NEW DELHI : The Congress reacted discreetly to the death sentence passed by a trial court in Iraq against the former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, but the Left parties were forthright in their criticism calling it a "rigged verdict."

As for Muslim bodies and individuals, the Shia Muslim Personal Law Board hailed the verdict as "just punishment," but the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, and spokesperson for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Q.S.R. Ilyas, said that it should have been the United States President George Bush who ought to be tried for killing lakhs of Iraqi men, women and children.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said: "The Congress does not have much to say for three simple reasons. Firstly, it [the verdict] is part of a judicial process. Secondly, that process has taken place in another country. And thirdly, the verdict was subject to review and appeal, and hence, not final. But, since the legal proceedings were only a consequence of the initial United States incursion [into Iraq], a question mark regarding its validity will always remain."

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) described it as a "rigged verdict delivered after a farcical trial."

A statement by the party Polit Bureau said several defence lawyers were murdered and the Chief Judge was changed twice in the course of the trial.

"Judicial assassination"

The party said the British and American governments should realise that if the sentence was executed, it would be seen as a "judicial assassination" of the former Iraqi President and they would be responsible for all consequences.

The CPI (M) demanded that the United Progressive Alliance Government condemn this "judicial travesty" and "actively intervene to get the sentence rescinded." Finally, the party called upon all democratic forces to protest.The All India Forward Bloc described the trial as "a mockery of democratic traditions of international judicature," which "revealed the nasty face of American imperialism." Party general secretary Debabrata Biswas said the verdict was expected as nobody thought the court set up by the United States, after its illegal aggression, would set Saddam Hussein free.

Charging the U.S. of "interfering" in the Iraqi judicial process, he said the Forward Bloc would organise protests and called upon people to join them.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) described the entire trial as a "farce," saying the sentence would have repercussions not only in Iraq but also in West Asia and would cast its shadow on international affairs and politics.

D. Raja, CPI national secretary, said "fairness and genuineness" of the trial were questionable as it was held in an "occupied nation."

"U.S. imperialist forces waged war against Iraq saying that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction. They ravaged and robbed the country but could not come across a single weapon of mass destruction. If trial is held under these circumstances, it is obvious that its fairness and genuineness will be questioned by people," he said.

Calling the verdict a "complete travesty of justice," the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation demanded immediate withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Iraq. The party said the tribunal was set up under the aegis of the U.S. occupation forces, illegally occupying Iraq in violation of all "known canons and principles of international law."

Party general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said the trial conducted and judgment delivered by "such a tribunal therefore cannot be acceptable to the freedom-loving and justice-seeking people of the world." He demanded that the U.S.-led forces must first quit Iraq and hand over Iraq to her sovereign people who alone had the right to decide on the fate of Saddam Hussein and the future of Iraq.

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