Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- A truck bomb exploded next to the Baghdad hotel housing the United Nations headquarters in Iraq, killing the UN envoy to the country and at least 14 other people, and injuring scores of workers, the UN said.

The slain UN diplomat, 55-year-old Sergio Vieira de Mello, earlier had been conscious and drinking water while rescue workers attempted to free him from the rubble of the building, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called his death a ``bitter blow'' for the world body.

At least 100 people were hurt in the attack, and many of them are in serious condition, the UN said. About 300 people were presumed to be in the building when the bomb exploded at about 3:20 p.m. Baghdad time.

``The terrorists who struck today have again shown their contempt for the innocent,'' President George W. Bush said in remarks from Texas, where he is vacationing. ``They showed their fear of progress and their hatred of peace. They're the enemies of the Iraqi people.''

Bush vowed that the attackers ``will not determine the future of Iraq.'' The president spoke after cutting short a round of golf in Waco, Texas, and returning to his ranch in Crawford to monitor the situation.

The bombing underscored a shift in Iraq toward mass-casualty attacks and came less than a week after the UN Security Council expanded its support for the U.S.-led occupation.

U.S.-Picked Council

The UN's most powerful body passed a resolution Thursday that ``welcomes'' the creation of the U.S.-picked Governing Council of Iraqi political representatives, brushing aside objections of Arab League governments that have refused to recognize its legitimacy. The Security Council also authorized a formal UN aid mission in Iraq to bolster recovery efforts.

Resolution 1500 called the Governing Council ``an important step towards the formation by the people of Iraq of an internationally recognized, representative government that will exercise the sovereignty of Iraq.''

De Mello last month described the Governing Council as ``broadly representative'' and an entity that could ``chart the way forward'' in Iraq.

The Brazilian native was the chief human rights official at the UN when he was named in May to be the envoy to Iraq. A veteran of post-conflict recovery efforts, De Mello was UN special representative to Kosovo and East Timor in the 1990s. The UN also dispatched him to Cambodia, Cyprus, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Lebanon after wars.

Mourning in Brazil

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked for a moment of silence before a press conference with visiting Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, and decreed a period of national mourning. He said De Mello was ``a victim of the insanity of terrorism.''

Bernard Kerik, the U.S.-led coalition's adviser to Iraq's Interior Ministry, said unspecified evidence showed the bombing was a suicide attack, Agence France-Presse reported. Kerik formerly was New York City police commissioner.

``It's a tragedy not only personally but a setback politically for the UN mission there,'' Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, said.

Cement Truck

A cement truck smashed into the building and exploded, UN worker Fayez Sarhan told AFP. Television pictures showed U.S. soldiers and armored vehicles at the scene after the bombing. U.S. military helicopters evacuated wounded individuals. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

It was the second such attack in two weeks. On Aug. 7, a car bomb was set off outside the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, killing at least eight people, including four Iraqi police officers. More than 50 people were wounded.

The bombing target today was the Canal Hotel used by the UN, one corner of which collapsed, according to pictures from CNN. The video from the scene also showed cars next to the building crumpled and on fire, amid rubble.

The hotel, once the base for UN weapons inspectors, is located on a highway northeast of central Baghdad, close to the Oil Ministry and the mainly Shiite slum of Thawra City, formerly known as Saddam City for dictator Saddam Hussein. While his rule was toppled in the U.S. invasion of Iraq, pro-Hussein elements have carried out repeated ambushes on American forces since the fall of Baghdad in April.

Eckhard told reporters that the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S. and British occupation entity, was responsible for security at the UN compound.

`Resolve' Urged

Adolfo Zinser, Mexico's ambassador to the UN, said the attack should unite the Security Council. ``It is a terrible event that should give us the opportunity to show the resolve of the United Nations and to really define a role in Iraq,'' he said.

Crude oil for September delivery was down 24 cents at $30.65 a barrel at 2:15 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, about seven hours after the attack. Prices earlier rose as high as $31.08.

``We are getting less fazed by these attacks,'' said Jim Steel, director of commodity research at Refco Inc. in New York. ``Rallies will be of limited scope unless there is a direct attack on an oil facility.''

Last Updated: August 19, 2003 14:38 EDT