Tehran, Dec 31 -- Iran\'s former president and Expediency Council chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Sunday welcomed Iraqi dictator Saddam\'s capital punishment and said it is a \"clear example of divine justice.\"

\"Iraqi events and what have until today taken place in the country mark divine justice,\" said Ayatollah Rafsanjani while addressing large groups of worshipers at Tehran University campus on Eid Qurban (Feast of Sacrifice).

Ayatollah Rafsanjani said God Almighty has in the holy book Quran promised vengeance on the idols.

He then hoped for restoration of security and peace in Iraq.

Saddam died by hanging around dawn on Saturday, December 30, after an Iraqi appeals court upheld an earlier death verdict against him for his role in the 1982 killings of Shiites.