"Saddam Hussein was responsible for committing heinous crimes and unspeakable atrocities against the Iraqi people," Ban told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

"We should never forget the victims of his crimes. The issue of capital punishment is for each and every member state to decide," said Ban after arriving for his first day of work as head of the world body.

But he said he hoped governments "pay due regard to all aspects of international humanitarian laws."

Ban's comments seemed to contradict the United Nations' traditional opposition to capital punishment, which was cited Saturday by the UN envoy to Iraq, Ashraf Qazi.

After Saddam was hanged, Qazi said in a statement that the United Nations understood "the desire for justice felt by many Iraqis."

But he added: "Based on the principle of respect for the right to life, however, the United Nations remains opposed to capital punishment, even in the case of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide".