U.S. Deflects Criticism Of Commitment to U.N.

She said that Bolton, who has been running an understaffed mission, focused in December on crafting critical deals on management changes and the U.N. budget that will ultimately increase pressure on other countries to conclude a deal on changes, including the creation of a rights council.

Bolton's reentry into the negotiations has rattled negotiators. He said the permanent five members, including the United States, China and Russia, should be granted automatic membership on the council.

Kumalo said Bolton's remarks have been "unhelpful" in the negotiations. "It sends an indirect message back to the people that these five will be set aside -- you know, they will be forgiven and the rest of all of you will be targets."

The State Department has since softened its position. Silverberg said that although the United States "needs to be a regular participant in council bodies, obviously we have to stand for election like every other member."

Still, the push to exclude countries from the council has faced intense resistance from developing nations, including governments that could be driven off the council.

Munir Akram, Pakistan's U.N. ambassador, said in an interview that his government is committed to a more effective council, but insisted that there is a "civilizational" difference between the way he and many Western delegates view the problem.

He said representatives of the new council should be selected on the basis of their neighbors' preferences, not strictly on their democratic credentials or their human rights records. "It's peer selection," Akram said. "If a majority of peers say 'okay' despite the fact that you think Country X is a violator of human rights, we think they are still justified to be on the council. I think it would be artificial to try to exclude them."

Bolton, meanwhile, told a gathering of relief experts and human rights advocates last month that he may be forced to concede defeat if such views prevail, said several participants at the meeting.

Bolton said that if opponents of a human rights council succeeded in weakening the new body, it would be better to preserve the Human Rights Commission with all its failings until a fresh opportunity arises to restructure it, U.S. officials and rights advocates said. "We want a butterfly," Bolton said. "We're not going to put lipstick on a caterpillar and declare it a success."