By Wendy Lubetkin
Washington File Geneva Correspondent

Geneva -- Family, friends and colleagues of the victims of the bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, gathered for simultaneous observances in Geneva, New York and Amman, Jordan, August 19 to mark the first anniversary of the attack in which U.N. Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others lost their lives.
 
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan described the attack in Baghdad as a "personal tragedy for each and every one of us" and a "unique blow" to the United Nations as an organization. The United Nations, he said, now had to confront the reality that it could itself be a prime target of political violence.

"We are no strangers to violence and intimidation," said Annan in an address that was telecast from Geneva to New York and Amman. "Over the years we have mourned the loss of hundreds of friends and colleagues. Indeed, since the Baghdad attack, another 17 peacekeepers and civilian staff have lost their lives to hostile acts in the line of duty and in the service of peace."
 
But the August 19 attack brought the United Nations "face to face with danger in a new and more intimidating form, the danger that we, servants of the United Nations, will no longer be victims simply by virtue of the times and places in which we are called to serve, but may have become in ourselves one of the main targets of political violence."
 
In the wake of the attack, the United Nations was left facing a set of "wrenching, fundamental questions," Annan said. "Our work is with people. We must be able to get to them, and they must be able to get to us. How do we balance this need for openness with security in today's world? How do we operate in places like Iraq and some parts of Afghanistan where many people want and expect us to help -- and this includes the Security Council -- but some are determined to block our work at any price?"
 
Annan promised that he would always "insist on the most stringent precautions for our staff" and pledged to do his utmost "to keep any such tragedy from again befalling our precious family."
 
On a personal level, the U.N. secretary-general said the year since the attacks had been a "difficult and deeply introspective" one for him.
 
"We had lived through a war that I genuinely thought could have been avoided," he said. "Then I lost 22 wonderful, talented friends and colleagues whom I had sent to Iraq to help deal with the aftermath of that war, to help bring stability and peace -- the greatest yearning of the average Iraqi."
 
Geneva's general assembly hall, completely full, fell silent as survivors of the attack and friends and family of the victims were escorted to their seats at the front of the hall by an honor guard.
 
The death of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the charismatic Brazilian whose career included acting as special representative in Kosovo, overseeing the transition in East Timor, and serving as high commissioner for human rights, has come to symbolize the United Nations' loss in Baghdad.
 
But the ceremony in Geneva underscored the individuality and contributions of each of those who died. As their portraits were shown one after another in a short commemorative video, a voice-over stated simply, "These are the faces of the U.N."
 
Family members of U.N. Iraqi staff who were killed also traveled to Geneva from Baghdad for the ceremony. Among those at the front of the auditorium was one-year-old Mattia-Selim, born less than a month before his father Jean-Selim Kanaan, 33, was killed in the attack. In a video, Vieira de Mello was shown praising the local staff for everything the Iraqis had accomplished working "under very difficult circumstances."
 
At the conclusion of the ceremony, a family member stepped forward to light a candle for each of the 22 who died. The secretary general then unveiled a commemorative plaque, inscribed with the names of the victims, which will be mounted in the Salle des Pas Perdus, the vast marble hall at the heart of the U.N. complex in Geneva. Projected on a screen behind Annan was a large image of the torn blue U.N. flag that had flown that day at the U.N. office in Baghdad, a poignant relic of the tragedy.
 
Simultaneous observation ceremonies were held in New York and in Amman, where the Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq is currently located.
 
The ceremony closed with a musical tribute to the victims by soprano Barbara Hendricks. Hendricks, who is also a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, chose to sing a medley of hymns including "Freedom" and "We Shall Overcome."