Inspectors, diplomats and journalists join the scramble to leave Baghdad

Hundreds of foreigners – inspectors, diplomats and journalists – began the scramble to leave Baghdad last night, as the United Nations ordered its staff out of Iraq and embassies shut up shop.

About half the 300 journalists accredited to Baghdad also packed up and prepared to drive across the desert to Jordan. A week ago, there were 450 foreign journalists in Baghdad.

Two US television networks, ABC News and NBC News, ordered their teams out, on the advice of Washington.

In an ominous development, President Saddam Hussein's youngest son, Qusay, who controls the elite republican guards and intelligence services and now has responsibility for the Baghdad military zone, took over responsibility for foreign media yesterday from the information ministry.

As well as the 135 United Nations weapons inspectors and their support staff, there are more than 300 UN employees in Iraq, 200 of whom were due to leave the city on a transport carrier last night.

UN inspectors gathered outside the Canal Hotel, their Baghdad headquarters, and packed boxes of personal belongings. Some were seen on the roof of the hotel taking pictures of each other with the city in the background. "Everyone has to be prepared to leave," an inspector said in Baghdad as he loaded a UN car. But the UN spokesman Hiro Ueki said they would stay one more night. "They need a place to sleep tonight," he said. "We may leave sometime tomorrow."

Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, announced that after receiving a warning from Washington he was ordering all UN staff out of Iraq – shortly after the United States, Britain and Spain announced they would not put to a vote their resolution seeking authorisation to use military force against Iraq. The previous time UN weapons inspectors pulled out of Iraq, in December 1998, Washington and London launched military strikes some 12 hours later.

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi Information Minister, said that while UN inspectors were looking "for a white crow", an Arabic expression for something that does not exist, Mr Annan's decision to pull them out was "regrettable".

UN observers also halted all operations along the Iraqi-Kuwait border, moving to a heightened state of alert.

As Baghdad shopkeepers stashed their merchandise in warehouses to protect them from bomb damage and looting, Asian and Western diplomats closed their embassies.

Germany evacuated three diplomats along with two Arab drivers and six German reporters, in effect shutting down its embassy in the capital. Greece said it expected to have its embassy staff out within a few days, and the Czech Republic announced it was closing its mission. China began evacuating personnel from its embassy, and the official Xinhua news agency in Beijing said six Chinese reporters were leaving. India is keeping its embassy staffed by seven Iraqi employees, the ambassador, BB Tyagi, said after he fled to the Jordanian capital, Amman, with four colleagues. "We are in Jordan temporarily until the situation improves," he said. Bahrain's diplomatic staff quietly pulled out over the weekend. Several other Western and Asian countries have announced plans to withdraw diplomats.

Despite the crisis, weapons inspectors visited four sites. Mr Ueki confirmed that inspection teams were still operating, but added: "We are ready for any contingency."