Blair shrugs off arrest threats

2012-08-30 10:25

Tony Blair (AP)

Johannesburg - Former UK prime minister Tony Blair has shrugged off protests and threats of a citizen's arrest against him by South Africans Muslim groups, The Star reported on Thursday.

"What I say to these groups is this: 'Why don't you actually go and protest against the people doing the killing?'" he told the paper.

"The vast majority of people dying from terrorist activity [are] Muslim on Muslim violence," Blair said.

The groups have threatened to make a citizen's arrest against him when he appears at the Discovery Invest Leadership conference in Sandton on Thursday.

Blair also responded to criticism from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who pulled out of the conference.

Tutu had said Blair's part in the invasion of Iraq based on unfounded allegations of weapons of mass destruction was "morally indefensible".

Blair said the invasion of Iraq was needed to remove Saddam Hussein, who had committed atrocities, from power.

"These are very difficult decisions. But I don't think you could say that leaving Saddam Hussein in place was a morally superior choice. So I think it's sensible for us to just agree to disagree on it," Blair said.

- SAPA