Vatican reaction: The Vatican condemned the execution of Saddam Hussein as a "tragic" event and warned that it risked fomenting a spirit of vendetta and sowing fresh violence in Iraq.
"A capital punishment is always tragic news, a reason for sadness, even if it deals with a person who was guilty of grave crimes," said Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi.
"The position of the church [against capital punishment] has been restated often," he said.
The Catholic Church teaches that capital punishment today is unjustifiable because modern society has developed ways of protecting society from further crimes by the guilty party and because only God can end a life.
"The killing of the guilty party is not the way to reconstruct justice and reconcile society.
"On the contrary, there is a risk that it will feed a spirit of vendetta and sow new violence," he said.
The Vatican, which opposed the invasion of Iraq, said Saddam's execution would be likely to worsen the situation on the ground.
"In these dark times for the Iraqi people, one can only hope that all responsible parties truly make every effort so that glimmers of reconciliation and peace can be found in such a dramatic situation," Fr Lombardi added.
Erkii Tuomioja, foreign minister of Finland, which currently holds the EU presidency, said "the European Union has a very consistent stand . . . on opposing the death penalty and it should not have been applied in this case either - even though there is no doubt about Saddam Hussein's guilt over serious violations against human rights."
Russia, whose president, Vladimir Putin, had vocally opposed the US-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam, expressed regret that international opposition to the execution was ignored.
"The political consequences of this step should have been taken into account," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in Moscow.
Moscow warned that Saddam's death could worsen the discord and violence in Iraq.
- (Reuters, AP)