Back in 1998, Lord Nazir Ahmed, 53, became the first Muslim life peer (appointed member of British nobility whose title cannot be inherited, as opposed to hereditary peers). Now he is reported to have said: “‘If the US 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 Ahmed made the comments at a conference in Haripur in Pakistan.
A Labour Party spokesman said to the Telegraph: “We have suspended Lord Ahmed pending investigation. If these comments are accurate we utterly condemn these remarks which are totally unacceptable.”
According to Pakistan’s Express Tribune, Lord Ahmed offered the bounty after hearing that the US had issued a $10 million reward for the capture of Pakistani terrorist leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, who it suspected of orchestrating the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people died as terrorists stormed hotels, a train station, and the local Chabad House. Six Jews were murdered in that attack, including Chabad emissaries Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg.
Lord Ahmed, a native of Pakistan, became Baron Ahmed of Rotherham at the age of 40. According to the Telegraph, in 2007 he objected strongly to awarding a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, because the author had “blood on his hands.”
In 2009 Lord Ahmed was jailed for getting into a fatal car crash while texting. The Court of Appeal later suspended his 12-week jail sentence.