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.
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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.
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"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)
