17 Dead as Bombers Hit U.N. Headquarters in Baghdad

The daily attacks on coalition forces in Iraq took a dramatic and devastating turn on Tuesday when a bomb ripped through the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, killing at least 17 people, including the top U.N. envoy to Iraq, and injuring at least 100. Whereas previously the shootings and explosions carried out by unknown guerillas in the streets of the war-torn country have concentrated on the occupying forces, this latest targeting of the U.N. spreads the fallout over the international arena.

Envoy included in mounting dead

The attack, which took place at about 16:40 local time, brought down three floors of the concrete building, injuring many of those who were at work there and killing 17, including the U.N.'s special representative to Baghdad, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Vieira de Mello was trapped in the wreckage of the building long after the bomb struck; his body was recovered by U.S. soldiers who rushed to the scene.

The U.N. building, a former hotel, had recently seen an increase in security before what U.S. officials at the scene believed to be a possible suicide attack by a person or persons in a large vehicle loaded with explosives. Eyewitnesses to the destruction said the main force of the explosion centered on the point of the building directly under Vieira de Mello's office window.

A U.N. spokesman in Baghdad, Salim Lone, made a statement soon after, calling the explosion "an unspeakable crime against people from all over the world who have come here to help the people of Iraq." In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's spokesman Fred Eckhard described the attack as "a tragedy, I think, not only personally but also a setback politically for the U.N. mission."

Loss felt throughout U.N.

"The loss of Sergio Vieira de Mello is a bitter blow to the United Nations and to me personally," Kofi Annan said in a press conference. "The death of any colleague is hard to bear, but I can think of no one we could less afford to spare than Sergio."

The United Nations Security Council issued a statement saying: "This horrible attack, aimed at undermining the vital role of the U.N. in Iraq, will not affect our determination. We will stay united against such attacks and to help the Iraqi people restore peace and stability to their country."

Enemies of the people

President George W. Bush told assembled members of the media at the White House, "The terrorists have again shown their contempt for the innocent, shown their fear of progress and hatred for peace. They are the enemies of the people of Iraq, the enemies of every nation that seeks to help the Iraqi people." He added, "By their tactics and targets these murderers reveal themselves once more as enemies of the civilized world."

The ramifications will not only stretch as far as the United Nations and the organization's efforts to aid the rebuilding of Iraq and the return to normal life after years of sanctions and war but to the whole of the international community. An act against the United Nations could well be seen as a serious escalation of violence that could drag many world powers, including the European Union, into a concerted diplomatic effort and, possibly, unwanted and messy military involvement.

The bombing is only the latest attack on non-military targets in Iraq. Oil, water and electricity lines were attacked by what coalition spokesman called saboteurs over the weekend, while earlier this month, a car bomb exploded outside the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, leaving 10 people dead.