Britain's Lord Nazir Ahmed Offers £10 Million Bounty for Obama, Bush

[Harshaw]

A member of the House of Lords puts up a bounty for the capture of one former and one sitting US President:

During a recent visit to Pakistan, Lord Nazir Ahmed, a member of the British House of Lords who originally hails from Pakistani Kashmir, announced he was putting up a bounty of £10 million for the capture of U.S. President Barack Obama and his predecessor, George W. Bush. The announcement, made at a conference held in the Pakistani town of Haripur, came in response to a recent U.S. announcement offering a $10 million reward to anyone providing information leading to the capture of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, founder of the Pakistani jihadi organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and emir of LeT's charity arm, Jamaatud Dawa.[1]


Stressing the seriousness of his offer, Lord Ahmed said he would back the bounty at any cost, even if it meant selling his house. Qazi Muhammad Asad, minister for education in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, was among those present at the conference at which the announcement was made.

EDIT: I forgot to add the link:

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6281.htm#.T4sBjo3ajLI.twitter

 

[Andalublue]

A member of the House of Lords puts up a bounty for the capture of one former and one sitting US President:

He denies he said any such thing.

Peer suspended

 

[digsbe]

If it's true then I hope the CIA or Secret Service does something about it. Such things inspire terrorists and this man should be severely punished if what was quoted is true.

 

[Harshaw]

He denies he said any such thing.

Peer suspended

Oh, I'm sure he does. At the link above, there are excerpts from the Pakistani press, however:

Following are excerpts from a report on the announcement that appeared in the Pakistani daily The Express Tribune:[SUP][SUP][2][/SUP][/SUP]
"In an expression of solidarity with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, British parliamentarian of Kashmiri origin Lord Nazir Ahmed has announced a reward for the [capture] of U.S. President Barack Obama and his predecessor, George W. Bush.


"He made the announcement at a reception arranged in his honor by the business community of Haripur on Friday [April 13, 2012]. Former [Pakistani] foreign minister Goher Ayub Khan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl's (JUI-F) central leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, and [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] Provincial Minister for Education Qazi Muhammad Asad were also present [at] the occasion.


"Lord Nazir said that the bounty placed on Saeed was an insult to all Muslims, and [that] by [offering it], President Obama has challenged the dignity of the Muslim ummah.


"'If the U.S. can announce a reward of $10 million for the [capture] of Hafiz Saeed, I can announce a bounty of £10 million [for the capture of] 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..."

 

[Andalublue]

Oh, I'm sure he does. At the link above, there are excerpts from the Pakistani press, however:

Being quoted as saying something is not the same as actually having said it. I'm sure the Labour Party investigation will discover whether or not there is any evidence that he really did offer the bounty.

 

[Harshaw]

Being quoted as saying something is not the same as actually having said it. I'm sure the Labour Party investigation will discover whether or not there is any evidence that he really did offer the bounty.

No, it's not the same thing, but why would a Pakistani paper make such a thing up? Those quotes are awfully specific.

 

[Andalublue]

No, it's not the same thing, but why would a Pakistani paper make such a thing up? Those quotes are awfully specific.

Who knows? Why would a British paper hack into the voicemail of a murdered schoolgirl? There are some scummy journalists out there. Mind you, I'm not prejudging this matter. He might have said it, but I'm not going to take a journalist's word for it that he did.

 

[MKULTRABOY]

If it's true then I hope the CIA or Secret Service does something about it. Such things inspire terrorists and this man should be severely punished if what was quoted is true.

Most definitely, Bush needs to stand trial, Obama needs to answer for extralegal droning in pak.

 

[Hatuey]

No, it's not the same thing, but why would a Pakistani paper make such a thing up? Those quotes are awfully specific.

.... Why would Islamist media make this up? The media in Islamist countries never makes anything up.

 

[DiAnna]

This guy is pretty outrageous. A few years back apparently he was texting at the wheel, and had an accident which killed someone. He spent 16 days in jail, then strings were pulled and he was released. I suspect he said exactly what is being alleged. I also doubt they'll be able to prove it, since witnesses are all in Pakistan. :shrug:

 

[Harshaw]

.... Why would Islamist media make this up? The media in Islamist countries never makes anything up.

Why would they make up something that specific, which can do nothing but harm this guy?

This isn't a misquote -- it couldn't be -- so it would have to be a wholesale fabrication. Why?

 

[Enola]

Whether you voted for them or not, like them or not, they are OUR presidents. WE will handle (or not) anything that needs handling. It falls into the line of "I can bitch at my spouse/child/parents, if YOU do...all hell will break loose on your heads" sort of thing.

So let them put bounty on their heads. They have to get through us to do it. And speaking for myself, I'd put up a fight to the death for either of them Why? Cuz they are OURS.Not theirs. And it's an insult to all americans.

Just my humble opinion.

 

[Harshaw]

Who knows? Why would a British paper hack into the voicemail of a murdered schoolgirl? There are some scummy journalists out there.

It might be scummy, but it's not making something up out of whole cloth. It's not the same thing at all.

Mind you, I'm not prejudging this matter. He might have said it, but I'm not going to take a journalist's word for it that he did.

Unless that specific paper had it out for him, Occam's razor cuts toward his having said it. He has far more reason to deny it than the paper does to fabricate it.

 

[Hatuey]

Why would they make up something that specific,

That specific? As compared to what? Jews make matzo out of the blood of children? Or Obama was born in Kenya? Or Bush was behind 9/11? "Specific" in comparison to which lies?

 

[Harshaw]

That specific? As compared to what? Jews make matzo out of the blood of children? Or Obama was born in Kenya? Or Bush was behind 9/11? "Specific" in comparison to which lies?

Are you just being obtuse? This was a story about a specific man saying specific things about specific people, referencing a specific event where the US put a bounty on the leader of a terrorist group; his own "bounty" is supposed to be response to it.

And I ask you again . . . why?

Blood libel against Jews is ancient hatred. Saying Obama was born in Kenya is anti-Obama. Saying Bush was behind 9/11 is anti-Bush, anti-government, anti-Republican, anti-Jew, all kinds of things which make sense when you consider the source. Why THEY would do it is obvious.

This doesn't. Why would a Pakistani paper make something up about a Pakistani Muslim defending a Pakistani Islamist group and making statements against US Presidents?

 

[digsbe]

Most definitely, Bush needs to stand trial, Obama needs to answer for extralegal droning in pak.

Bush does not need to stand trial and Obama shouldn't have anything brought against him.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

So what if it's true? Fair is fair. What I am curious about is why a member of our closest ally's government is so eager to declare himself our enemy-- and why his constituents would elect him in such a case.

If a politician in the US declared a bounty on prominent British officials, I can guarantee that he would lose his next election.

 

[Harshaw]

Lords aren't elected.

 

[samsmart]

So let them put bounty on their heads. They have to get through us to do it. And speaking for myself, I'd put up a fight to the death for either of them Why? Cuz they are OURS.Not theirs. And it's an insult to all americans.

Just my humble opinion.

I don't see why I should have to risk my life for leaders I don't want that perpetuate human rights abuses.

I think that Presidents of the United States should be just as afraid of the consequences of human rights abuses and war crimes as the leader of any other country.

 

[PeteEU]

So what if it's true? Fair is fair. What I am curious about is why a member of our closest ally's government is so eager to declare himself our enemy-- and why his constituents would elect him in such a case.

He is not elected and not part of the sitting government.

If a politician in the US declared a bounty on prominent British officials, I can guarantee that he would lose his next election.

Doubt that. People would not care.

 

[Andalublue]

This guy is pretty outrageous. A few years back apparently he was texting at the wheel, and had an accident which killed someone. He spent 16 days in jail, then strings were pulled and he was released. I suspect he said exactly what is being alleged. I also doubt they'll be able to prove it, since witnesses are all in Pakistan. :shrug:

Sorry DiAnna, but texting at the wheel, undoubtedly criminally stupid as it is, does not make one more likely to engage in Islamist propaganda.

 

[Andalublue]

This doesn't. Why would a Pakistani paper make something up about a Pakistani Muslim defending a Pakistani Islamist group and making statements against US Presidents?

As I said before, who knows? There might be no reason at all, there might be every reason. Do you know anything about the paper in question? Its politics, its link with other groups, its relationship with Lord Ahmed? If you do, I suggest you post it. Until and unless we know more we can't even speculate. The "why would they lie?" argument carries no weight unless you know who 'they' are.

 

[alexa]

This guy is pretty outrageous. A few years back apparently he was texting at the wheel, and had an accident which killed someone. He spent 16 days in jail, then strings were pulled and he was released. I suspect he said exactly what is being alleged. I also doubt they'll be able to prove it, since witnesses are all in Pakistan. :shrug:

He was found to have been texting before the accident but he wasn't responsible for the accident or death

The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Wilkie, made it clear his text messaging had finished two minutes before the accident took place and was not connected.

Martyn Gombar, 28, a Slovakian who was living in Leigh, Lancashire, died when Lord Ahmed's Jaguar hit an Audi car which had stopped in the fast lane of the motorway.

Subsequent tests showed Mr Gombar had been drinking and crashed his car into the central reservation, spinning it round.

As Lord Ahmed approached the Audi it was facing the wrong way straddling the two outermost lanes in total darkness.

Allowing the peer's appeal Lady Justice Hallett said there was "little or nothing" Lord Ahmed could have done to avoid the collision.

Lord Ahmed was knocked unconscious for a while but when he came to he telephoned the emergency services and "risked his life trying to flag down other vehicles to stop them colliding with the Audi or his car".

Lord Ahmed freed on appeal after text messaging behind the wheel - Telegraph

 

[Harshaw]

As I said before, who knows? There might be no reason at all, there might be every reason. Do you know anything about the paper in question? Its politics, its link with other groups, its relationship with Lord Ahmed? If you do, I suggest you post it. Until and unless we know more we can't even speculate. The "why would they lie?" argument carries no weight unless you know who 'they' are.

The Express Tribune - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You could have done this, too.

 

[Manc Skipper]

Memri is not a reliable source of information. It reports only the news which reflects poorly on Arabs (or in this case Pakistanis) or others of a Muslim persuasion. they trawl the press to cherry-pick quotes then present them in the worst possible light. If it helps Israel politically, then that works for them too, since they were established by an Israeli intelligence Colonel.