'Sharon inspires al-Qaeda'

2005-03-08 15:35

Jerusalem - London mayor Ken Livingstone accused the Israeli government of inspiring terrorist network al-Qaeda in comments to Israel's right-wing Jerusalem Post newspaper published on Tuesday.

The maverick mayor, a member of Britain's governing Labour Party, stood by his claim that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Shaorn is a war criminal, carried in an article on Friday in Britain's Guardian newspaper.

In a written response to questions from Israel's English-language daily, Livingstone said the Israeli government threatens the entire Western world by inspiring terrorist groups such as Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

"The threat is from the policies of the current Israeli government, which in its abuse of the human rights of the Palestinians... raises the temperature of the Middle East to a boiling point - thereby creating threats to all of us," the Post quoted him as saying.

"This policy acts as a recruiting sergeant to extremist groups such as al-Qaeda who can pose as supporters of the Palestinian cause.

"Only a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, will bring long-term security," Livingstone reportedly said.

Livingstone told the Post that he would happily meet Sharon and "express to him in a meeting exactly the same views I have expressed in public".

On Friday, Livingstone launched a searing critique of Israeli policies in the Guardian and brushed off fresh calls to apologise for comments last month when he compared a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard.

He called Sharon "a war criminal who should be in prison, not in office" and denounced what he called the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians. - AFP

- SAPA