Prime Minister Blair Opposes Death Penalty for Saddam

LONDON — Prime Minister Blair said yesterday that he opposes the death penalty for Saddam Hussein — a reluctant admission that, on this issue, the British prime minister stands by colleagues in the European Union and not with his American allies.

But E.U. opposition to the sentence seems to be more a reaffirmation of principles than a serious challenge that could affect the imposition of the sentence.

Reporters at Mr. Blair's monthly news conference had to press him hard to elicit an acknowledgment that his long-standing opposition to capital punishment also applied to the deposed dictator. Every time he mentioned his disapproval of the punishment, he added a lengthy condemnation of Saddam's brutality, and he made it clear that he did not intend any protest of the sentence.

"There are other and bigger issues to talk about," he said. "The trial of Saddam gives us a chance to see again what the past in Iraq was, the brutality, the tyranny, the hundreds of thousands of people he killed, the wars in which there were a million casualties."

Nonetheless, Mr. Blair's stance puts him at odds with President Bush, who praised the death sentence Sunday as "a milestone in the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law."

Mr. Blair's view was widely shared by European leaders, many of whom noted their opposition to capital punishment but welcomed Saddam's trial and conviction — as did the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand.

The E.U.'s 25 governments are strongly opposed to the death penalty and have often appealed to foreign governments on behalf of Europeans facing execution abroad.