Controversy over the execution of Saddam Hussein has been fuelled by John Prescott after he attacked the "deplorable" manner of the ex-Iraqi dictator's death.
The Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of the country while Tony Blair holidays in Miami, said leaked footage showing Saddam being taunted by guards was "totally unacceptable".
"I think the manner was quite deplorable really. I don't think one can endorse in any way that, whatever your views about capital punishment," Mr Prescott told the BBC.
"Frankly, to get the kind of recorded messages coming out is totally unacceptable and I think whoever is involved and responsible for it should be ashamed of themselves. To have those kinds of comments is unacceptable and whoever is responsible should be condemned for it," he added in an interview on Radio 4's Today programme.
His tough comments came as the Iraqi government announced an inquiry into the video, apparently filmed on a mobile phone and seen by millions worldwide on internet sites and then television news. It was feared the images would further inflame sectarian violence, although so far protests by angry Sunni Muslims have mainly passed off peacefully.
The grainy images showed verbal exchanges between Saddam, witnesses, and guards, including people chanting the name of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and telling Saddam to "go to hell". Soundless official footage of the execution showed no such confrontations and - unlike the illicit version - stopped short of showing the moment the former president was hanged.
Meanwhile, Italy is appealing to the United Nations to put a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty on the international body's agenda, following a wave of denunciations across Europe over Saddam's execution.
In New York, Italy's ambassador to the UN met with the head of mission for Russia, which currently holds the UN Security Council presidency, to explain its determination to have the issue taken up by the UN General Assembly, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
