Timeline Tuesday 19 August 2003

Events on Tuesday 19 August 2003 2

• 1948 – 2003 Sergio Vieira de Mello (1948-2003) Died 19 August 2003, aged 55 Sergio Vieira de Mello was a Brazilian United Nations official who led transitional administrations in Kosovo and East Timor and served as High Commissioner for Human Rights. He was killed, with 21 others, when a truck bomb destroyed the UN headquarters in Baghdad.
• 2003 Canal Hotel bombing Truck bomb destroys UN headquarters in Baghdad A truck bomb devastated the United Nations headquarters at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, killing 22 people including the UN special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello. The attack prompted the UN to withdraw most international staff from Iraq and marked an escalation of the insurgency.