Britain says Saddam held to account for his crimes

LONDON, Dec 30 (Reuters) Britain said today it was pleased that Saddam Hussein had been brought to justice for crimes against the Iraqi people, but underlined its opposition to the death penalty.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett gave Britain's reaction to Saddam's hanging. Officials said Prime Minister Tony Blair, a leading supporter of U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq, was not expected to comment publicly.

''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,'' Beckett said in a brief statement.

''We advocate an end to the death penalty worldwide, regardless of the individual or the crime. We have made our position very clear to the Iraqi authorities, but we respect their decision as that of a sovereign nation,'' Beckett added.

A spokeswoman for the prime minister said Beckett ''spoke for the whole government including the prime minister'' and she did not expect Blair to add anything.

Blair is currently on holiday in Miami at the home of pop star Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.

Britain has 7,200 troops in Iraq and controversy over the war has dented Blair's popularity ratings. More than 120 British military personnel have died in the conflict.

Blair plans to step down in 2007 after a decade in power.

Opposition politicians renewed attacks on the government.

''This war was the creation, not just of two governments but essentially of two men -- George Bush and Tony Blair,'' Malcolm Rifkind, an opposition Conservative politician and former foreign secretary, told Sky News.

''I suppose they (Bush and Blair) can take some comfort that a tyrant has been executed but they also have to live with hundreds of thousands of people who have either died or whose lives are threatened in the Iraq they have created by that war.'' Amnesty International said not only was Saddam's trial ''clearly unfair'' but Saddam's hanging was a missed chance to show Iraq had changed from the time when atrocities were committed while he was in power.

''Today's execution is an opportunity thrown away,'' said James Dyson.

REUTERS AKJ PM1849