Spanish foreign minister Ana Palacio. (AFP)

London, Dec. 17 (Reuters): George W. Bush’s view that Saddam Hussein should be executed stirred unease today in Europe, where the death penalty is outlawed, and concern in West Asia that the ex-dictator’s fate had already been sealed.

The US President said in an ABC News interview yesterday that Saddam, captured last Saturday, deserved the “ultimate penalty” for his brutal rule and that Iraqis should conduct the trial. The remarks put Washington’s European allies in an uncomfortable position and politicians in Britain, Spain and Italy, firm supporters of the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam in April, ducked away from talk of execution.

“I don’t believe in the death penalty... but I respect the views of others,” British home secretary (interior minister) David Blunkett told BBC Radio. “I believe it would be right for the Iraqi people to make the decision.”

Spain’s foreign minister Ana Palacio said she opposed the death penalty for Saddam and that his trial should showcase the power of humanity over inhumanity.

“Saddam’s trial must be a symbol of human ethics and morality in the face of the most miserable and inhumane qualities,” she said. Italian defence minister Antonio Martino was also against a death sentence. “I am not willing to give political powers a license to kill,” he told a news conference.

West Asian leaders and commentators said Bush’s comments reinforced their belief that the US’ most prized prisoner would not get a fair trial.

Abdulaziz al-Muhana, a Saudi newspaper columnist, said Bush should not have expressed any opinion on Saddam’s fate.

“It is not fitting for the President of a great power to call for the death sentence on another president,” he said.

Sweden’s foreign minister Laila Freivalds agreed that politicians should not interfere.

“We politicians shouldn’t say anything at all about what decision the court should make,” she said. Pierre Moscovici, France’s former European affairs minister, now France’s representative in the Convention on the Future of Europe, said Bush’s comments prejudged the verdict.

“A trial should never be concluded before the judgment has taken place,” he said.“It's very typical that (Bush) is seeking revenge and punishment (but) what worries me is that this is a form of pressure.”

Jordan, an ally of the US in West Asia, said only the Iraqi people could decide Saddam’s punishment. “The trial is an Iraqi affair we feel and that it is up to the Iraqi people themselves to decide the fate of Hussein and not up to us or any other party,” said foreign minister Marwan Muasher.