Letter: What if the UN says no?

IN RECENT days, British and US officials have spoken as if the UN Secretary General's job in Baghdad was to deliver instructions on their behalf. They should remind themselves of Article 100 of the UN Charter, paragraph 2 of which states: "Each Member of the United Nations undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the Secretary General and the staff and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their duties."

MARTIN AITKEN

London N7