| Bolton arranged unlawful firing in 2002 { June 5 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usbolt054291843jun05,0,5899539.story?coll=ny-uspolitics-headlineshttp://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usbolt054291843jun05,0,5899539.story?coll=ny-uspolitics-headlines
Bolton arranged 'unlawful' UN firing in 2002 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 5, 2005
John Bolton flew to Europe in 2002 to confront the head of a global arms-control agency and demand that he resign, then orchestrated the firing of the unwilling diplomat in a move a United Nations tribunal has since judged unlawful, according to officials involved.
A former Bolton deputy says the U.S. undersecretary of state felt Jose Bustani "had to go," particularly because the Brazilian was trying to send chemical weapons inspectors to Baghdad. That might have helped defuse the crisis over alleged Iraqi weapons and undermined a U.S. rationale for war.
Bustani, a senior official under the UN umbrella who says he got a call from Bolton "in a menacing tone," was removed by a vote of just one-third of member nations at an unusual special session of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, at which the United States cited alleged mismanagement in calling for his ouster.
The UN's highest administrative tribunal later condemned the action as an "unacceptable violation" of principles protecting international civil servants. Bolton's handling of the multilateral showdown takes on added significance now as he looks for U.S. Senate confirmation as early as this week as UN ambassador. He has been criticized for supposed bullying of junior U.S. officials and for efforts to get them fired. Bolton had no comment. Bustani also declined to comment.
Ralph Earle, a retired U.S. arms negotiator, said he and others in Bolton's State Department arms-control unit grew unhappy with what they considered Bustani's mismanagement. He and career diplomat Avis Bohlen, who retired in June 2002 as a top Bolton deputy, said the idea to remove Bustani did not originate with the undersecretary. But Bolton "leaped on it enthusiastically. He was very much in charge of the whole campaign," she said.
In March 2002, Bolton's office said Bustani was seeking an "inappropriate role" in Iraq. At one point, the U.S. delegation to the UN suggested it would withhold dues - 22 percent of the budget - if Bustani stayed.
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