Kalashnikov councillor escapes SNP expulsion

Published on Sunday 31 August 2008 22:16

AN SNP councillor caught on video firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle in Pakistan has escaped expulsion from his party, it emerged yesterday.

The party's disciplinary committee decided not to expel Jahangir Hanif, and instead suspended him for two months.

The investigation into the 46-year-old Glasgow businessman's conduct was launched earlier this month after still images from the video, which showed him brandishing the weapon, were published in a newspaper.

The video was taken during a trip to Pakistan in 2005 with five of his children. Mr Hanif also showed his children how to use the gun during the trip into the mountains near the Kashmir border, according to his daughter, Noor, who was on the trip.

The councillor was suspended after the footage emerged and his party branded his actions "foolish and inappropriate".

Mr Hanif apologised for the incident, but said it was before he became a councillor.

A hearing of the SNP disciplinary committee in Edinburgh found he had breached party discipline and rules but stopped short of expelling him.

An SNP spokeswoman said that the committee's decision is subject to appeal.

Labour MSP Frank McAveety said: "It is absolutely outrageous for a public representative to be pictured with an AK-47 assault rifle.

"The SNP disciplinary committee might have refused to dump Jahangir Hanif, but ultimately it will be the voters who decide his future."