Lord Nazir Ahmed says 'bounty' on Obama capture is false and misconstrued

It would seem the comments reported on Lord Nazir Ahmed, as having issued a ‘bounty’ for former US President George Bush and ex-PM Tony Blair, have been entirely misconstrued.

It would appear from a translation of Lord Ahmed’s speech in Pakistan last week that what he actually spoke of was his offer of support for the establishment of a legal fund to put Bush and Blair on trial before the International Court of Justice for war crimes.

From the Daily Mail:

“Britain’s first Muslim peer has offered to set up a £10million legal fund to bring Tony Blair before the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

“It had been reported initially that Lord Ahmed of Rotherham put up the cash as a ‘bounty’ for the capture of U.S. president Barack Obama.

“But a video of his speech at a reception in Pakistan last Friday suggests his remarks concerned the former prime minister as well as Mr Obama’s predecessor, George W Bush.

“He is heard saying in Urdu: ‘Even if I have to beg in Haripur, Pakistan, the U.S. or Britain, even if I have to beg, I am willing to raise and offer £10million so that George W Bush and Tony Blair can be brought to the International Court of Justice on war crimes charges.’”

In March 2010, on the seventh anniversary of the Iraq invasion, a Brussels based journalist attempted a citizen’s arrest of Tony Blair to face war crimes charges. David Cronin said he was motivated to carry out the arrest by his “contempt for the crimes he has committed and abetted in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon and Serbia.”