Obama looks like a ‘mobster’, Ken Livingstone says
By Ian Dunt
The killing of Osama bin Laden has made US President Barack Obama look like a “mobster”, Ken Livingstone has said.
The Labour London mayoral candidate, who has a long track record backing a principled foreign policy, said the al-Qaida leader should have been captured instead.
“I just looked at it and realised that it would increase the likelihood of a terror attack on London,” he said.
“That’s very much the American style but I don’t think I’ve ever felt pleased at the death of anybody. The real problem for London is that after America we’re a big target so it’s a very dangerous time at the moment.”
He added: “We should have captured him and put him on trial. It’s a simple point – are we gangsters or a Western democracy based on the rule of law?
“This undermines any commitment to democracy and trial by jury and makes Obama look like some sort of mobster.”
The comments come amid an increasingly critical reception for the news that the terrorist leader was killed by US forces on Monday morning.
An original statement from the White House said that he had been shot after resisting capture and that one of his wives had been killed after he used her as a human shield.
But it has emerged that the human shield story was false and that Bin Laden was not armed at the time of the assault.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “There was concern that Bin Laden would oppose the capture operation and, indeed, he resisted.”
Under international law the target must be given a chance to surrender and can only be shot if they resist.
Mr Carney said the contradictory accounts emerging from the US were a result of the need to provide detailed information to the public quickly.
