Blair on Saddam: We oppose death penalty, whoever it is
The conviction of Saddam Hussein is a reminder of his regime's "barbaric brutality", Tony Blair said today as he ducked questions over whether the former Iraqi dictator should be executed.
An increasingly irritated Prime Minister insisted the issue of the death sentence handed down yesterday had already been answered by Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.
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Pressed repeatedly at his monthly press conference to say whether or not he believed Saddam should be killed, he said: "We are against the death penalty, whether it's Saddam or anybody else.
"However, what I think is important about this is to recognise 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 very clear reminder of the total and barbaric brutality of that regime.
"That does not alter our position on the death penalty at all, but it simply does give us a reminder of that."
There were "other and bigger issues to talk about" in Iraq than the possible execution, he said.
The death sentence was handed down in dramatic courtroom scenes yesterday, with Saddam defiantly shouting "God is Great" and "You are servants of the occupiers".
Baghdad remained under curfew today amid fears of a violent backlash, as defence lawyers awaited details of the verdict and prepared to appeal.
Mrs Beckett has said it was "right" that Saddam should face "Iraqi justice".
"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 it.
"However, this is the verdict of the Iraqi court, it is a matter for the government of Iraq," she told the BBC.
Asked if he felt Saddam should be executed, Mr Blair said he had "nothing to add".
"She set out the position for the Government yesterday and that's all I want to say on it. Our position on the death penalty is well known: we're opposed to it.
"Obviously since we're opposed to the death penalty, we're in exactly the position that she described."
Asked once again, he retorted: "That is just enough, thank you very much. I happen to want to express myself in my own way if you don't mind."
He added: "The trial of Saddam gives us a chance to see again what the past in Iraq was: the brutality, the tyranny, the hundreds of thousands of people that he killed, the wars in which there were a million casualties.
"It also then helps point the way to the only future which, for all the challenges, is the one that Iraqi people want and is worth fighting for, which is a non-sectarian Iraq in which people from different communities live together and decide their future through democracy."
