The 62-year-old Ban, a career diplomat who has promised to be a bridge-builder, to restore trust and confidence in the 61-year old organization also vows continued reform as did Annan 10 years earlier.

During the two months Ban had to make the transition, he kept his appointment intentions closely guarded, only to hint his deputy could be another woman, as was the first deputy secretary-general, Louise Frechette, from Canada. But, he says, this time it would likely be a woman from a third world country.

On New Year's Eve, Ban announced his first appointments, Vijay Nambiar of India as Chef de Cabinet and Michelle Montas of Haiti as his spokeswoman. The deputy spokeswoman will remain Marie Okabe.

"I intend to make further appointments in the coming days," said Ban.

Montas said Tuesday the next appointments Ban planned to announce soon were for heads of the Department of Management and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs.

"Today's (Sunday's) appointments will serve as a solid basis for establishing my team and pursuing a program of reform of the (U.N.) Secretariat to provide continuity along with change."

He said Nambiar was chosen because he held "many important roles in and around the United Nations, including, among others, special advisor to ... Annan" and the ambassador of India to the United Nations.

Prior to joining the United Nations in March, Nambiar served as deputy national security advisor and head of the National Security Council Secretariat in India.

He previously served as India's ambassador to the U.N. World Headquarters in New York, from May 2002 to June 2004. Earlier, as Ambassador of India, he served in Pakistan, 2000-2001; China 1996-2000; Malaysia 1993-1996, and Afghanistan, 1990-1992. He was also Ambassador of India in Algeria from 1985 to 1988.

During his career in the Indian Foreign Service, Ban had served in numerous bilateral and multilateral appointments in Beijing, Belgrade and New York during the 1970s and 1980s.

"I have known Nambiar for a long time and we share deep confidence and respect for each other," added Ban.

Montas is an-award-winning journalist and was head of the French unit of U.N. Radio, the statement said. She served as spokeswoman for U.N. General Assembly President Julian Robert Hunte, the foreign minister of St. Lucia, in 2003.

Montas reported for Radio Haiti-Inter in the early 1970s, covering human rights abuses, political corruption and state-sponsored violence in Haiti along with her husband Jean Dominique.

Montas, during her first briefing to reporters, pointed out Ban is the new secretary-general's family name, pronounced as in autobahn, while his given name, Ki-moon, was pronounced as if with a hard "G," instead of a "K," as in Gee-moon

Other appointments were expected in the next few weeks, she said.

Most high-level U.N. contracts expire at the end of February. While appointments may be high on Ban's to-do list, his immediate diplomatic focus will be on the crises in Somalia, Sudan's western Darfur region and the Middle East in general, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Lebanon in particular.

As for the domestic part of Ban's new life, he is living out of a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, a short drive or a 15-minute walk to his office in East Midtown Manhattan's Turtle Bay neighborhood. He walked to work on his first day, wearing an overcoat with the temperature in the low 40s. He was escorted by U.N. security officers and Nambiar.

Ban and his wife may not fully unpack for home or office because they have been excluded, butaaa only temporarily, from the exclusive Sutton Place townhouse on the Upper East Side that is the official residence of the secretary-general and his U.N. office is destined to move in the relatively near future.

Ban will not be allowed to move into his new permanent living quarters until late autumn at the earliest because of $4.5 million in long-needed renovations to the neo-Georgian former home of Anne Morgan, daughter of J.P. Morgan.

The 50-year-old U.N. headquarters complex is due to go through a nearly $2 billion renovation but with the secretary-general's offices moving around the gutting and reconstruction of the 39-story Secretariat.

How bad is the residence? The New York City Department of Buildings website says the building has an "active" notice of a violation opened in 1989 for the single elevator in the residence. Annan had mentioned an out of repair elevator among the four-story building's many ills, including 85-year old electrical wiring, insufficient for 21st century communications technology.

related report
South Korean Ban Takes Over As UN chief
United Nations (AFP) Jan 1 - Ban Ki-moon of South Korea takes over as UN secretary general Monday, facing numerous crises across the globe as well as the challenging task of reforming the United Nations itself. The 62-year-old diplomat's handling of the reform, launched in 2005 by his predecessor Kofi Annan, will be closely watched by UN members, notably the most powerful, the United States, which strongly backed his candidacy.

Washington and others want the UN to become more efficient and transparent and be stricter over ethics and management following a series of scandals, including in the corruption-tainted Iraq oil-for-food program.

Aware of the huge task ahead of him, Ban said in a news conference in December that he wanted to "restore trust" in the United Nations.

In subsequent interviews, he promised to devote most of his attention to solving the immediate problem of regional conflicts around the world.

He said he wanted to be a "harmoniser" and a "bridge-builder," pointing out that the conflict in the Middle East, the Lebanese situation and the crisis in Darfur would be among his priorities.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said Sunday that Ban assumes his new role at a time of great challenge and opportunity at the United Nations.

"The United States will rely on his leadership to help steer the UN Organization through the reforms already underway, and to propel the Organization even further on the path of reform," Stanzel noted.

Another challenge for the former South Korean foreign minister is the enlargement of the 15-member Security Council, whose composition, member states generally agree, reflects the realities of 1945 rather than of the 21st century.

But no enlargement plan has been approved due to disagreements among member states, notably the council's five permanent, veto-wielding members: the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China.

While Ban tackles a challenging chore within the world body, he also faces a slew of conflicts and crises around the globe.

The gloomy list includes the war in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region and the disputed nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran.

The UN oversees more than 100,000 blue-helmeted international troops from its New York headquarters. Peacekeepers are scattered across the world, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Kosovo and Haiti.

The new UN chief's job also includes numerous other crucial issues of international concern, including the fight against AIDS, protecting children in conflict zones, poverty and global warming.

"If we look at middle, long-term affairs, we must take urgent action to address this climate change issue otherwise our future generations will suffer from this issues," Ban told the BBC.

As Ban takes over, UN members eagerly await his decisions on key leadership posts in the world body.

On Sunday, he named Vijay Nambiar of India as his cabinet chief and Michele Montas as his spokeswoman and said he planned to make more appointments in the coming days.

Nambiar was a special adviser to Annan and has also served as India's UN envoy. Montas was a Haitian journalist who heads the French unit of UN Radio.

"Today's appointments will serve as a solid basis for establishing my team and pursuing a program of reform of the Secretariat to provide continuity along with change," Ban said in a statement.

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