The United States is stepping up pressure to force out the head administrator for Chemical Weapons Convention, Brazilian newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo reported today.

U.S. officials want Brazilian Jose Mauricio Bustani, director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, to resign because of his positions on Iraq and on inspections in U.S. chemical plants, according to O Estado.

According to Bustani’s spokesman Gordon Vachon, who confirmed that the United States had approached the OPCW head and asked him to step down, “The White House didn’t even offer an explanation.”

U.N. sources have said, however, that Bustani has drawn the ire of the United States on two major issues.  For one, he is resisting an attack on Iraq if investigators prove that Baghdad is still producing chemical weapons.  In addition, he insists on adhering “literally” to the OPCW’s mandate, which calls for inspections not only on “hostile” countries but also on nations such as the United States (see GSN, Oct. 5, 2001).

Iraq is one of the major topics for the OPCW’s Executive Council meeting in The Hague, to be held from today to March 22.

According to O Estado, several countries have already backed Bustani.  Brazilian diplomats in Europe are saying pressure on him is becoming an “international scandal” because Bustani was unanimously elected to lead the organization until 2005 (Jamil Chade, O Estado de Sao Paulo, March 19, Global Security Newswire translation).

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry issued a statement yesterday supporting Bustani, saying that he has been “elected and re-elected.”

“As OPCW director general, he is not responsible to the Brazilian government, but to the institution’s members in their totality, enjoying therefore, total autonomy in management and independence in the exercise of his functions,” the ministry said.

“As a member of OPCW, Brazil is not party to the doubts being raised about Ambassador Bustani’s management and has informed other member states of its position,” according to the ministry.

Brazil will vote against any motion to relieve Bustani of his duties, the ministry said, adding that he “deserves” the full support and solidarity of Brazil and other member states in the organization (Lu Aiko Otta, O Estado de Sao Paulo, March 19, Global Security Newswire translation).

According to O Estado, the White House’s latest moves against several senior U.N. officials is “scaring” the international community.

“Washington cannot remove an international official every time a person does not please” the United States, said an African diplomat.

According to experts, the problem is there is no country at the moment that has the power to counter the economic and military power of the United States.  “The United Nations is a reflex of the international power system,” an OPCW official said (Chade, O Estado de Sao Paulo).

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