United Nations — UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan ordered a further reduction of UN international staff in Iraq on after the second bombing at UN headquarters there in a month.
“This is not an evacuation, just a further downsizing and the security situation in the country remains under constant review,” UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
Mr. Annan's order came days after the second bombing outside UN headquarters in Baghdad on Monday, which killed an Iraqi policeman and injured 19 others.
The first bombing, Aug. 19, killed 22 people at the headquarters. At that time, there were about 300 international staff in Baghdad and another 300 elsewhere in Iraq.
Mr. Annan had initially ordered significant reductions to the international staff, down to 42 in Baghdad and 44 in the north, Mr. Eckhard said.
“Those numbers can be expected to shrink further over the next few days,” Eckhard said.
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