http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,228749,00.jpgPlease Miss, may the US President be excused from the room?
From James Bone in New York
IT WAS one of those moments that politicians dread. Sitting in America’s chair in the United Nations Security Council, President Bush realised he simply had to go to the toilet.
He pencilled an urgent note to Condoleezza Rice, his Secretary of State, who was sitting just behind him: “I think I may need a bathroom break? Is this possible? W.”
Unfortunately, just before he could hand over the note, Rick Wilking, a sharp-eyed Reuters photographer, snapped it with a telephoto lens.
Mr Bush, who had delivered his speech on terrorism, waited politely until Tony Blair had finished his address. Then, just as President Kerekou of Benin was about to speak, Mr Bush got up and left the room with his UN Ambassador, John Bolton. To avoid an apparent American walk-out, Dr Rice promptly moved into the President’s seat at the council’s horseshoe-shaped table.
Mr Bush headed to the men’s room just outside the chamber. A UN official overheard urgent discussions by the President’s Secret Service bodyguards. “No windows, two stalls, one way in, one way out,” it was reported. As Mr Bush sought relief, his security men stood sentinel outside.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1782805,00.html