NEW DELHI: Describing the execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as "unfortunate", India said it was "disappointed" over the development.

New Delhi, which had earlier opposed Hussein's execution, hoped that the event will not affect the process of reconciliation and restoration of peace in the trouble-torn country.

"We had already expressed the hope that the execution would not be carried out. We are disappointed that it has been carried out," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.

"We hope that the unfortunate event will not affect the process of reconciliation, restoration of peace and normalcy in Iraq," he said.

The government had earlier expressed opposition to Hussein's execution and cautioned that no steps should be taken which could delay restoration of peace in the troubled country.

"It is our hope that the sentence will not be carried out and the former President's life would be spared," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna had said on Monday after an Iraqi appeals court upheld the death sentence to Hussein.

New Delhi had hoped that "no steps" would be taken which "might obstruct the process of reconciliation and delay restoration of peace in Iraq."

The ousted Iraqi President was sentenced to the gallows on November 5 this year for the 1982 killings of 148 people in a Shiite town after an attempt on his life there.