The execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Saturday drew mixed reactions from governments and organizations worldwide.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Saddam had been "held to account", but reiterated the British government's opposition to the use of the death penalty.

She said that the British government welcomes the execution of Saddam for some crimes he committed against the Iraqi people, but advocates "an end to the death penalty worldwide".

"But we respect their decision as that of a sovereign nation," said Beckett.

"Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq", said US President George W. Bush in a statement. He also described the execution as "an important milestone" on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy.

France, which opposes the death penalty, said in a statement that the decision of execution belongs to the Iraqi people and the Iraqi sovereign authorities. The statement called on the Iraqi people to work for reconciliation.

Iran's official IRNA agency reported that Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Reza Asefi hailed Saddam's execution as a victory for all Iraqi people.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a statement that Australia respects Iraq's decision and that the execution "marks an important step in pursuing a process of reconciliation now and in the future," adding that Australia supports the abolition of capital punishment.

Tomohiko Taniguchi, deputy press secretary of Japan's Foreign Ministry, said Japan respects the decision made by Iraqi government according to due process and legal procedures, and hopes the execution would become a source of reconciliation among the Iraqi people.

Brazilian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Brazil doesnot believe the execution would contribute to bringing peace to Iraq.

Malaysia, which currently holds the chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), expressed its surprise on Saddam's execution and questioned the legal procedures under which the sentence had been carried out.

The OIC urged prominent Iraqi clerics to "implement the Mecca Document... by urging the Iraqi people to remain united," Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the 57-member OIC, said in a statement.

US-based human rights group Human Rights Watch condemned the hanging, saying history would judge Saddam's trial and execution "harshly".

India's governing Congress Party called the hanging as "unfortunate". Janardhan Dwivedi, general secretary of the party, said in a statement that India hopes the execution "will not stand in the way of the process of restoring normalcy and reconciliation in Iraq."

The Arab League (AL) said the execution of Saddam represented a tragic end to the former Iraqi regime.

Alaa Rushdi, spokesman for AL Secretary-General Amr Moussa, expressed the hope that Saddam's execution would not deteriorate the security condition in Iraq.

He also called for continued efforts to reach reconciliation among Iraqi parties to surmount the present crisis.

Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alaa Hadidi voiced Egypt's regret for selection of the date to execute Saddam during a major religious holiday.

The spokesman said that Saddam was hanged on the first day of Eid al-Adha, or Greater Bairam, and during hajj with no regard to sentiments of Muslims worldwide or the sanctity of the Muslim occasion which represents an opportunity for mercy and tolerance.
 
Hadidi hoped that Saddam's execution would not further deteriorate the situation in the war-torn country. 

Jordan hoped that there would be no negative consequences for the hanging of Saddam that would affect the unity and solidarity of Iraqi people.

Jordanian government spokesman Nasser Judeh said the government called for Iraqis to preserve the unity and to discard violence.

The Iraqi people should look for the future in a way that guarantees success in realizing a true national reconciliation amongst all spectra of the Iraqi society, he said.

Saudi Arabia said it was dismayed by the timing of Saddam's hanging.

The hanging caused dismay as Saddam was executed at dawn on Saturday, the first day of four-day Muslim festival Eid al-Adha, the official SPA news agency said in a commentary.
 
"It was expected that the trial of Saddam would be longer and go through tight legal procedures, away from politicization," it said.

Also on Saturday, Libya announced a three-day official mourning for Saddam after he was hung earlier in the day.

All public celebrations for Eid al-Adha festival were cancelled and flags on government buildings flew at half-mast to mourn Saddam.

Tunisia also expressed its "profound regret" over the timing of the hanging, saying it was a "serious attack on the feelings of Muslim peoples when Saddam was hanged on the first day of Eid al-Adha.

Saddam, born on April 28, 1937 and deposed in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was executed by hanging at dawn on Saturday for crimes against humanity.

According to reports of Sky News English TV channel, Saddam will be buried in Ramadi, a Sunni insurgent stronghold, instead of native village of Uwja.

(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2006)