Roundup: International community continues to react to verdict on Saddam

The international community on Monday continued to respond to the death sentence given on Sunday to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Some countries and international organizations expressed regret over or reacted cautiously to the death sentence against the form Iraqi president.

The Arab League regarded Saddam's death sentence as a tragic end for the former regime.

In Cairo, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said he hoped that the verdict will not exacerbate the security situation in the war-torn country, according to the Egyptian news agency MENA.

Jordanian government spokesperson Nasser Judeh said in the weekly press conference that the Iraqi court decision of the death penalty in the case of Saddam is an internal affair of Iraq.

In Oslo, Norwegian Undersecretary of State Raymond Johansen described the sentence as "positive," but the Norwegian government regrets the death sentence against Saddam.

The verdict on the former Iraqi president, however, also drew applauses from such countries as the United State and Britain.

During a campaign in Florida on Monday, U.S. President George W. Bush said that the death sentence of Saddam was "a landmark event in the history of Iraq."

In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Saddam's conviction 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 on Monday.

In Asia-Pacific region, Japan and Australia hailed the death penalty verdict on the former Iraqi president.

In Tokyo, top Japanese government spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Japan "appreciates" the death penalty verdict on Saddam.

"We appreciate the verdict was handed down under the new Iraqi laws," Kyodo News quoted Shiozaki as saying.

Soon after the announcement of the verdict, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the verdict proved that the democracy being established in Iraq was worth the fight.

"Despite all of its difficulties, Iraq is trying to establish a rule of law," he said.

In Warsaw, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said that the death sentence given to Saddam was "the only sentence conceivable after he was found guilty."

Source: Xinhua