HAVANA, (Reuters):

Cuba on Monday condemned the execution of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as an assassination and called for an end to the United States-led war.

"It is political foolishness, an illegal act in a country that has been driven to an internal conflict in which millions of citizens have been exiled or lost their lives," the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It called Saddam's hanging, which was carried out by Iraqis at dawn on Saturday, an "assassination committed by the occupying power," the United States.

Islamic holy day

The world was astonished that Saddam's execution took place on an Islamic holy day when Muslims practice clemency, the statement said.

"It is also time that hundreds of thousands of young Americans stop dying or suffering the sequels of war," said the statement, which was published by the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma.

Cuba said it was morally obliged to condemn Saddam's execution even though it has not yet abolished capital punishment.

The statement said this was due to the "brutal war" imposed by the United States on Cuba, a reference to U.S. efforts to oust the leftist government of Fidel Castro for almost half a century.