by Deborah Haynes
GENEVA, Aug 19 (AFP) - Tears flowed on Thursday as the United Nations marked the first anniversary of a bombing that shattered its Baghdad headquarters and its leader warned the world body had become a prime target of political violence.
In an emotional ceremony in Geneva, linked by video to New York and Amman, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan pledged to do everything in his power to ensure such a tragedy never happened again.
But his words held slim comfort for the relatives of the 22 people who died in the blast, which included the senior UN envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
"The attack on the Canal Hotel was a unique blow for us as an organisation," Annan told the victims' families and friends as well as survivors of the bombing and several hundred other UN staff.
It forced the United Nations to address the prospect of not just being hurt because of the dangerous areas where its staff were deployed but to becoming "in ourselves one of the main targets of political violence", he said.
Last year's truck bombing prompted the UN to reassess its operations in Iraq, which have been massively reduced due to heightened security fears.
The organisation was now grappling with how to improve safety for its staff without impeding their activities, Annan said.
"Our work is with people. We must be able to get to them and they must be able to get to us," he said, while noting that security was also imperative.
"How do we operate in places like Iraq and some parts of Afghanistan, where people want and expect us to help ... but some are determined to block our work at any price?" Annan asked.
"We have been working hard to find answers and to correct our own systemic weaknesses," he said. "Much has been done but much more is still to be done."
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a statement he was paying tribute and mourning the lives lost on August 19th, 2003.
"The death of my dear friend Sergio Vieira de Mello, who devoted his life to helping others, as well as the other dedicated UN personnel serving in Iraq, was a senseless loss for the United Nations, the Iraqi people, and all who believe in the promise of a free and democratic Iraq."
"This vicious attack cannot break the will of the United Nations, Secretary General Kofi Annan, and all of us who are committed to helping the people of Iraq build a better future."
Powell added that the United States would remain "steadfast in its support for the United Nations mission in Iraq".
The bombing that reduced part of the UN's Baghdad offices to rubble shocked the world and, coupled with a similar attack against the International Committee of the Red Cross just weeks later, severly undermined the work of aid agencies in strife-torn Iraq.
But the work that needs to be done in the country -- namely preparing for a national election by the end of January -- remains as daunting as ever.
For the moment, thoughts were with the victims of the blast, as close relatives at Thursday's ceremony lit a candle for each of the 22 people who died.
"Your sacrifice will not be forgotten," vowed Rula al-Farra from Jordan, whose 29-year-old brother Reham was one of the dead.
"We your wives, mothers, children, brothers and sisters shall ask the world leaders to work together to overcome conflict and crisis through dialogue," she said in an emotional speech.
"We shall never forget you. You shall continue to live in our hearts."
Images of the dead, some at work, others with their loved ones, were shown in a video at the ceremony, where the opera singer Barbara Hendricks also paid a musical tribute, prompting several relatives to break down in tears.
The death of Vieira de Mello, 55 and a rising star at the UN, touched a great number of hearts in particular.
"He was a charming man, one of the most charismatic and always so generous, wanting to help his colleagues," said a former friend of the Brazilian diplomat, who had just become the UN's high commissioner for human rights when he was asked in June 2003 to head the UN mission in Iraq.
"I still cannot believe he has gone," said the colleague, who had worked at the UN for more than 30 years and who asked not to be named.
Underlining the sense of tragedy one year later, the baby son of Jean-Selim Kanaan, a 33-year-old French-Egyptian, nestled in his young mother's arms as she lit a candle for her dead husband.
There was also little peace for the lucky ones who survived the blast.
"I wonder why I lived. I feel I do not deserve to when compared with those who died," one of the survivors told AFP, after describing how he struggled free from the collapsed hotel after the bomb exploded.
Asked whether he thought the UN should return to Iraq, the survivor, who also declined to give his name, said it had a mission to complete but security remained a huge concern.
"For the time being I feel powerless. I would not like to go back," he said.