Special Report: World reactions on execution of Saddam

Special Report: Execution of Saddam

Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    LONDON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- British Chancellor of Exchequer Gordon Brown condemned the hanging of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein as "deplorable" and "completely unacceptable", the BBC reported on Sunday.

    Brown told BBC One's Sunday AM that he was against the death penalty, saying the execution has "done nothing to lessen tensions between the Shia and Sunni communities" in Iraq.

    Brown's comments came after mobile phone footage of the hanging, which showed Saddam Hussein being taunted with Shia slogans, provoked worldwide outrage.

    "Now that we know the full picture of what happened, we can sum this up as a deplorable set of events," said Brown.

    "It is something, of course, which the Iraqi government has now expressed its anxiety and shame at," he said.

    "Even those people unlike me who are in favor of capital punishment found this completely unacceptable and I am pleased that there is now an inquiry into this and I hope lessons in this area will be learnt, as we learn other lessons about Iraq." he added.

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair has so far remained silent over the Saddam's execution, and his silence has already prompted criticism from the Liberal Democrats.

    A spokeswoman for Downing Street said that Blair will say something about the execution at "a time of his choosing".

    It is reported that Blair will comment on the hanging next week.

    Saddam, deposed in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was hanged at dawn on Dec. 30 in 2006, the first day of the four-day festival of Eid el-Adha (Islam's feast of sacrifice), for crimes against humanity.

    The execution has provoked anger among Sunni Iraqis who consider the timing of the execution an insult to them.