Australia's main opposition party the Labor party Saturday said former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's death is unlikely to have impact on the deadly sectarian unrest in the war-torn Gulf country.

Australian Labor leader Kevin Rudd doubted whether Saddam's execution will help stop the violence in Iraq.

"Labor questions whether the execution of Saddam Hussein will in any way reduce sectarian and political violence in Iraq, which has already brought that country to the brink of civil war," he said in a statement.

Rudd said Saddam deserved severe punishment for his crimes against humanity, but not the death penalty.

Meanwhile, Labor foreign affairs spokesman Robert McClelland doubted Saddam's death will lead to an improvement in the conditions in Iraq.

"Whether his execution is going to serve any purpose in terms of the goal of bringing the conflicting sides in Iraq together is obviously doubtful," he told Australian Associated Press.

"We are doubtful that his execution will contribute to the resolution of sectarian violence plaguing Iraq," he said.

McClelland said Saddam should have been punished severely, but the death penalty was not an appropriate sentence.

He said Saddam should have been sentenced to life in jail instead.

SSaddam Hussein, 69, was toppled by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He was executed early Saturday morning in Iraq.

Source: Xinhua