Loretta Lynch sworn in

Loretta Lynch was sworn in as the US' 83rd attorney general on Monday, becoming the first black woman to hold the country's highest law enforcement position.

US President Barack Obama tweeted his congratulations:

"It's about time this woman's being sworn in," Vice-President Joe Biden said in the swearing-in ceremony, referring to the long delay in the Senate for confirming Lynch's nomination to the post. The vote finally came through last Thursday, with her replacing former attorney general Eric Holder.

The lawyer said she was "honored beyond words" to take over the attorney general's job. She vowed "to not just represent the law and enforce the law, but to use it to make real the promise of America - the promise of fairness, the promise of equality, of liberty and justice for all."

Referring to the recent cases of alleged police atrocities against minorities, Lynch said she was confident about restoring "trust and faith in both our laws and those who enforce them."

"She's shown resolve to prosecute and jail terrorists, mobsters and gang members. She's shown fidelity to the law and rooted out public corruption and shown determination to bring down financial fraudsters and child abusers," Biden said.

Lynch, who has served twice as US attorney for New York's Eastern District, has a history of successfully prosecuting terrorists who plotted to bomb the New York subway and the Federal Reserve Bank. The 55-year-old Harvard graduate is the daughter of a librarian mother, while her father is a minister in North Carolina.

mg/bw (AFP, AP)