New UN chief wants stronger UN

The United Nations must strengthen its capacity to deal with the unprecedented threats to peace and security it faces in 2007, new UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council on Monday.

"We face an unprecedented demand for peacekeeping as well as a range of growing demands for preventive diplomacy, good offices, peace building and efforts in conflict management," Ban said during his first appearance before the 15-nation council since taking office last Monday.

"We need to look at the organizational structures of all departments and offices related to peace and security and find ways to strengthen our capacities," he said.

In a statement adopted after Ban's remarks, the council stressed the need for improved UN capacity to assess conflicts and plan and manage peacekeeping missions.

Ban said he was taking the UN reins at "one of the busiest periods in our history," citing the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region, continuing conflict in the Middle East, an elusive peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo and deliberations on the future of Serbia's Kosovo province.

These were all crises no one country could tackle on its own, making them a UN responsibility, he said.

Terrorism, AIDS, an absence of the rule of law in various parts of the world, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction also challenged UN capabilities, he said.

He made no reference to Iraq.

While the council had already taken steps on questions of proliferation and disarmament, including in North Korea and Iran, Ban said much remained to be done and that he was committed to reinforcing the UN role in these areas.

"In such an endeavor, I shall try to play the role of harmonizer and bridge-builder, and work to restore trust between member-states and the (UN) secretariat, he said.

Compared to his predecessor Kofi Annan, former South Korean foreign minister Ban is expected to lead a United Nations more aware of its limitations and the small space any secretary-general has to maneuver.