IRAQ:The hanging of two of Saddam Hussein's aides has brought a second wave of condemnation from countries opposed to the death penalty, with the accidental decapitation of one of them adding to the sense of revulsion.
"Reports on the gruesome circumstances of today's executions are very disturbing," said Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern. "I believe it is in the interests of justice and reconciliation in Iraq that the Iraqi authorities now take the step of ending executions." European Commission president José Manuel Barroso said he backed an Italian-led campaign for the UN to agree to a global moratorium on capital punishment.
"I believe in our European values and I take this occasion to thank Italy for all the initiatives that it announced so that, in the framework of the United Nations, we can work together to put an end to the death penalty," he said.
British prime minister Tony Blair, who called the "manner" of Saddam's hanging "unacceptable", said Britain was opposed to capital punishment but it remained a sovereign choice for Iraq. "Our position on the death penalty is well known. We've made our position known to the Iraqi government," his spokesman said.
Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano lamented that pleas to suspend the executions had not been heeded: "A cruel manipulation of the justice system has once again made use of the gallows. After the execution of Saddam, which in addition was turned into a spectacle in a way that was clearly damaging to personal dignity, there were many calls to move in the direction of dialogue and reconciliation," it said.
"But at the moment it does not look like such a change of tack has occurred." - (Reuters)