Mohammed Ajeeb, the Deputy Leader of Bradford Council, claims Tony Blair is no better than Saddam Hussein.

Addressing a rally last night, he said the Prime Minister and US President Bill Clinton could not claim to be acting in the name of democracy over the bombing of Iraq.

Making it clear that his views were personal rather than those of the council, he said the pair had instigated violence against the Iraqi people without support.

"It really makes me angry when Clinton and my own leader Tony Blair say that Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator and he has committed atrocities on his own people. I would endorse these remarks but now you have done the same thing.

"So what is the difference between Saddam Hussein and Bill Clinton and Tony Blair? The difference is the last two claim to be the champions of democracy on this planet. This is where they are wrong."

His impassioned speech at a meeting of Muslim groups in the Balti Chef, Manor Row, Bradford, comes just days after Bradford West MP Marsha Singh, also Labour, spoke out against the air strikes.

Members of the many groups who attended the rally vowed they will continue to pressurise the government to lift sanctions - which they say makes Saddam stronger and his people weaker. And they intend to call a meeting with Mr Blair, or at least demonstrate, in Downing Street.

Former Bradford Councillor Altaf Hussain, who is chairman of the Kashmir Peace Organisation, said he planned to take coach-loads of Muslims from Bradford for the event.

Mr Ajeeb said: "It's not Saddam Hussein I am bothered about, it's the people of Iraq.

"We must concentrate on the innocent people who have been killed and whenever and wherever innocent people are killed we must demonstrate our abhorrence."

He added that it was ironic that President Clinton and Mr Blair who instigated talks in Northern Ireland had forgotten that communication was the key to peace.

"History tells us no conflict can be resolved through violence," he said.

General Secretary of the Pakistan Society of West Yorkshire, Mohammed Asghar Choudhury, said: "What they have done in the name of democracy - just two countries! Even the Security Council does not support them. It's not a question of bombing only, it's about the seven-year sanctions."

Council leader Ian Greenwood said the Government had no other alternatives to air strikes and said he supported the sanctions.

He said: "There are occasions when a democracy has to fight and to equate President Clinton and Tony Blair is to fundamentally misunderstand the people we are talking about.

"They are democratic leaders subject to democratic scrutiny. Saddam Hussein is a vicious, evil tyrant who has murdered people on a whim and continues to do so at the drop of a hat."

Councillor Margaret Eaton said Coun Ajeeb's comments were "inappropriate" and "destined to inflame". She said his remarks should have been more measured.

T&A Opinion

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