Posted on 03/07/2003 2:07:22 AM PST by hotpotato
'No protest' on Osama execution
07mar03
AUSTRALIA would not intervene if Osama bin Laden was to be executed, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has said.
The Australian Government opposed capital punishment in principle, but its stance did not necessarily apply to the al-Qaeda mastermind, Mr Downer said today.
His comments follow Prime Minister John Howard's statement today that he thought everyone would welcome bin Laden's death.
Mr Howard told American viewers that if bin Laden was caught, he would be dealt with in accordance with United States law and that provided for capital punishment.
"The Government doesn't support the death penalty and that has been a consistent position of our government," Mr Downer said in Adelaide.
"(But) I don't think ... if Osama bin Laden was captured, and whoever captured him took the view that he should be tried and then executed, that the Australian Government would be using a lot of energy in making representations to try and stop that execution.
"I personally have never supported the death penalty but in the case of Osama bin Laden, I don't think that too many tears would be shed if he was executed, bearing in mind all the people he's responsible for killing."
Pakistani and US agents have stepped up the hunt for bin Laden in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan and the country's far north.
Investigators have narrowed bin Laden's possible whereabouts to the two regions based on evidence recovered from al-Qaeda's imprisoned operations chief, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, captured near Islamabad on Saturday.
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