U.N. says next Iraqi human rights report will omit civilian casualties

Men at a morgue place the body of one of 22 shepherds who were kidnapped near Karbala into a coffin on April 8

BAGHDAD (AP) - The United Nations will not include Iraqi civilian casualty figures in its next human rights report, a spokesman said Friday, omitting what many had viewed as a rare, reliable indicator of suffering in Iraq .

The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq had been releasing bimonthly reports assessing the human rights situation and providing death and injury tolls.

The last report was issued in late January, and U.N. officials in Baghdad had been saying for weeks that the new version would be released soon.

Mission spokesman Said Arikat told The Associated Press that the next report would be released on Wednesday, but he said it would cover a three-month period starting in January and would not have a casualty toll.

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