplomats confide that the mere perception of U.S. support is hurting the chances to elect Annan, a longtime U.N. staffer who is generally popular here.

For its part, the United States contends that Boutros-Ghali has lost respect in the U.S. Congress, and his continued stay as secretary-general would endanger U.S. financial and political support for the world body.

Yet Washington has few choices that would seem better than Boutros-Ghali. Salim is reviled in Washington for his successful efforts 25 years ago to bring the communist People’s Republic of China into the United Nations to replace Taiwan.

Many other African contenders, including Cote d’Ivoire’s foreign minister, Amara Essy, and Islamic Conference Secretary- General Hamid Algabid of Niger, seem even less likely to win the White House’s confidence.

Added to that is the ongoing diplomatic tussle between the United States and France, which won a crucial battle when Boutros- Ghali, an admitted Francophile, was selected in 1991.

French President Jacques Chirac is meeting more than 30 African leaders Thursday and Friday in Burkina Faso, where the subject of Boutros-Ghali’s fate is expected to come up. If any alternative is found, diplomats here say, Burkina Faso may be the place where it ZX88ens.