BRITAIN'S FOREIGN SECRETARY ASSESSES GULF

British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd said yesterday the United States-led military alliance in the Gulf region must take stock within weeks of whether sanctions or war will force Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to quit Kuwait. The effects of sanctions and diplomacy so far include ``the certainty which must be growing in his [Saddam's] mind that if he doesn't go in peace, he'll be forced out the other way,'' Mr. Hurd told told British Broadcasting Corporation television.

``I believe it is that certainty we have to create in his mind which will create the best chance of getting him out without a war,'' he added.

Meanwhile, Brig. Patrick Cordingley, commander of Britain's 7th Armored Brigade, left for the Gulf with 100 officers and troops yesterday. The main body of the 9,500-man brigade will fly to Saudi Arabia next week.