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UN to mark fifth anniversary of Baghdad office attack
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-19 07:58

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations will mark on Tuesday the fifth anniversary of the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, in which 22 people were killed.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be at the UN Headquarters to speak at a ceremony marking the victims, which included special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday.

During the event, the secretary-general and a staff representative will make brief statements, after which a wreath will be laid, and a minute of silence will be observed in honor of fallen staff.

A new classical music work called Songs without Borders, composed in memory of UN personnel who have perished in the line of duty, will be performed at the ceremony.

The four-part, 15-minute-long piece for a string quartet has been composed by Emmy Award winner Steve Heitzeg and will be performed by the Daedalus Quartet.

De Mello and 21 others were killed in the suicide bombing that hit the UN headquarters in Baghdad on August 19, 2003. Over 150 people were also injured in the attack.