But it was not immediately clear how many of them were being redeployed outside Iraq and how many had left the war-battered country as part of what UN coordinator in Jordan Christine McNab said was "normal rotation".

"We have a normal rotation, so how many are on normal rotation and how many are people relocating I don't know," McNab told AFP.

"The numbers are not easy because we always have people coming in and out (of Iraq) in any case," she said.

Davor Zafran who heads the United Nations Humanitarian Air Services at Amman's Marka Airport told AFP 12 people, including UN staff and members of non-government organisations working in Iraq, arrived in Amman Friday.

Another 26 people were due to fly into Jordan on Saturday, Zafran said, but he did not know how many of them were UN staff.

"This is not an evacuation, just a further downsizing, and the security situation in the country remains under constant review," Annan spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York.

In Baghdad, UN spokeswoman Veronique Taveau said a third of the 86 international staff remaining in Iraq would pull out in line with the decision.

She said those leaving were dealing with mainly adminstrative chores and would carry on their work from Jordan or Cyprus. All the UN workers will return "as soon as security conditions improve," Taveau said.