A senior diplomat in the British Foreign Office has been arrested for inciting religious hatred through threatening words and behavior after launching into an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish tirade at his London gym.
Rowan Laxton, the head of the South Asia Group at the Foreign Office, shouted "F***ing Israelis, F***ing Jews!" while watching television reports of Israeli attacks on Gaza terrorists and riding an exercise bicycle.
Despite requests from staff and fitness enthusiasts at the London Business School gym in Regent's Park to quiet down, Laxton railed that Israeli soldiers should be "wiped off the face of the earth."
The diplomat was arrested, and faces a maximum penalty of seven years in prison with a fine. He is currently released on bail.
Touted as an expert on the Middle East, Laxton ran the British High Commission in Pakistan for three years before moving to Afghanistan in 2001, during which time he married a Muslim banker. He returned to London after a two year stay in Kabul, and was appointed to head the South Asia Group last year. His Muslim wife currently works in the United Arab Emirates.
Adding embarrassment to the British diplomatic establishment, the country will host a an international summit next week on combating anti-Semitism, with politicians attending from 35 countries. Laxton's Jewish boss, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, has made no official comment.