US says Saddam verdict "good day" for Iraqis

CRAWFORD, Texas, Nov 5 (Reuters) The White House, eager for signs of progress in Iraq ahead of Tuesday's US congressional elections, hailed the guilty verdict of former President Saddam Hussein today as a good day for Iraqis.

Saddam was sentenced to death by hanging by a US-sponsored court in Baghdad after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.

The verdict came just two days before US congressional elections that Democrats hope to use as a referendum on President George W Bush's handling of the Iraq war.

''It's a good day for the Iraqi people,'' White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: ''Today's decision is a hopeful reminder to all Iraqis that the rule of law can triumph over the rule of fear and that the peaceful pursuit of justice is preferable to the pursuit of vengeance.'' Election-year bickering quickly broke out. Democrats said justice was served but that it was unclear how the verdict would change the course of the war.

''The Iraqis have traded a dictator for chaos. Neither option is acceptable, especially when it is our troops who are caught in the middle,'' said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Bush, told of the verdict while at his Texas ranch, is to comment on it at about 2350 hrs today before departing on a trip to Nebraska and Kansas to campaign for Republican candidates.

Snow told Reuters the verdict was proof of an independent judiciary in Iraq that operates fairly and openly. He said Saddam has the right to appeal and that the judges will publish everything they used to reach their verdict.

He called the verdict an important political milestone for the Iraqi government.

''You can't have a democracy without a rule of law and you can't have a rule of law unless people realize the law is going to be imposed on everybody, the powerful and the weak,'' he said.

STRONG CHALLENGE Bush, who is trying to fend off a strong challenge from Democrats in Tuesday's elections, has warned repeatedly on the campaign trail of the consequences of abandoning Iraq's fledgling government and has accused Democrats of attacking him over the war without offering their own plan.

Snow said it was ''absolutely preposterous'' to think the verdict was timed to help Republicans in the election, saying anyone who believed Iraq's judiciary was trying to time its verdict ahead of the elections must be ''smoking rope.'' He said the verdict was a sign of progress and evidence that the United States must stay in Iraq to finish the job of building an Iraqi government that can defend and sustain itself and not become a safe haven for terrorists.

Democrats took aim at Bush's policy.

''We have seen milestones pass in Iraq before, with no lasting signs of progress. If today's sentencing is to be any different, we need to take a new direction in Iraq,'' said Reid.

Snow quickly responded. ''Harry doesn't have a plan. He's got a complaint. At a time when people are wanting action, they're on the sidelines, heckling,'' he said.

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said: ''Iraq is in the middle of a civil war and growing sectarian violence will be an even greater concern following this verdict.'' REUTERS AKJ BD2244