"The precarious and dangerous situation and the chaos which reigns in Baghdad obliges the ICRC, with regret, to suspend its activities temporarily in the city," Moin Kassis said.

"We regret we cannot give help to those who need it in these circumstances."

The decision coincided with news that a Canadian Red Cross worker, named at ICRC headquarters in Geneva as logistics chief Vatche Arslanian, 48, had gone missing in Baghdad after the car he was travelling in was hit by gunfire.

"One of our colleagues in Baghdad has been missing since Tuesday night and he could have been seriously injured by shots fired at the Red Cross car he was travelling in," Kassis added.

"The ICRC team has not left Baghdad and is still in our premises there. We will assess the situation and resume our activities as soon as possible," he explained.

The ICRC has 10 foreign workers and 100 Iraqis working in Iraq, he said.

The situation in the Iraqi capital was "very difficult" with "hospitals overrun and Iraqi doctors working non-stop day and night", Kassis added.

The ICRC in Geneva said that two cars, prominently marked with the red cross insignia of the ICRC, were either attacked or caught in crossfire. Two of Arslanian's colleagues were able to escape and return to ICRC headquarters in Baghdad.

SPACE.WIRE