Read Online The Geneva Option by Adam LeBor - Free Book Online

and was grinning excitedly. The big, loopy letters read, “Fareed, thanks for everything. We are doing so much good. Lucy, XXX.”
    Yael closed her eyes and tried to control her rising anger. Hussein was right. She was being unprofessional, too sensitive, and not sufficiently impartial. She was not neutral enough. But she had already lost her job. She felt her emotions surge through her like a physical force. “Either you or one of your staff leaked the memo. They will be furious in Kigali about this. I am sure that the prosecutor for the Rwanda War Crimes Tribunal is already drafting a statement condemning the deal. And so he should.”
    Yael watched the SG stand up and walk over to the window. He was stooped and moved slowly. His clothes, all of which were handmade, were hanging off him. She thought he had aged five years in as many weeks. What was going on? Olivia had told her several times how worried she was about him. Was he sick? Hussein looked out over the East River. A helicopter flew by, on its way to the 34th Street heliport.
    He said, “The facts are these: Firstly, it seems the prosecutor for the Rwanda tribunal has been tampering with evidence. He has been suspended on full pay while an independent investigation proceeds into how the tribunal is working. It may be connected to the scandal at the International Criminal Court. It will almost certainly affect Hakizimani’s indictment. And secondly, there is no evidence of any deal. Only a memo to me from a junior UN employee.”
    Yael jumped out of her seat and strode over to the window. “ What? The evidence of the deal with Hakizimani is your instructions to me. I did precisely what you told me to.”
    â€œDo you have something in writing?” Hussein asked, calmly.
    Yael was incredulous. “Something in writing? No, of course not. You never put your instructions in writing. You explained that to me when I started this job. The evidence of your instructions is that they are working. The UN military observers are already reporting that the RLF is pulling back and disarming. A day after I met with Hakizimani. And when did I become a junior UN employee ?” she demanded, her voice tight with anger. “Was I a junior employee in Kabul when I arranged for American defense contractors to secretly guard the Taliban’s poppy fields in exchange for them not blowing up President Freshwater’s new gas pipeline?
    She stood so close to Hussein that she could smell his coconut hair lotion. “Or maybe I was a junior employee in Baghdad, handing over a suitcase full of used hundred-dollar bills to the Shiite insurgents in exchange for your nephew, who, despite being twenty-one years old and fresh out of college with no experience whatsoever, had somehow landed a senior job with the UN Development Program, and who had refused to attend his security training, and whose driver, a father of three, was killed when he was kidnapped? And as for the Rwanda prosecutor, you know as well as I do that he is one of the most honest, hardworking people you could ever meet.”
    â€œApparently not. Anyway, he is not your concern this morning.”
    â€œWhere is Olivia?” Yael demanded.
    Hussein returned to his desk. “No longer with us,” he said, his voice reverential.
    Yael stood in front of him, her arms folded. “Has she been sacked as well?”
    Hussein shook his head slowly. “A tragic accident. Truly tragic.”
    She stared at Hussein, the hollow feeling in her stomach spreading rapidly. “What are you talking about?”
    â€œOlivia was in the habit of smoking on the maintenance balcony on the 38th floor every morning. Such practices are strictly forbidden. Some time ago I instructed the health and safety department to post notices on each one, reminding staff of this. The health and safety of UN staff has always been of the utmost priority for me. The notices were put up, just two weeks