US demands Annan repudiate UN deputy

NEW YORK -- The United States demanded yesterday that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan repudiate his deputy after the number two UN official accused Washington of failing to stand up for the United Nations against domestic critics.

An angry US Ambassador John Bolton, while not demanding the resignation of UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown, said he told Annan the remarks were the worst mistake by a senior UN official he had seen in decades.

``Even though the target of the speech was the United States, the victim, I fear, will be the United Nations," Bolton told reporters. ``My hope is he looks at the potential adverse effects that these intemperate remarks would have on the organization and repudiate it."

Bolton accused Malloch Brown of employing ``a condescending, patronizing tone about the American people."