British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday he opposed the death penalty for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein but that his trial had reminded the world of the deposed leader's "brutality."
Asked about Saddam's sentence at his monthly press conference, Blair noted that Britain opposed the death penalty, "whether it's Saddam or anyone else." But, according to the AP, he said the trial "gives us a chance to see again what the past in Iraq was, the brutality, the tyranny, the hundreds of thousands of people he killed, the wars."
Earlier on Monday, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett was questioned about the use of the death penalty and she said: "It is absolutely the case that we do not approve of the death penalty, never have, and always try to persuade others not to use the death penalty. However this is the verdict of the Iraqi court, it is a matter for the Government of Iraq."
