Ban Ki Moon sworn in as new U.N. secretary general

"South Korean diplomat Ban Ki Moon was sworn in Thursday as the United Nations' eighth secretary general in a ritualistic General Assembly ceremony as the United States and other countries praised Kofi Annan's 10-year stewardship of the world's premier political institution.
Ban, 62, said his priority when he takes office Jan. 1 is to restore public confidence and civility to a body that has been buffeted by corruption and sexual misconduct scandals, and has been riven by feuding over its future between its weakest and most powerful countries.
"You could say that I'm a man on a mission, and my mission could be dubbed Operation Restore Trust: trust in the organization and trust between member states and the secretariat," Ban said at a news conference after the ceremony. "I hope this mission is not mission impossible."
Ban's remarks constituted an implicit rebuke of Annan, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate whose legacy was tarnished by his mismanagement of the agency's $64 billion oil-for-food program in Iraq.
. . . He urged the international community to support Iraq's political transition, citing the 'inability' of Iraqi authorities and the U.S.-led multinational force to 'secure peace and security.' "

source
The Washington Post. Incoming U.N. Chief Ban Pledges to Restore Trust. December 15, 2006.

posting: sunday, december 17, 2006, 2:27 PM ET

ban ki moon iraq Kofi Annan united nations