Suspended peer denies offering £10m bounty for President Obama

A LABOUR peer suspended by the party over reports that he offered a £10 million “bounty” for the capture of US President Barack Obama has denied making the remarks.

A LABOUR peer suspended by the party over reports that he offered a £10 million “bounty” for the capture of US President Barack Obama has denied making the remarks.

A newspaper in Pakistan quoted Lord Ahmed offering cash for the capture of Mr Obama and White House predecessor George Bush at a reception in Haripur on Friday.

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The Express Tribune said he spoke out in direct response to an American reward being offered for the capture of a prominent Pakistani radical.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed founded the violent extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is blamed by India for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 people were killed.

Labour moved swiftly to suspend the peer, pending an investigation. “If these comments are accurate, we utterly condemn these remarks which are totally unacceptable,” a Labour spokeswoman said.

“The international community is rightly doing all in its power to seek justice for the victims of the Mumbai bombings and halt terrorism.”

But Lord Ahmed complained that party chiefs had not spoken to him before announcing the move and challenged the party to produce evidence against him.

Speaking in Pakistan, he said that he had told the meeting that Mr Bush and former prime minister Tony Blair should be prosecuted for war crimes.

However, asked about the reported comments, he said: “I never said those words.”