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updated 11:05 a.m. ET Nov. 4, 2004

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The international medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said Thursday it was pulling out of Iraq because of escalating violence and the targeting of aid workers.

“It has become impossible for MSF as an organization to guarantee an acceptable level of security for our staff, be they foreign or Iraqi,” said Gorik Ooms, General Director of MSF in Belgium.

A statement from the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization, which is also known as Doctors Without Borders, did not say how many staff it has in Iraq, but said it had provided about 100,000 consultations in three clinics in Sadr City, a rundown, mainly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Baghdad.

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