Blair breaks silence on Saddam

2007-01-10 07:34

London - British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday broke his silence over Saddam Hussein's execution, branding the manner of the former Iraqi dictator's hanging "completely wrong".

But he also stressed that condemnation of the execution, in which the deposed Iraqi dictator was taunted seconds before his death, should not make people forget Saddam's barbaric crimes.

Blair, the United States' staunchest supporter in the 2003 invasion of Iraq which toppled president Saddam, had been under fire for declining to speak about his hanging for crimes against humanity.

"The manner of the execution of Saddam Hussein was completely wrong, but that should not blind us to the crimes he committed against his people," he said, at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"The crimes that Saddam committed does not excuse the manner of his execution and the manner of his execution does not excuse the crimes.

"As everybody saw, the manner of the execution is unacceptable and it's wrong but we should bear in mind and not allow that, while saying it's wrong, then to lurch into a position of forgetting the victims of Saddam.

"Any sensible, moderate person makes those points about the scenes that we have seen about the execution."

Widespread criticism of the hanging was fuelled by a grainy cellphone video. Unlike the curtailed silent official footage, it showed Saddam being taunted on the gallows, triggering Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to order a probe - something Blair backs.

'Held to account'

The British leader was on holiday in Florida when Saddam was hanged on December 30.

A spokesperson for his Downing Street office told AFP that foreign secretary Margaret Beckett spoke for the whole government when she said after the execution that Saddam had been "held to account" for his crimes.

Since the emergence of the cellphone footage, both Britain's finance minister Gordon Brown and deputy prime minister John Prescott have condemned the execution as "deplorable" and "completely unacceptable", but Blair still declined to give his view until now.

Japan, meanwhile, uses capital punishment while Britain is opposed to it.

Abe did not mention Saddam's execution but said each country had its way of punishing serious crimes.

"The most important thing is to create a world which is free of crime. Each country conducts its own social programme to make a better society," he told reporters at Downing Street.

Britain still has about 7 100 troops in southern Iraq, most of them based around the second city of Basra, but there are mounting calls at home for them to be withdrawn. Ministers expect troop reductions this year as the capability of Iraqi forces increases.

Blair has lost standing within his own governing Labour Party and across Britain for his decision to send in troops.

- AFP