United Nations: The United Nations has decided to temporarily withdraw its non-Iraqi staff from Baghdad to reassess how to conduct future operations in the face of increasing terrorist violence.

Secretary-general Kofi Annan has asked the UN international team in Baghdad to relocate temporarily for consultations on the security situation even as the staff union demanded that they return only after the situation improves.

UN spokesperson Marie Okabe said a team from the United Nations headquarters in New York would probably travel to Baghdad for consultations with the staff withdrawn from Baghdad.

"The Secretary-General has been keeping the situation in Iraq under constant and close review, particularly in light of the recent wave of violence in Baghdad, which included the attack on October 27 on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)," Okabe said.

Okabe said, "in light of these (attacks) developments, Annan has asked the small remaining team of international officials in Baghdad to come out temporarily for consultations with people from Headquarters, so that we can thoroughly reconsider our operations in Iraq and the security arrangements that we will need if we are to continue working there".

"This applies to Baghdad, and has been no change in the staff situation in the north of Iraq," she said insisting that it is not withdrawal but consultations.

Though diplomats at the United Nations agreed that one of the goals of terrorists appeared to be scare away the humanitarian workers but said the agencies had little choice as the security situation had been deteriorating for last several days.

A sharp increase in attacks during the last few days including on Baghdad headquarters of the International Red Cross forced them to take the decision, they added.

The United Nations, which had withdrawn the bulk of staff after truck bombing of its headquarters, now has some 60 staff in the entire country. Of them 43 are in Northern Iraq and about 23 in Baghdad. Besides, it has some 4000 local staff.

PTI