BAGHDAD, Sept 23: United Nations staff said on Tuesday that they were waiting to hear from Secretary-General Kofi Annan about the future of operations in Iraq after a suicide car bomb attack near the UN’s Baghdad compound.

A UN spokeswoman in Baghdad said staff has been told they need not come to work but many had done so on Tuesday.

“Until a decision is made by Annan we can stay at home, but many staff have come to continue working,” Khansa Hussein said. “We are still waiting for a decision from New York. Nothing has been decided until now.”

She said security had been stepped up. UN officials said there were still more than 3,000 members both Iraqi and international, in Iraq.—Reuters