Putra Jaya: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said British Prime Minister Tony Blair is as much a war criminal as he (Blair) accused hanged former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of being one.The former Prime Minister said the number of people Blair caused to be killed was "very many more" than the number Saddam caused to be killed."Mr Blair has not said a word (on the hanging). Whether he says a word or not, he is a culprit. He is as much a war criminal as he accused Saddam of being one," Dr Mahathir told a news conference here on the convening of a conference aimed at criminalising war in Kuala Lumpur next month.
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"Blair himself did not kill. Everybody ensured that other people did the killing," he said.Dr Mahathir said the manner Saddam was hanged at the end of 2006 was terrible, with people in attendance showing what he described as the behaviour of "very uncivilised people".
"And he (Saddam) displayed great courage although he was going to be killed," he said, stressing that what Saddam went through was a travesty of justice."There was no real court that tried him. It was illegal all the way through," he said in a blunt analysis of what had befallen Saddam.
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Dr Mahathir said that the Americans, the British and "possibly this little country in the south called Australia" were behind the hanging."They cannot say that they are not involved as they are directly involved in this. The judges were trained by Americans, the lawyers were all trained by the Americans," he said.
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The former PM said: "I am disgusted at these people because they tell us that the death penalty is bad, that we should abolish it in Malaysia."
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But in truth, Dr Mahathir said what happened was exactly the opposite, that they actively promoted the death penalty, Britain in particular."In the US of course they still electrocute people or inject poison for criminals to be executed. England is supposed to have given up the death penalty because it is inhuman," he added.- Bernama
