National News

Truck blast at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad kills 23, including top envoy

BAGHDAD (AP) - A cement truck packed with explosives devastated the U.N. headquarters in Iraq on Aug. 19, killing the top U.N. envoy and at least 22 people in an unprecedented attack against the world body

The bombing wounded around 100 people, blasting a deep crater in the ground and shredding the facade of the Canal Hotel, which housed the U.N. offices. The suicide attack stunned the organization, which had long been welcomed by Iraqis, even by many who protested the presence of U.S.-led occupation forces

Except for a newly built concrete wall, U.N. officials at the headquarters refused the sort of heavy security that the U.S. military has put up around some sensitive civilian sites. The United Nations "did not want a large American presence outside," a U.N. spokesman in the Iraqi capital said

"The blast may have specifically targeted Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top U.N. envoy," said Paul Bremer, who heads the U.S.-led administration in Iraq. "The truck was parked in such a place here in front of the building that it had to affect his office," he added.

Vieira de Mello, 55, was meeting with other U.N. officials in his office when the explosion brought the room down around them. Vieira de Mello was wounded and trapped in the rubble, and workers gave him water as they tried to extricate him. Hours later, the United Nations announced his death

"Those who killed him have committed a crime, not only against the United Nations but against Iraq itself," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement, calling the Brazilian diplomat "an outstanding servant of humanity."

The bombing came nearly two weeks after a car exploded and killed 19 people at the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad and after a string of attacks on oil and water pipelines in Iraq.

Shukan ST: Aug. 29, 2003

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