Saddam: World response

VIDEO: Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging in Baghdad Saturday, following a conviction of 'crimes against humanity' for a massacre of 148 Shiites in 1982. Following the hanging, Iraqis all over the country gathered in the streets, dancing and shouting. Several people shot guns into the air to express their joy. In the US, a crowd of more than 150 Iraqi-Americans cheered and cried outside a mosque as Arab media reported that Saddam Hussein was executed. People honked car horns, sang and danced in celebration. Many countries formally indicated their support of the Iraqi verdict. US President George Bush said in a statement late Friday, that the execution is “an important milestone on Iraq’s course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain and defend itself, and be an ally in the war on terror.” He cautioned, however, that the execution would not bring about an end to violence in the conflict-torn country. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said following the former Iraqi president’s execution on Saturday: “I welcome the fact that Saddam Hussein has been tried by an Iraqi court for at least some of the appalling crimes he committed against the Iraqi people. He has now been held to account." Australia, in a more cautious statement, announced that it respects the Iraqi decision to execute former dictator Saddam Hussein, although, in its own policy, it objects to the death penalty. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that despite Australia's stance on the death penalty, it must respect the right of a sovereign nation to decide the judgment of one convicted of crimes against citizens of that nation. A senior Israeli official, asking to remain anonymous, said that "justice had been done" and described the former dictator as "a person who incited the Middle East and used chemical weapons against his own people." Also among the proponents of the execution was Iran, who hailed it as a "victory for the Iraqi people", according to Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi. Negative response However, many responses to the verdict were not favorable. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi called the execution of the former Iraqi dictator "a new tragedy". Russia said it regretted the execution expressed concerns that his death could trigger a new spiral of violence in Iraq. "Regrettably, repeated calls by epresentatives of various nations and international organisations to the Iraqi authorities to refrain from capital punishment were not heard," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement. "Saddam Hussein's execution can lead to further aggravation of the military and political situation and the growth of ethnic and confessional tensions," he added. The European Union took a similar stance: According to the European Union's aid and development Commissioner Louis Michel, hanging Saddam risked turning him into a martyr. "Unfortunately Saddam Hussein risks to appear as a martyr, and he does not deserve that. He is not a martyr, he committed the worse things," Michel said in a phone interview. "You don't fight barbarism with acts that I deem as barbaric. The death penalty is not compatible with democracy," he added. "The death penalty is against the values of the European Union ... We are against by principle, whatever the crimes committed by Saddam Hussein - and he committed horrible ones." A Hamas parliament member called the execution a "political assassination", saying it was a demonstration of the "criminal and terrorist policy" of the United States government against resistance forces worldwide. Likewise, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said Friday that the execution was illegal since Saddam was “a prisoner of war”, and should therefore have been tried by the US and not Iraq. Prior to Saddam’s hanging, many world leaders called to prevent the execution. Italy’s Prime Minister Romano Prodi was amongst those calling to spare Saddam. Prodi said he hoped that "human mercy" and sound political judgment would lead to wiser decisions. Leaders of Yemen, Libya, Morocco, and Bahrain also appealed to the US and Iraq not to execute Saddam.

Saddam: World response

(VIDEO) Execution brings joy to many Iraqis, receives support from US, UK and others. However, many nations, from Russia to Libya condemn the sentence. Hamas: 'execution a political assassination by US policy against worldwide resistance'