It has been 15 years since the terrorist attack on the UN compound at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad on 19 August 2003. At the time of the blast, veteran television producer Francis Mead was undertaking a new challenge in Iraq: reporting for the UN humanitarian news agency, IRIN. He was at the Canal Hotel that afternoon for a press briefing.

It has been 15 years since the terrorist attack on the UN compound at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad on 19 August 2003.  For Mujahed Hassan, working for the UN was “a dream.” It was an opportunity to serve his homeland, and the workplace felt more like a family.  Mujahed was at the Canal Hotel at the time of the attack.

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