The European Union (EU) leaders and officials expressed on Saturday the EU's opposition to the death penalty against former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

"The passing of Saddam Hussein closes a long, painful chapter in the history of Iraq. While the EU opposes capital punishment as a matter of principle, Saddam's trial and punishment mean that those who commit crimes against humanity cannot escape justice," EU commissioner on external relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.

The commissioner made the comment in a written statement in response to the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was hanged earlier on Saturday.

Waldner noted that Saddam Hussein's career and legacy show the "futility of the politics of violence and terror", adding that she hopes that all Iraqi leaders will now find the wisdom and courage to join forces to end the violence and to build a future of stability and prosperity for their country and people.

"The European Commission will continue to give active and substantial support to those who work for reconciliation and progress in Iraq," she added.

Earlier, Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana reiterated the EU's opposition to death penalty.

"The EU condemns the crimes committed by Saddam Hussein. The EU 's position is that we are always against death penalty," the spokeswoman, who was reluctant to notify her name, told Xinhua over phone.

Finland, which will hand over the EU presidency in two days to Germany, echoed the similar position.

"The EU has a very consistent view against using the death penalty and it should have not been used in this instance either, although there is no doubt over Saddam's guilt of very serious crimes against humanity," Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja told Finnish YLE television.

EU Aid and Development Commissioner Louis Michel believed capital punishment was at odds with the democracy Iraq's leaders were trying to build.

"You don't fight barbarism with acts that I deem as barbaric. The death penalty is not compatible with democracy," he said.

"Unfortunately Saddam Hussein risks to appear as a martyr, and he does not deserve that. He is not a martyr, he committed the worst things," he added.

Source: Xinhua