Opposition parties decry Saddam's execution

New Delhi, Dec 30: Several Opposition parties today strongly condemned the execution of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The Janata Dal (United) denounced Saddam's hanging by the US-backed authorities in Iraq after a 'farcical trial' and said it was big blow to democracies around the world.

Party general secretary and spokesman Shambhu Srivastava said it was ironic and tragic that the execution was carried out in the name of restoring democracy in Iraq. The misadventure in Iraq was a horrible mistake by the United States right from the beginning which had weakened the institutional fight against terrorism and militancy, he added.

He said the hanging of the toppled strongman and current tragic events in Iraq would make West Asia the most disturbed place and the world will have to rise against the US attempts to dominate the world through mere brute force.

''We cannot afford to go back to a world where 'might is right' theory is operational,'' Dr Srivastava, also an MLC in Bihar Legislative Council, told UNI.

The BJP, the principal opposition party in Parliament, said it would come out with a detailed statement from former Foreign Minister and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh later in the day.

The Janata Dal (Secular) party, a UPA ally, too reacted strongly against the killing, terming the hanging a ''judicial assassination'' and said it was unfotrunate that United Nations had not intervened in the issue.

J D (S) Secretary General Kunwar Danish Ali in a statement said US President George W Bush should be tried by the International Court of Justice for killing 600,000 people in Iraq after its invasion.

He said the government should strongly come out against this US sponsored killing by a puppet regime in Iraq in the name of unearthing weapons of mass destruction(WMD) and restoring democracy.

Even after years of ending of war in Iraq there were no signs of WMD. He said while US-friendly dictators of varying brand around the world were dining with Mr Bush, those opposed to him were branded as terrorists and proliferators of nuclear weapons and executed, he remarked.

UNI

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