US: Gross negligence and lethargy by senior UN officials were responsible for a failure in security at UN headquarters in Baghdad where a suicide bombing left 22 people dead, writes Conor O'Clery North America Editor in New York
The claim was made in a scathing report by an independent panel appointed by the UN secretary general, Mr Kofi Annan.
Mr Annan has fired his security chief, Mr Tun Myat of Myanmar, but refused to accept the resignation of his deputy, Ms Louise Frechette of Canada.
Other UN officials criticised will remain in the world body, a UN spokesman said.
There was anger within UN ranks at Mr Annan's decision.
UN staff union vice-president Mr Guy Candusso said: "There are 22 people dead, and senior UN officials get to retire with their pensions. They still have to answer for their role."
The report on the August 19th bombing, compiled by a four-member panel that included Mr Kevin Carty, assistant commissioner of the Garda, found that UN staff failed to follow security procedures, review risks or appreciate the extent to which they were a target despite warning.
Mr Annan's envoy in Iraq, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, who died in the attack, "did not have an adequate grasp of the rising threat of the security situation", said UN spokesman Mr Fred Eckhard.
Many of the casualties, including over 100 injured, could have been avoided if blast-proof film had been installed on windows in the hotel compound used by the UN, the report said.
Two officials responsible, Mr Boulos Paul Aghadjanian of Jordan and Mr Pa Momodou Sinyan of Gambia, will face disciplinary proceedings. UN staff involved are immune from prosecution.
"The buck stops with the security co-ordinator," the spokesman said, announcing the firing of Mr Tun Myat, the UN global security chief, for the series of failures in the chain of command.
Mr Annan refused to accept his own deputy's offer to resign, considering it not to be her individual responsibility but "collective responsibility".
The then-deputy UN envoy in Baghdad, Mr Ramiro Lopes da Silva of Portugal, who was responsible for security on site, will be asked to step down as assistant secretary-general, and return to a post in the UN World Food Programme with a ban on security duties.
The report concurred with an initial inquiry last year that UN officials were guilty of "lethargy that is bordering on gross negligence". It concluded that all the senior UN political and humanitarian staff in Iraq shared a false sense of security.