Saddam was found guilty of the killing, torture and commission of other crimes against the Shi'ite population of the town of Dujail after some militants from al-Maliki's Dawa party initiated a failed assassination attempt against him there in 1982, during Iraq's war with Shi'ite Iran.

This particular case, however, constituted a small fraction of the genocide ordered by Saddam against Iraqi citizens.

By having Saddam executed sooner rather than later, the al-Maliki government appears to have bowed to the tremendous pressure exerted by Shi'ites who wanted to see him pay for the crimes he committed against them.

In a low-key statement, US President George W Bush said simply that Saddam's execution signified a triumph for the democracy that he promised to foster in Iraq after the 2003 invasion and toppling of the former dictator's regime.

International human-rights groups dismissed the trial as a charade of justice. Three defence lawyers were murdered and a chief judge resigned citing political interference over the course of the year-long trial. The United Nations and many Western countries also have misgivings about the death sentence handed down on Saddam.

It is worth noting that all of the crimes that Saddam committed took place at a time when the tyrant was supported or on friendly terms with the US and virtually all Western countries, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Russia - countries that all had strategic reasons to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the Iraqi people.

His death will make little difference in the foreseeable future to the worsening situation in Iraq, which is sliding towards a civil war between Sunnis and Shi'ites. An upsurge in sectarian violence will likely ensue. Saddam may be seen by some as a martyr and a unifying point for a cry of vengeance against the Shi'ites and the US-led occupying forces, or he may be relegated to the scrap heap of history.

What happens will not change the US's strategy to temporarily boost its military presence before gradually pulling out over the next few years, as the Iraqi military is being primed to take responsibility for the country's national security.

If Saddam's execution serves any purpose it should be to send a clear message to tyrannical rulers everywhere who have committed or are committing crimes against humanity that they could one day be made accountable for their evil deeds. Too many murderous dictators have managed to escape justice and live out their retirements in relative comfort instead of being punished for their heinous crimes.

In carrying out the death sentence against Saddam, the fledgling Iraqi government wanted to be seen as taking charge and made it clear to Iraqis that they can now move forward, rebuild their tortured nation and determine their own destiny, hopefully as a democratic unitary state.

There is also a lesson to be learned by the Iraqi people regardless of whether they are Sunni, Shi'ite or Kurdish. That is that by putting an end to Saddam's reign of terror, the Iraqi people now have the opportunity to embrace democracy, which is the best defence against the tyranny that victimised them for so long under Saddam. Unless Iraqis learn from their painful past, the spectre of a bloodthirsty strongman similar to Saddam could well come back in another guise. One must not underestimate what evil can accomplish when given time and resources.