United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned a bomb attack in Iraq targeting the convoy of the UN special envoy to Iraq.
The UN said envoy Ad Melkert and other staff from the UN mission in Iraq were unhurt in the October 19 attack in Al-Najaf.
However, a member of the Iraqi security services was killed and several others were injured.
Before the attack, the Dutch UN special envoy had held talks in Al-Najaf with Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shi'ite Muslim cleric.
The talks focused on ways to overcome the political deadlock that has blocked the formation of a new Iraqi government seven months after national elections.
In a statement, the UN chief vowed that the attack "will not deter the UN from continuing its efforts to assist the Iraqi people on their path to reconciliation and prosperity."
The governments of the United States and France were among those also condemning the attack.
A Baghdad bomb blast in August 2003 killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN's first special representative to Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, prompting a UN withdrawal.
compiled from agency reports