New U.N. Chief's Death Penalty Flap

Ban Ki-moon ran into trouble on his first day of work as U.N. Secretary-General on Tuesday over Saddam Hussein's execution when he twice failed to state the United Nations' opposition to the death penalty and stressed instead that capital punishment should be a decision of every country.

Michele Montas, his new spokesperson, insisted that there was no change in U.N. policy, and what Ban said "was his own nuance" on the death penalty.

"The U.N. policy still remains that the organization is not for capital punishment," she said. "However, the way the law is applied in different countries, he left it open to those different countries."

But Ban's ambiguous answer put a question mark over the U.N.'s stance on the death penalty. It also gave the new U.N. chief an early taste of how tricky and difficult global issues are, and how every word can make a difference.

The former South Korean foreign minister took over the reins of the U.N. on New Year's Day from Kofi Annan, the first Asian to serve as secretary-general in 35 years, but it was a U.N. holiday so Tuesday was his first day at U.N. headquarters.

"There is the expectation that Ban will breathe new life into the organization," CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk said from the U.N. on Tuesday, "because he comes with strong support from the five permanent members of the Security Council and because his first words were that he intends to confront some of the world's most troubling crises, including North Korea, Darfur and the Middle East."

Dozens of staffers applauded and joined a throng of television crews and photographers snapping photos as he entered the 39-story building. He immediately went to the Meditation Room and bowed his head in tribute to U.N. peacekeepers and staff members who died in service.

Then, the new secretary-general launched into a series of meetings with U.N. staff and surprised many when he walked into the staff cafeteria for lunch. He waited in line with his tray to pay for his meat dish with rice and a bottle of water, ate with his transition spokeswoman Choi Soung-ah and a few U.N. employees, and then brought the tray to the conveyer belt to be washed before heading back to his new office on the 38th floor.

Speaking to reporters earlier, Ban vowed to end mistrust of the United Nations and called for action to tackle "daunting" problems from crises in Darfur, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq to cutting extreme poverty by half by 2015. He renewed his promise to give priority to the North Korean nuclear issue and to defend human rights.

Ban also announced that his first overseas trip will be to attend the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Jan. 29-30, and he hopes to meet Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir there. He said he will meet his special envoy on Darfur, Jan Eliasson, Wednesday morning and put "my highest attention on this" issue in hopes of resolving the conflict peacefully as soon as possible. Ban will chair a meeting Thursday of the Darfur Task Force, which includes all U.N. agencies involved in trying to end the conflict, Montas said.

But it was Ban's response when asked whether Saddam should have been executed that raised questions, because Annan always reiterated the U.N.'s policy against capital punishment and the top U.N. envoy in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, restated it again on Saturday after the former Iraqi leader was hanged.

Qazi said that while the U.N. stands firmly against impunity and understands the desire for justice, it remains opposed to capital punishment, even in the case of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

However, Ban took a different approach.

"Saddam Hussein was responsible for committing heinous crimes and unspeakable atrocities against Iraqi people and we should never forget victims of his crime," he said. "The issue of capital punishment is for each and every member state to decide."

"As the secretary-general, at the same time, while I am firmly against impunity, I also hope that members of the international community should pay due regard to all aspects of international humanitarian laws. During my entire tenure, I'll try my best to help member states, international community, to strengthen the rule of law," he said.

Asked whether Ban may have been tacitly referring to prohibitions on the death penalty in international humanitarian law, Montas said, "Yes, I think that's what he was tacitly referring to."

She also noted that the death penalty is legal in South Korea. It is also legal in China, some U.S. states and many other countries, including in the Middle East.

"I think essentially because his national position is that there are some countries that do recognize the death penalty, and from what I gather, he just would like to leave it open ... to the different countries," Montas said.

Would Saddam's execution bring stability to Iraq or promote civil war?

"The Iraqi people and government have taken their steps to address their past," Ban replied, "and I hope that international community should also understand the stakes and try to build rule of law nationally and internationally."

Ban later addressed hundreds of U.N. staff members in New York and via teleconference at eight locations around the world, urging them to maintain the highest level of ethics and discipline in the face of recent criticism about lack of accountability, ethical lapses and inefficiency at the U.N.

The new secretary-general has said his "first priority will be to restore trust" in the United Nations, whose reputation has been battered by the oil-for-food scandal in Iraq, corruption in the U.N.'s purchasing operations and sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeepers.

He told staff members on Tuesday that some criticism over the past few years has been "harsh and sometimes unfair," and staff morale has "plummeted" as a result. But he said some criticisms "warrant our urgent attention and we must take bold steps to dispel them."

Ban said he was fully committed to implementing management reforms, and promised his five-year term would be fully transparent and accountable.

He also joked about the common mispronunciation of his family name as 'ban' instead of 'bahn,' saying: "I would never ban constructive dialogue."

The new secretary-general told the staff, which gave him a standing ovation, that he was also eager to begin his work. "I stand before you humbled, with a heavy weight on my shoulders, but my heart is beating with quiet excitement," he said.