New Delhi, Nov. 5: After much deliberation and under pressure from the Left, India today issued a cautious statement that sought to focus attention on the legal process behind the death sentence on Saddam Hussein.

“Such life-and-death decisions require credible, due process of law, which does not appear to be victors’ justice and is acceptable to the people of Iraq as well as the international community,” a statement issued by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said.

By leaving unsaid whether today’s verdict met those requirements, the statement could be interpreted to suggest that India is raising questions about the process. Such a twist should come in handy to pacify allies like the CPM without hurting bilateral friends like the US.

Mukherjee added that India had always “stood for peaceful resolution to the problems in Iraq” and hoped that the verdict would “not add to the sufferings of Iraq”. The statement mentioned that Iraqi law allowed for an “automatic appeal procedure”.

The statement came late in the evening after a long meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mukherjee.

Before the official view was put out, the Left parties had stepped up pressure by condemning the “judicial travesty” in no uncertain terms and demanded that the Centre should not only do the same but also “actively intervene to get this sentence rescinded”.

A statement issued by the CPM’s politburo termed the verdict “totally rigged after a farcical trial”.

Although the Congress was not as unequivocal, its spokesperson, Abhishek Singhvi, too, contested the fairness of Saddam’s trial. “Since the legal proceedings are an outcome of the initial US incursion into Iraq, there will always be a question mark regarding their validity,” he said.

The BJP was the only mainstream party that chose not to react.

Foreign affairs analysts were, however, sceptical of the extent to which India could engage itself in the case.

A former diplomat, who did long stints in Iraq and Iran, added: “Saddam was a friend but we can’t do much about him. Registering a protest is meaningless because the UN, post facto, legitimised the US invasion. What does India say? If it says the sentence is wrong, it will be like blaming a lot of people — the UN, the major powers and the present Iraqi government.”