Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Iran and Kuwait, both attacked by Saddam Hussein, welcomed his execution today, while Libya mourned his death, and the Arab leaders of Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia remained mum on the hanging of a former colleague.

``The Iraqi people are the victorious ones,'' Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Reza Asefi told the Islamic Republic News Agency, while expressing regrets that his trial only focused on one of his crimes and not the one million killed during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88. Libya declared 3- days of mourning and called Hussein a ``prisoner-of-war.''

Gulf Arab monarchies, with the backing of the U.S., poured billions of dollars into Saddam's war with Iran, and then fought him after he invaded Kuwait in 1990. Still, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah embraced and shook hands for the first time in a decade with one of Saddam's vice-presidents at an Arab League summit in Beirut in 2002.

While the Egyptian government remains silent, the most populous Arab country's Journalists Association condemned today's execution. The increasing gap between the autocratic leaders of Middle East countries and their public threatens to destabilize the region as events such as Saddam's death offer radical forces strong recruiting material.

Hussein, 69, was sentenced to death last month for ordering the 1982 massacre of 148 Shiite Muslims in the Iraqi village of Dujail. An Iraqi appeals court upheld that ruling on Dec. 26, clearing the way for the execution.

Mideast Leaders

``Being a leader in the Arab world has always been a hazardous proposition, but in Iraq especially all heads-of- state, with the exception of one or two, met violent ends,'' Iraq's former foreign minister Adnan Pachachi said in an interview today from Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

Saddam Hussein, who is a Sunni, was hanged in a prison in Kadhimiah suburb of Baghdad where his previous secret police used to torture his opponents, mostly from the current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's al-Dawa party, Sami al-Askari, a member of the Shiite alliance in parliament told Al-Arabiya.

Libya, where the vast majority of the population adheres to Sunni Islam, canceled all festivities celebrating the Eid al Adha Muslim holiday this weekend, and has ordered all flags to be flown at half-mast on government buildings.

Hussein's execution has sparked fears of escalating sectarian violence. Hours after the execution, car bombs went off in Baghdad and the southern Iraqi city of Al Kofa killing over 30 people, according to press reports.

The United Arab Emirates urges the Iraqis to renounce violence, and look forward to achieving national unity, said a U.A.E. government official, who asked not to be identified.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marc Wolfensberger in Tehran at mwolfens@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 30, 2006 07:40 EST