Barack Obama
Barack ObamaReuters

A controversial British parliamentarian has announced a bounty for the capture of U.S. President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush, the Al-Arabiya network reported Sunday, citing a report in Pakistan’s Express Tribune.

The parliamentarian is Lord Nazir Ahmed, who became the first Muslim life peer in 1998. Ahmed, who is of Kashmiri origin, reportedly made the comments in Haripur on Friday, to express his solidarity with chief of Laskhar e Tayyiba, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, upon whom the United States placed a $10 million bounty last month.

The Express Tribune quoted Ahmed as having said the bounty on Saeed is “an insult to all Muslims and by doing so President Obama has challenged the dignity of the Muslim Ummah.”

He added, “If the U.S. can announce a reward of $10 million for the captor of Hafiz Saeed, I can announce a bounty of 10 million pounds on President Obama and his predecessor George Bush.”

Ahmed added that he was prepared to do whatever was necessary to gather this sum, including selling his assets, the report said.

Al-Arabiya noted that Ahmed is no stranger to controversy in Britain. He hosted a book launch at the House of Lords in 2005 for Israel Shamir, a Swedish writer who is known for his anti-Israeli and Jewish views.

He was also a vocal opponent of the British government’s decision to honor writer Salman Rushdie with a knighthood in 2007, according to the report.