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.

This lavatory is famous in UN circles because a high-ranking protocol official once allegedly tried to fondle a messenger boy there. The official left the UN under a cloud.

The private needs of presidents and prime ministers are usually the subject of much planning. “For protocol people, the most important thing is where the restrooms are,” said David Chikvaidze, a former Soviet advance man who ran protocol for the UN’s 50th anniversary summit in 1995. “It’s a very important issue when you go to your next stop. Your principal, he or she, is a human being and will say ‘Where can I wash my hands?’ ”

But Mr Bush may have forgotten to go because he was waylaid by John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, on his way into the chamber.

Medical experts said that the 59-year-old President was wise not to wait any longer. Mark Fordham, consultant urologist at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, said: “In older men it is unwise to delay passing urine when there is a strong need to, as there is a risk of developing acute urinary retention. They won’t be able to go, even when they get the opportunity.

“If you delay passing urine so that the bladder is overfull, the muscle can be overstretched and be unable to contract to allow urine to be passed. This is a very painful condition and requires immediate help.”

Mr Bush’s departure seemed to be a genuine call of nature. But delegates have been known to use the “bathroom break” as a diplomatic excuse.

Richard Butler, an Australian ambassador, was angry when African ambassadors dodged a key vote on French nuclear testing in the Pacific by going to the bathroom. “They all took French leave,” he complained.

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