World leaders denounced yesterday’s bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad that killed at least 20 people, including U.N. special representative in Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello, and wounded at least 100, the Associated Press reported today (Mike Corder, Associated Press/Newsday, Aug. 20).  Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called Vieira de Mello’s death a “bitter blow” to the United Nations but vowed to continue the organization’s work (U.N. release, Aug. 19).

Calling the truck bombing of the Canal Hotel an unprecedented attack against the United Nations, Annan said the attack would not derail the U.N. mission in Iraq.  “We will persevere,” Annan said.  “We will continue.  It is essential work.  We will not be intimidated,” he added (Sameer Yacoub, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 20).

World leaders added their condemnation to Annan’s.  “Acts as odious as this can only prompt indignation and unreserved condemnation,” said French President Jacques Chirac.

“We will not allow terrorists to weaken our resolve in bringing about a better Iraq,” said British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“This criminal ... act should not influence the U.N.’s role in helping the Iraqi people restore their freedom and independence,” said a Syrian Foreign Ministry official (Corder, AP/Newsday).

At U.N. headquarters in New York, some officials and diplomats started to raise questions about the incident and the organization’s role in rebuilding Iraq.

“We are going to want to review our presence in Iraq,” said Shashi Tharoor, U.N. undersecretary general for public information.  “But the secretary general has made it clear that it would be a betrayal of Sergio [Vieira de Mello] not to continue what he lived for.  So there is a reasonable prospect that we will continue, but we will have to review the size of our presence and the way it is deployed,” he added (Felicity Barringer, New York Times, Aug. 19).

Annan met yesterday with the Security Council to discuss security measures to be taken for U.N. workers in Baghdad.  According to Veronique Taveau, spokeswoman for the U.N. humanitarian coordinator, the organization’s operations in the country were temporarily suspended and travel arrangements were being made for workers who wanted to leave the country.

Taveau also said there are many people who are still missing.  The official U.N. figure for the dead is 17, but around 300 U.N. employees were thought to be in the building when the bomb exploded.

Investigations led by FBI agents and Bernard Kerik, the U.S. official responsible for rebuilding the Iraqi police force, have indicated that the attack was a suicide bombing.  Kerik said, however, that it is “much too early” to say whether al-Qaeda was behind the attack.

According to AP, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the United Kingdom and United States are considering a bigger role for the United Nations following the bombing (Yacoub, AP/Yahoo!News).

Yesterday U.N. and U.S. officials blamed each other for the lack of security around the Canal Hotel, where the U.N. offices are located.

“We are entirely in their [the United States’ and their allies’] hands,” U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said.  “The security of everyone in Iraq — Iraqis, the nongovernmental humanitarian workers, the U.N. relief workers — everyone is dependent on the coalition for their security in Iraq.”

A U.S. Defense Department official, however, said  “it was the U.N.’s decision not to have forces there providing protection for that building” (Betsy Pisik, Washington Times, Aug. 20).

O Estado de Sao Paulo reported yesterday that a U.N. spokesperson in Geneva said the lack of security forces to protect the U.N. building in Baghdad was Vieira de Mello’s idea.  According to the spokesperson, the envoy wanted to show Iraqis that the organization was there to support the population, not to occupy the country (Jamil Chade, O Estado de Sao Paulo, Aug. 19, GSN translation).

According to Folha de Sao Paulo, however, the U.N. coordinator in Brazil, Carlos Lopes, said Vieira de Mello was concerned about the lack of security around U.N. headquarters.  Lopes said the envoy recently asked the Security Council to consider security measures in the area because the headquarters was too vulnerable without it (Ricardo Mignone, Folha de Sao Paulo, Aug. 19, GSN translation).

Today, O Estado de Sao Paulo released parts of a telephone interview with Vieira de Mello conducted on Sunday.  The interview was considered by the United Nations to be his last.

When asked if he was concerned with his security in Baghdad, Vieira de Mello said, “there is no doubt the situation here is intense.  But, I don’t know why, I believe that I have been involved in riskier situations.  Here in Baghdad I don’t feel I am in danger like I felt in many other places where I was doing work for the United Nations.”

When asked if the United Nations is a terrorist target, the envoy said, “I don’t think so.  The United Nations is well respected by the population.  The Iraqis see the United Nations as an independent and friendly organization, on the contrary of what they feel about the occupying forces.  They trust our work and they know we are here to help them” (Jamil Chade, O Estado de Sao Paulo, Aug. 20, GSN translation).

Vieira de Mello, a 55-year-old Brazilian, worked for the United Nations for 33 years.  He was the transitional administrator for East Timor following the 1999 vote for independence from Indonesia and a special representative in Kosovo (Paul Maclnnes, London Guardian, Aug. 19).

After being informed about the envoy’s death, Annan issued a statement saying “those who killed him have committed a crime, not only against the United Nations but against Iraq itself.”

“The death of any colleague is hard to bear, but I can think of no one we could less afford to spare, or who would be more acutely missed throughout the U.N. system than Sergio,” Annan added (U.N. release, Aug. 20).

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decreed yesterday a three-day official mourning for Vieira de Mello, saying he was “a victim of insanity of terrorism, especially if we take into consideration that the U.N.’s objective is to maintain peace in the world” (Jornal do Brasil, Aug. 19, GSN translation).

Hussein Vice President Captured

In other news, Pentagon spokeswoman Diane Perry has confirmed that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s former vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, is in U.S. custody.  Ramadan, No. 20 on the U.S. list of the 55 most wanted officials from the former regime, was arrested Monday by U.S. Kurdish allies in northern Iraq.

U.S. President George W. Bush said, “Slowly but surely, we’ll find who we need to find.  It’s just a matter of time.”

Of the 55 most wanted officials from Saddam’s regime, 36 are in custody, 15 remain at large, two have been confirmed dead and two have been reported killed (Associated Press/USA Today, Aug. 19).

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