ROME: For anti-death penalty campaigners, Saddam Hussein's execution by masked hangmen showed the cruelty of capital punishment. For others, it was a fitting end for a man who himself never flinched from sending opponents to die.“Capital punishment is always tragic news, a reason for sadness, even if it deals with a person who was guilty of grave crimes,” said a spokesman for the Vatican, which sees execution as morally wrong in all cases.

US President George W. Bush, who as governor of Texas presided over many executions of criminals, said in a brief statement that the hanging of the former dictator was “an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy”.

But for President Bush’s allies in Europe, where the death penalty is outlawed, the execution made for uncomfortable viewing.

“You don't fight barbarism with acts that I deem as barbaric,” said Louis Michel, a member of the European Commission and, as a former Belgian foreign minister, an outspoken critic of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

“The death penalty is against the values of the European Union ... whatever the crimes committed by Saddam Hussein -- and he committed horrible ones.”

While all European Union countries oppose the death penalty, key figures in the region were careful not to appear to be pardoning the dictator or criticising Iraqi and US policy.

“The EU condemns the crimes committed by Saddam. The EU condemns also the death penalty,” said a spokesman for the bloc’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Britain, Washington's closest ally in Iraq, said although it opposed capital punishment, it was Iraq's sovereign right to apply the penalty.

France avoided either condoning or criticising the hanging. In a statement, it “took note” of the execution but stressed its opposition to the death penalty.

ANACHRONISM: “The German government has always said that there are no doubts whatsoever about Saddam's crimes. But we are opposed to the death penalty, no matter where it is used,” Berlin said.

London-based rights group Amnesty International said the execution was wrong in principle and also because Saddam's trial was flawed.

“Not only is the death penalty a violation of the right to life, but this most extreme penalty was imposed after a clearly unfair trial,” said spokesman James Dyson.

Dyson said only two countries in Europe -- Belarus and Uzbekistan -- still have the death penalty and that it is not allowed by any international tribunals that deal with crimes against humanity or genocide.

“What’s happened today with Saddam Hussein is an anachronism,” he said.

While supporters of Saddam’s execution said they hoped his death would close a long and painful chapter in Iraq's history, anti-death penalty groups said it could bring more instability and violence.

“The killing of the guilty party is not the way to reconstruct justice and reconcile society,” said the Vatican’s spokesman, Federico Lombardi. “On the contrary, there is a risk that it will feed a spirit of vendetta and sow new violence.”—Reuters