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UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations commemorated the fifth anniversary of the bombing of its office in Baghdad that killed 22 staffers, including top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon interrupted his vacation to attend the ceremony Tuesday which paid tribute to the victims with a reading of their names and observance of a minute of silence.
"We grieve at their tragic deaths, yet we take heart from their courage," he told a gathering of UN staff, including some who were injured during the Baghdad attack. ¨Their legacy endures."
A wreath-laying was also held at the memorial plaque in the lobby of the General Assembly building.
The ceremony concluded with the world premiere of "Song without Borders," a 15-minute classical music piece by US composer Steve Heitzeg written in memory of UN staff members who have perished in the line of duty.
The Brazilian government also held a ceremony in honour of native son Vieira de Mello, whom a foreign ministry statement said "dedicated his life to promoting peace."
Present at the ceremony was Irish historian and writer Samantha Power, who is about to publish in Sao Paulo a biography of the fallen Brazilian diplomat, titled "Chasing the Flame."
"Brazil renews its strongest repudiation of an unjustifiable act of violence against innocent people, especially since it was directed against those working for peace and development," the ministry statement said.
Since 1948, when the world body established its first peacekeeping operation in the Middle East - the UN Truce Supervision Organization, 709 staff members have been killed around the world, including 42 last year, according to UN statistics.
The suicide bombing that targeted the UN headquarters in Baghdad on August 19, 2003 killed Vieira de Mello, a veteran UN trouble-shooter, and 21 other staffers. Another 150 people were injured.
Immediately following the bombing, the United Nations dramatically scaled down its presence in Iraq.
The Baghdad bombing raised serious concerns over the UN's ability to protect its personnel serving in peacekeeping missions in hotspots around the world.
Last December, two suicide blasts targeting UN offices in Algiers killed 18 UN staffers, three of them foreign nationals.
The bombings were claimed by an offshoot of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.
- AFP/yb
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