UN leaves less than 50 foreign staff in Iraq

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations cut international staff in Iraq over the weekend to less than 50 people from 86 last week and over 600 before the August 19 bombing of its headquarters in Baghdad, UN officials said on Monday.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard gave the new numbers, without disclosing an exact figure for security reasons. Other UN officials said foreign staff in Baghdad alone had been cut to less than 25 people.

The pullout of staff is having an impact on the UN-run oil-for-food programme, which is to be shut down on November 21, particularly in the north where the United Nations ran the programme alone and now only has about two dozen foreign staff left in that region.

Benon Sevan, the undersecretary in charge of the programme, said he told the UN Security Council a minimum of 115 international staff was needed in the north alone. He said his office would attempt to cope in transferring files to the US-run occupation authorities as asked.

Under the UN oil-for-food programme, Iraq was allowed to sell oil to buy a host of civilian supplies under UN control. Oil money and contracts with suppliers remain in the programme.

In Baghdad, Kevin Kennedy, a senior UN coordinator, insisted there was enough personnel to cope with humanitarian programmes, including more than 4,000 Iraqis working with the United Nations.

"It's not just international staff, it's international staff, national staff, Iraqi ministries, NGOs (nongovernmental organisations), and a whole range of other people to do this work," Kennedy said.

But no political staff has been sent into Iraq since the August 19 bombing that killed senior staff, including the head of mission, Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello.

A second suicide attack at the UN compound last Monday killed an Iraqi security guard.

The decision to withdraw staff was a setback to US President George W. Bush's efforts to expand the political role of the United Nations in managing Iraq's transition to sovereignty. Many nations have refused to be part of the occupation.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq