31 December 2006
Minsk condemns hanging of Saddam

The Belarusian foreign ministry condemned the December 30 execution of Saddam Hussein as a hasty lynching.

The execution of the former Iraqi president "risks becoming a starting point for increasing the surge of violence in Iraq and having repercussions in neighboring states in the region," Andrei Popov, spokesman for the ministry, said on Saturday.

"The hasty lynching of Saddam Hussein is what is called victor's justice," Mr. Popov said. "The moral aspect of all this is evident. In addition, the legal faultlessness of the trial of the former president of Iraq aroused serious doubts at the very beginning and continue arousing them in many states of the world, including, as far as we understand, among the countries of the European Union. It is difficult to understand the logic of the initiators of the execution of the former Iraqi leader."

"The United States has exploded yet another bomb under the shaky balance in the Middle East and one can expect various kinds of social and political earthquakes, which will hurt the United States itself very badly," Nikolai Cherginets, a senior member of the Belarusian National Assembly's Council of the Republic, commented in an interview with BelaPAN.

The chairman of the upper chamber's Committee on International Affairs and National Security expressed his bewilderment at the stance of European states. "In words, many of them said that they opposed the execution," he said. "But they should point out that they do not agree to the policy that the USA has been pursuing in the last decade, driving the world into such deadlocks that can certainly lead to global wars. It's high time to stop the United States, and this should be done by, above all, the countries that are highly close to the USA. They should have already expressed their opinion to the USA."

The execution of Saddam Hussein will bring no good to Iraq, Sergei Gaidukevich, leader of Belarus' Liberal Democratic Party and a member of the House of Representatives, told BelaPAN.

"In this regard, I agree with European Union colleagues," said Mr. Gaidukevich, who has recently been appointed as the Belarusian foreign minister's special representative for relations with European parliamentary organizations. "This [hanging] is a barbarous method of execution and therefore doubts emerge regarding democracy in Iraq and the stance of the USA."

According to Mr. Gaidukevich, the execution may increase tension in Iraq. "They created a big precedent by this execution. They created a symbol of struggle for all, including Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. This is a multinational country. I know this proud nation and don't doubt that they will put this symbol on the banner of struggle."

In 1982 and 1983, Mr. Gaidukevich served as a Soviet military expert in Iraq. In 1998, he was the only European politician invited to Saddam Hussein's birthday.