UNITED NATIONS, Nov 10 (IPS) - The United Nations says that international aid work is one of the world's most hazardous professions, in which humanitarian workers are constantly threatened with -- or victims of -- kidnappings, harassment, detention and deadly violence.

A U.N. study, currently before the 192-member General Assembly, points out that hundreds of aid workers and U.N. humanitarian personnel continue to face risks in some of the world's major trouble spots, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Israel and Haiti.

"By any measure," says U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, "international aid work is a dangerous profession."

A comparison of on-the-job death rates in the top 10 most hazardous civilian occupations would place aid workers at number five after loggers (92.4 per 100,000 workers), pilots (92.4), fishermen (86.4) and structural iron and steel workers (47.0), according to the U.S. Department of Labour.

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