But the envoy, who admitted on Wednesday the war in Iraq was over, refused to disclose what they talked about during the meeting, the second this week.

"No comment at all. This is my last word to you," the visibly-depressed Aldouri told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

Annan's spokesman Fred Eckhard also kept his lips tight on the meeting.

"We have nothing to say about that meeting," Eckhard told a press conference. "It was requested by the ambassador and we feel that anything to be said about what happened in that meeting should be said by the ambassador."

A diplomat who had a conversation with Aldouri at the UN headquarters Thursday confirmed that Aldouri was planning to leaveNew York. But he refused to give details.

Earlier, there were rumors that the Iraqi envoy was already on his way to France.

Before meeting with Aldouri, Annan told reporters that the Iraqi ambassador did not "ask for an asylum or protection" during their meeting Monday.

"When I saw him on Monday he didn't ask me for help with his status," he said.

Aldouri, who assumed the current post in early 2001, told reporters outside his residence in New York that the game in Iraq was over and hoped that peace would prevail in his country.

The US-British coalition forces, which invaded Iraq three weeks ago, have controlled large portions of the Gulf state, including most parts of the capital city of Baghdad. Lawlessness, chaos and looting were reported in occupied areas and the whereabouts of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein remained unknown.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2003)