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UN pulls out staff from Iraq
30/10/2003 17:14 - (SA)
Washington - The United Nations will pull some staff out of Iraq after deadly bombings at both of its offices in Baghdad, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Responding to violence against the foreign presence in the war-torn country, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan decided to pull the remaining 15 international staff members out of the organization's Baghdad offices, the paper reported.
"We have asked out Baghdad staff to come out temporarily for consultations with people from headquarters on the future of our operations, including, in particular, security arrangements," Marie Okabe, a UN spokesperson told the Post.
The United Nations joins the International Committee of the Red Cross in leaving the Iraqi capital in the wake of anti-foreign violence.
"All expatriates will leave Iraq today or tomorrow to meet for a few days in a neighbouring country with directors from Geneva," ICRC spokesperson Nada Doumani said on Thursday.
"We will examine who must stay and we will determine what activities they will pursue," she said.
Doumani said the review of staffing levels would last less than a week but declined to say where it would be held.
- AFP
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