BAGHDAD, Jan 6: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki on Saturday threatened to ‘review’ relations with countries which criticised the execution of Saddam Hussein, saying the hanging was an internal matter.

As Mr Maliki lashed out at critics of his government, the bodies of 71 people killed execution-style were found in Baghdad, providing more grisly evidence of Iraq's raging sectarian conflict.

“The Iraqi government could be obliged to review its relations with any state that fails to respect the wish of the Iraqi people,” he in his first reaction to the ousted president's hanging in Baghdad on December 30.

“We consider the execution of the dictator an internal affair that concerns only the Iraqi people,” he said while speaking at a ceremony on the 86th anniversary of the Iraqi army.

He slammed those who criticised the execution.

“We find that this conduct is inciting sedition and flagrant interference in the internal affairs of Iraq and abuses feelings of the families of the victims,” said the prime minister.

He insisted Saddam's hanging was not a political act.

“The execution of the despot was not a political decision as suggested by the enemies of Iraqi people,” he said. “The decision was implemented after a just trial which the dictator did not deserve as the crimes he committed against the people, the country and its institutions were disgraceful.”

He said the criticism would not deter his government from punishing other officials of the ousted regime.

“We will go ahead in applying the law against those who abused the Iraqi people,” he said.—AFP