UN men step aside over Iraq blast

August's blast at the Baghdad UN compound killed 23 people

The head of the UN mission in Iraq and another senior official have been relieved of duties after criticism of safety precautions in the country.

Ramiro Lopez da Silva and security chief Tun Myat asked to be relieved while a security review is conducted.

An independent panel blamed officials for security lapses after the August bombing of the UN compound in Iraq.

Mr Lopez da Silva's predecessor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was among 23 people killed in the attack.

'Dysfunctional'

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the two men would still provide information to a new team created to investigate who was responsible for lapses in security in the weeks leading up to the bombing.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has reportedly appointed Gerald Walzer, the UN's former deputy high commissioner for refugees, to head the investigation.

The independent report, released in October and compiled by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, condemned the UN for "sloppy" security procedures which left the UN compound in Baghdad vulnerable to attack.

"The security awareness within the country team did not match the hostile environment," it said.

The report also stated that the current UN security management was "dysfunctional" and provided "little guarantee of security" to UN staff based either in Iraq or in other high-risk environments.

More than 100 people were wounded in the 19 August attack on the UN compound in Baghdad, when suicide bombers apparently drove a lorry packed with explosives into the building.

BBC correspondent Greg Barrow at the UN says staff committees have been lobbying for months for senior managers to be held accountable for security lapses they say were apparent right at the start of the UN's return to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.