Secretary-General Kofi Annan has ordered new cutbacks of UN staff in Iraq in a blow to demands the body help draw up a new constitution that the Bush administration would like done in six months.
During this week's UN General Assembly session, where the Iraq crisis became a focal point, presidents and prime ministers from Russia to Brazil called for the United Nations to assume more political responsibility in Iraq.
But drastic reductions among the remaining 86 foreign staff in Iraq are expected by Saturday following two bombings against the UN compound in Baghdad over the past five weeks that killed nearly two dozen people and injured 160.
A UN spokesman said 42 international staff were in Baghdad and 44 in northern Iraq and "these numbers can be expected to shrink further over the next few days".
UN sources said they expected more than half of the staff to be withdrawn and humanitarian duties left to 4,233 Iraqi employees.
Some 600 foreign staff were in Iraq before the August 19th bombing that killed the head of the UN mission, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 21 others. On Monday, a second bombing killed an Iraqi policeman and injured 19 people.
In proposals for post-war Iraq, some nations, such as France, want a rapid timetable for self-rule.
In response, US Secretary of State Colin Powell advocated a deadline of six months for Iraqi leaders working under the American occupation to produce a new constitution.
However, it is uncertain if a fixed timetable will be written into a Security Council resolution Mr Powell wants adopted next month to help persuade more nations to send troops and money to secure and rebuild Iraq.