Killing British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a suicide bombing would be morally justified as revenge for the war in Iraq, firebrand lawmaker George Galloway has said.
In a magazine interview that was widely reported on Friday, the MP for the anti-war party, Respect, was asked if it would be justifiable for a suicide bomber to blow up Blair, provided there were no other casualties.
Galloway told GQ magazine: “Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it — but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of July 7.”
He was referring to the London attacks last year, when four Islamic extremists killed 52 people and themselves by bombing the transport network.
“It would be entirely logical and explicable,” the leftist lawmaker said. “And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq — as Blair did.”
Galloway said he would alert the authorities if he learnt of a plot to kill the prime minister — but only to prevent generating “anti-Arab” propaganda.
“Such an operation would be counter-productive because it would just generate a new wave of anti-Arab sentiment whipped up by the press,” he said.
“It would lead to new draconian anti-terror laws, and would probably strengthen the resolve of the British and American services in Iraq, rather than weaken it. So, yes, I would inform the authorities.”
Galloway said he would rather see Blair brought to trial for war crimes than killed because innocent civilians would also likely die in such an attack.
His remarks immediately sparked a storm of protest.
MP Stephen Pound, of Blair’s governing Labour Party, told The Sun tabloid newspaper: “These comments take my breath away. Galloway is disgraceful and truly twisted.
“Every time you think he can’t sink any lower he goes and stuns you again. It’s beyond reprehensible to say it would be justified for a suicide bomber to assassinate anyone.”
Galloway, who formerly belonged to Labour but now represents his own left-wing Respect party, is no stranger to controversy.
He joined Fidel Castro earlier this week on a television show designed to rebut claims that the Cuban president had amassed a large personal fortune.
Galloway compared his own struggle against allegations that he took money from former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein with Castro’s battle against claims of secret wealth. — AFP