European Reaction: The EU yesterday urged Iraq not to execute Saddam Hussein, citing its long-standing opposition to capital punishment.
But several European governments welcomed the conclusion of the trial of the former dictator, describing it as an important settlement of the past in Iraq.
Finland, the current holder of the EU's six-month rotating presidency, said establishing the truth and ensuring accountability for the crimes committed in the past regime would assist in national reconciliation and dialogue in the future. However, it said that it opposed the death penalty.
"The EU opposes capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances, and it should not be carried out in this case either," said the EU presidency.
Italian prime minister Romano Prodi said the verdict reflected the judgment of the entire international community on Saddam Hussein. But he also questioned the sentence of death by hanging.
"As gruesome as a crime is, the death sentence goes against our traditions and our ethics," he said
The EU considers the death penalty a cruel and inhuman punishment and a violation to the right to life. It campaigns on the international stage against the measure, which is banned under the European Convention on Human Rights.
However, British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett welcomed the verdict and said it was right that Saddam Hussein would face justice. "Appalling crimes were committed by Saddam Hussein's regime. It is right that those accused of such crimes against the Iraqi people should face Iraqi justice . . . Today's verdict and sentences by the Iraqi Higher Tribunal come at the end of a trial during which evidence has been offered and challenged in the full glare of media scrutiny," she said.
Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt said: "The judicial process is an important settlement with the past, but the big challenge for Iraq's people is the future and the big compromises required for maintained freedom, secured peace and sustainable reconciliation." France's foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy focused on Iraq's future, saying he hoped its bloody sectarian strife would not worsen as a result of the death sentence.
Meanwhile, the Russian foreign ministry expressed concern: "This sentence has already prompted a negative reaction in Iraq itself and worries in several Arab countries that the existing instability in Iraq will get worse."