(Adds details) By Sophie Walker LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair broke his silence on Saddam Hussein's hanging on Tuesday, calling the manner of the execution "unacceptable" and "wrong". Other ministers in Blair's government have condemned the way Saddam was hanged. But Blair -- U.S. President George W. Bush's main ally in the invasion of Iraq -- had not spoken out publicly until now, despite rising pressure to do so. "As everybody saw, the manner of the execution is unacceptable and it's wrong, but we should ... not allow that ... then to lurch into a position of forgetting the victims of Saddam, the people that he killed deliberately," Blair told a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. A mobile phone video showed observers taunting Saddam with shouts of "Go to hell" and chanting the name of a Shi'ite cleric before he fell through a gallows trapdoor on Dec. 30. The images provoked international criticism and further inflamed sectarian passions in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has pledged an investigation. Blair was on holiday at the Miami home of pop star Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees when the execution took place. A spokeswoman for Blair said on Sunday the prime minister believed the manner of the execution was completely wrong but British media clamoured for Blair to speak out personally. "The manner of the execution of Saddam was completely wrong but that should not blind us to the crimes he committed against his own people, including the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, one million casualties in the Iran-Iraq war and the use of chemical weapons against his own people, wiping out entire villages ...," Blair said. "So the crimes that Saddam committed do not excuse the manner of his execution and the manner of his execution does not excuse the crimes," he said. On Sunday, Finance minister Gordon Brown condemned the way Saddam was hanged as "deplorable". Brown is expected to take over as premier when Blair steps down this year after a decade in office and his intervention was seen by some media as undermining Blair's authority. The execution placed the British government in a difficult position as it opposes the death penalty. Bush has said Saddam's hanging should have been carried out in a "more dignified way" but argued that he received justice, unlike his victims. Brown faces a tough challenge stepping into Blair's shoes. The Labour government has been undermined by the war in Iraq and is beset by scandals, while the opposition Conservatives have revived their fortunes under leader David Cameron. (Additional reporting by Adrian Croft, Chisa Fujioka) (Editing by Elizabeth Piper; adrian.croft@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: adrian.croft.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 20 7542 7947, fax +44 20 7542 7921))
