LONDON, June 16: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Tuesday he opposed the use of the death penalty in Iraq should former dictator Saddam Hussein be found guilty at any trial.

"We shall make very strong representations about the need not to use the death penalty," Mr Straw told lawmakers during a British parliamentary session. "We were successful in the period of the Iraqi governing council in persuading them to suspend the death penalty," he said.

Mr Straw said Iraqi ministers were known to support the use of the death penalty for Saddam after June 30, when the US-led coalition hands over sovereignty to an interim administration.

Iraqi interim prime minister Iyad Allawi said earlier on Tuesday he expected Saddam, held by US forces at an undisclosed location, would be in Iraqi custody by the time of the hand over. But US President George W. Bush said later that the interim Iraqi government must enact tougher security measures before US forces handed Saddam over for trial.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, also speaking on Tuesday, said he supported moves to hand over Saddam to the interim administration in Iraq. He pledged Britain's help to ensure the legal system there "obeys the proper rules of international law". -AFP