Saddam's verdict reminder of brutal regime: Blair

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Monday that the conviction of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was a reminder of his "barbaric brutality".

"What I think is important about this is to recognize that this trial of Saddam, which has been handled by the Iraqis themselves and they will take the decision about this, does give us a reminder of the total and barbaric brutality of that regime," Blair said at his monthly press conference.

Asked whether or not he personally thought Saddam should be executed, Blair declined to condemn the death sentence passed on Saddam - even though Britain is opposed to capital punishment, saying "we are against the death penalty, whether it's Saddam or anybody else."

"The trial of Saddam gives us a chance to see again what the past in Iraq was: the brutality, the tyranny, the hundreds of thousands of people that he killed, the wars in which there were a million casualties," said Blair.

There were "other and bigger issues to talk about" in Iraq than the possible execution, he said.

On Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett welcomed the announcement of the death sentence of Saddam Hussein, saying the verdict was just for the Iraqi people.

"I welcome that Saddam Hussein and the other defendants have faced justice and have been held to account for their crimes," Beckett said in a statement.

"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," she said.

On Sunday, Saddam was found guilty by the Iraqi High Tribunal of crimes against humanity and sentenced to hang. The case surrounded the deaths of Shi'ite men from the town of Dujail.

Source: Xinhua