Bush: Saddam Execution Looked Like Revenge Killing

Tensions between the White House and the Iraqi government resurfaced today as the US president, George Bush, criticised the manner of Saddam Hussein's execution.

Mr Bush said the hanging had looked like "kind of a revenge killing" and had dented the US public's faith in the Iraqi government.

In remarks bound to grate on Baghdad, Mr Bush said the episode had shown that the government of the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, still had "some maturation to do".

The execution of Saddam, amid taunting by his Shia guards, and the subsequent hanging of two of the dictator's co-defendants sparked anger among Iraq's Sunnis, deepening the country's sectarian divide.

In a US television interview yesterday evening, Mr Bush acknowledged that the handling of Saddam's execution had made his job harder.

"I was disappointed and felt like they fumbled," Mr Bush told Public Television's Jim Lehrer. He said the way the execution had been conducted was making it harder for him "to make the case to the American people that this is a government that does want to unify the country".

Amid deep public scepticism, Mr Bush last week said he would send 21,500 more troops to Iraq in an effort to quell sectarian violence in Baghdad.

At least 65 people were killed yesterday in an explosion outside a Baghdad university; in the country as a whole, more than 140 Iraqis were killed or found dead. A new UN report said 34,452 Iraqi civilians were killed last year - an average of 94 a day - and 36,685 wounded.

The Bush plan depends on the Iraqi government confronting Shia militias and death squads in Baghdad. However, while publicly proclaiming confidence in Mr Maliki, US officials have privately questioned his willingness or ability to rein in the militias.

In his frankest admission over Iraq, Mr Bush said US policy had been headed for "a slow failure" until he changed course last week.

"I had a choice to make," he said. "Do what we're doing - and one could define that maybe a slow failure. Secondly, withdraw out of Baghdad and hope for the best; I think that would be expedited failure. And thirdly is to help this Iraqi government with additional forces - help them do what they need to do, which is to provide security in Baghdad."

The president will be able to gauge the extent of congressional opposition to the increase in troop numbers soon because Democratic House and Senate leaders are due to hold votes on his decision.

The Senate leadership is expected to propose a resolution denouncing the increase tomorrow, with a debate planned for around the same time Mr Bush delivers his state of the union address next Tuesday. The House of Representatives will follow suit with its own resolution.

The outcomes will not be binding, but they are expected to show the extent to which Republicans have deserted Mr Bush on Iraq.