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Blair's office: Hussein hanged in 'completely wrong' way

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair will speak out against the execution of Saddam Hussein, calling the way it was carried out "completely wrong," officials at Downing Street told CNN.

At the same time, Blair will affirm his support for Iraq's inquiry into the December 30 hanging and will caution against forgetting Hussein's crimes, Downing Street said.

Blair is expected to address the matter in public comments throughout the week.

The outgoing British leader will show that he "supports the Iraqi inquiry as we have already made clear, and that he believes the manner of execution was completely wrong. This should not lead us to forget the crimes (Hussein) committed," Downing Street said.

Iraqi leaders have come under fire after leaked cell phone video showed Shiite witnesses taunting the former Sunni Iraqi dictator just before his execution.

Britain's finance minister Gordon Brown -- expected to succeed Blair as Labour Party leader -- said that video showed "a deplorable set of events" leading up to the execution.

"It is something of course which the Iraqi government has now expressed its anxiety and shame at," Brown told the BBC.

"It has done nothing to lessen the tensions between the Shia and Sunni communities.

"Even those people, unlike me, who are in favor of capital punishment found this completely unacceptable," Brown said.

"I'm pleased that there is now an inquiry into this and I hope lessons in this area will be learned, as we learn lessons in so many other areas about what's happened in Iraq."

-- CNN's Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report

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