by P. Parameswaran
WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush named Monday a self-confessed United Nations critic and a hardline diplomat, John Bolton, to be ambassador to the world body.
Bolton, the current under secretary of state for arms control, was picked for the key job "because he knows how to get things done," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
"He is a tough minded diplomat. He has a strong record of success and he has a proven track record of effective multilateralism," she told a media conference with Bolton by her side.
Bolton is a sharp critic of North Korea and other hardline regimes and had slammed the United Nations on many occasions.
He was called "human scum" and "bloodsucker" by North Korea after he accused the Stalinist state`s dictator Kim Jong Il of living "like royalty" as his people languished in prisons and millions more were mired in poverty.
Pyongyang lodged a protest and he was sidelined from a US delegation to multilateral talks launched in 2003 designed to end North Korea`s nuclear weapons drive.
He was also a strong advocate of US military action in Iraq, after it failed to win UN Security Council approval.
The failure was "further evidence to many why nothing more should be paid to the UN system," he had said.
If confirmed by the Senate, where is expected to draw fire from Democratic legislators, he would replace John Danforth, a former Republican US senator from Missouri who left the UN post in January after seven months on the job.
"Quite simply, Mr Bolton`s nomination carries with it baggage we cannot afford," said Democratic Senator John Kerry.
In an apparent bid to assuage international concerns over his choice, Rice stressed that "the United States is committed to the success of the United Nations, and we view the UN as an important component of our diplomacy."
She said Bolton, 56, was "personally committed to the future success of the United Nations and he will be a strong voice for reform" at a time when the UN had begun to reform itself to meet a challenging agenda.
"John will also help to build a broader base of support here in the United States for the UN and its mission," Rice added.
Bolton, who has a close working relationship with Rice and Bush, immediately pledged to work closely with Congress and the foreign and civil services to advance Bush`s policies.
"Working closely with others is essential to ensuring a safer world," said the bespectacled Bolton with his trademark thick white mustache.
Bolton acknowledged he had "written critically about the UN" before.
"Indeed, one highlight of my professional career was the 1991 successful effort to repeal the General Assembly`s 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism, thus removing the greatest stain on the UN`s reputation," he said.
Bolton once said that if the 38-storey UN building in New York "lost 10 stories, it wouldn`t make a bit of difference."
He pointed out that American leadership was "critical to the success of the UN, an effective UN, one that is true to the original intent of its charter`s framers.
"This is a time of opportunity for the UN, which likewise requires American leadership to achieve successful reform."
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan congratulated Bolton and looked forward to working with him "on UN reform and many other issues we`ll be facing in the coming months," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Dujarric said Rice had called Annan Monday to advise him of the appointment. "She ensured the secretary general that Bolton will be coming to work with us on UN reform and a full range of other issues."
Bolton`s nomination comes at time when the UN and its members are looking at ways to make it better managed and a stronger force for peace and stability, said Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International.
Throughout his career Bolton has been skeptical of multilateral solutions to world problems ranging from arms proliferation to war crimes," he noted.
A native of Baltimore and an attorney, Bolton was senior vice president of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank, before being named to the State Department in May 2001.
His previous posts included Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs at the State Department, Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice.

03/07/2005 23:25 GMT