December 18, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 23, 1424

WASHINGTON, Dec 17: US President George Bush said on Tuesday that Saddam Hussein should face “the ultimate penalty”, as the Central Intelligence Agency took charge of interrogating the former Iraqi president.

The US president’s call found little international echo on Wednesday, with several leaders going on record as saying they would oppose the death penalty.

The administration has made it known the US would not object if Saddam was given the death penalty, even though this could reopen divisions with the United Nations and even some allies who oppose execution.

“We’ll see what penalty he gets. But I think he ought to receive the ultimate penalty ... for what he has done to his people,” Mr Bush said in an interview with ABC television.

Saddam Hussein will remain in US military custody at a secret location, but CIA director George Tenet will manage the Iraqi leader’s interrogation, Mr Rumsfeld said.

Mr Bush said he had no desire for a personal encounter with Saddam, who is alleged to have organized a plot to assassinate his father, ex-president George Bush. “I’ve seen enough of him. I saw him getting deloused after having been pulled out of a rat hole.”

But the US leader also insisted in the ABC interview that he did not want a “kangaroo court” for Saddam and that it was for Iraqis to decide the trial and punishment without an American presence.

OPPOSITION: A spokesman for the European Commission, the executive arm of the 15-national European Union, said the EU’s rejection of capital punishment is very clear.

“It’s a position of principle, whatever the circumstances, the gravity of the crimes committed,” said Diego Ojeda.

He said the most important thing was that Saddam should be “judged by an independent and credible court, to answer for the 30 years of tyranny and all the crimes he has committed”.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Monday: “We have abolished the death penalty here, we are opposed to the death penalty and its use in other countries, and we campaign hard to try and extend the abolition of the death penalty.”

A similar view came from other European capitals on Wednesday.

“If it concerns the death penalty, you know our position, which is also that of the European Union,” said a French foreign ministry spokesman.

The Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot said the Netherlands would support any tribunal set up to judge the old dictator, but not if it contemplated execution as a possibility.

Italian Defence Minister Antonio Martino said he personally opposes the death penalty and added, “I am not alone. The government and the great majority of the Italian people are against the death penalty.”

Spanish Justice Minister Jose Maria Michavila said Spain wanted to see a “just sentence” passed against Saddam, but anything short of the death penalty.

But UN Secretary General Koffi Annan made it clear on Monday that the world organization would not support such a move.—AFP