A day after the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussain was sentenced to death, Muslim clerics on Monday denounced the verdict, saying it is not acceptable to the Islamic world.

"The verdict was not from an independent Iraqi court and hence is unacceptable to the Islamic world," Maulana Ahsan Qasimi, deputy in-charge of the fatwa department of Darool Uloom Waqf Deoband, said on Monday.

Supporting his claim, All India Ulema Organisation president Maulana Anjar Shah Kashmiri alleged that the verdict was a part of American conspiracy to increase its influence in West Asia.

Mufti Zulfiqar, a member of the Shariat court, termed the verdict unfair.

Some other clerics demanded that the case against the Arab leader should be heard again by an independent court.

There was a mixed reaction from Muslims across the country on the death sentence, with some denouncing the verdict, terming it as unfair; others said the former Iraqi President deserved the punishment.