You will have read this story.
Here is a Pakistani news report on Lord Ahmed:
During his visit he also reportedly said that if Iran is attacked, “the Muslim nation should unite against these powers.”
Politics Home now reports:
Labour has suspended Lord Ahmed from the party after his alleged call for a £10m bounty for the capture of President Obama and President Bush, PoliticsHome can reveal.
Reports from Pakistan suggest Lord Nazir Ahmed made the comments at a conference in Haripur in Pakistan after a $10m reward was offered by the US for information leading to the capture of suspected Islamic terrorist Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
A Labour Party spokesman told PoliticsHome: “We have suspended Lord Ahmed pending investigation.
“If these comments are accurate we utterly condemn these remarks which are totally unacceptable. The international community is rightly doing all in its power to seek justice for the victims of the Mumbai bombings and halt terrorism.”
Perhaps he should be excluded from the United Kingdom.
The BBC has the story too.
He should sit as a RESPECT peer. There are others in Labour who, frankly, should join him.
Update:
They have suspended me? That’s a surprise to me. I did not know. I did not offer a bounty. I said that there have been war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan and those people who have got strong allegations against them – George W Bush and Tony Blair have been involved in illegal wars and should be brought to justice. I do not think there’s anything wrong with that… If the Labour Party want to suspend me I will deal with the Labour Party. They will have to give me some evidence.
Here is the report. It is very specific:
“If the US can announce a reward of $10 million for the captor of Hafiz Saeed, I can announce a bounty of 10 million pounds on President Obama and his predecessor George Bush,” Lord Nazir said, adding that he would arrange the bounty at any cost even if he was left with the option of selling all his personal assets, including his house.
Perhaps it is a conspiracy! Or a complex kind of mistake! Who can say?
Gene adds: And here’s confirmation from another source:
He said that the US had fixed the head money of Hafiz Saeed purposively to keep Pakistan in defensive position. In reverse, he said, I announce 10 million dollars reward against Mr George W Bush. He said that he would collect the money whether he had to beg in the streets but Bush and Tony Blair should be charged with war crimes.
(Hat tip: Kisan)