New UN Chief Commences Tenure

The new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has completed his first day Tuesday since taking over from Kofi Annan by vowing to take immediate action on the Darfur crisis.

|PIC1|The former South Korean foreign minister was given an official welcoming to his new post by the UN honour guard, and then went to the UN meditation chapel to pay tribute to peacekeepers that had been killed while fulfilling their duty.

Ban was questioned on the weekend's execution of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and replied by telling reporters that Saddam was responsible for "committing heinous crimes and unspeakable atrocities against the Iraqi people and we should never forget the victims of these crimes".

However, Ban was also quick to confirm the traditional UN stance against capital punishment. He said, "The issue of capital punishment is for each and every member state to decide."

His special representative in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, gave a united front on the issue, explaining that the UN remained "opposed to capital punishment, even in the case of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide."

Committing the UN to take urgent action on the Darfur crisis, Ban announced that he would be attending the African Union summit at the end of January in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and talk to Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

He said, "By engaging myself in the diplomatic process I hope that we will be able to resolve peacefully as soon as possible on these serious issues."

Also indicating that the North Korea situation would be high on his agenda, Ban explained that he had been heavily involved in diplomatic talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions as South Korea's foreign minister.

However, he recognised the immense size of the task that lay ahead, especially given the limitations of the UN. He said, "Not a single person, including the secretary-general of the United Nations, not a single country, however strong, powerful, resourceful, cannot address (these issues)."

On the stepping down of Kofi Annan as the UN chief, Ban's spokeswoman, Michele Montas, said that before departing New York for Europe on Monday, Annan had visited Ban, and called US President George W. Bush, to bid farewell.

It is expected that soon Ban will announce France's candidate to be head of peacekeeping of the UN. In addition, Britain and the US are lobbying for their nations to oversee the political affairs department of the world body. It is thought that a Briton will also be given the humanitarian affairs post within the UN.