This from The Times (UK):
The UN has an official stance opposing capital punishment and Ban’s predecessor Kofi Annan reiterated it frequently. The organisation's top envoy in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, restated it again after the former Iraqi dictator was hanged on Saturday.The caption beneath his photo on The Times (UK) reads: "Ban Ki Moon, who had an awkward first day in the top UN job"
Mr Ban, however, took a different approach, never mentioning the UN's ban on the death penalty in all its international tribunals, and the right to life enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly in 1948.
"Saddam Hussein was responsible for committing heinous crimes and unspeakable atrocities against Iraqi people and we should never forget victims of his crime," Mr Ban said in response to a question about Saddam’s execution. "The issue of capital punishment is for each and every member state to decide."
Awkward? I'd say disgraceful. Of course, Moon's remarks pall by comparison to some of the outright lies President George Bush has uttered in the last six years. Then again, as the diplomat in chief of the world's preeminent diplomatic body, it doesn't exactly bode well either.
