UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a rare move, has rebuked U.S. Ambassador John Bolton for criticizing High Commissioner for Human Rights Louis Arbour.
Annan said Thursday Arbour should not be intimidated by Bolton's attack for making what the Washington envoy Wednesday had called "inappropriate" remarks.
A spokesman for Annan was asked by United Press International Thursday if the secretary-general agreed with Bolton's criticism Arbour was out of line in addressing reporters Wednesday on alleged prisoner torture.
She said the moral authority the United States had rightfully gained was being eroded by the so-called "rendering," or removal to another country of terror suspects and reports of prisoner abuse and secret detention centers.
Bolton within minutes denounced her remarks.
"I think it is inappropriate and illegitimate for an international civil servant to second-guess the conduct that we're engaged in, in the war on terror, with nothing more as evidence than what she reads in newspapers," said the Washington envoy.
Annan's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said, "The secretary-general, has no disagreement with the statement she made yesterday and he sees no reason to object to any of it. As high commissioner, she was given a mandate by the (U.N.) General Assembly to speak on human rights on a global scale."
Dujarric said Annan "is confident that she will carry on her work without being impressed or intimidated by what transpired yesterday."
The spokesman also added, "The secretary-general, in fact, intends to take this matter up with Ambassador Bolton as soon as possible."
