Post by Woody Williams on Aug 12, 2008 9:19:31 GMT -5
www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.2420946.0.in_the_line_of_fire.php
In the line of fire
by Caroline Wilson
Glasgow Evening Times
Calls for the immediate resignation of a senior Glasgow councillor were
growing today after the Evening Times revealed he had fired a deadly AK-47
assault rifle.
We told yesterday how SNP councillor Jahangir Hanif was seen shooting the
powerful weapon on a video during a family trip to Pakistan and had also
encouraged his children to fire the gun.
Last night the nationalists suspended Mr Hanif from the party and issued
an apology from him for his actions.
But Scotland's main opposition parties today insisted he should resign
immediately as councillor for Govanhill.
And they were backed by Evening Times readers with a massive 84.4%
responding to our online poll saying he should go.
In a statement issued by the SNP, Mr Hanif, who is currently in Pakistan,
said: "I regret this happened and apologise - it was foolish and
inappropriate. It took place over two-and-a-half years ago, long before I
became a councillor."
Mr Hanif originally stood as an SNP candidate at the local elections in 2003.
The video was shot 17 months before he was elected on to Glasgow City
Council in May 2007.
The disturbing images are a huge embarrassment for the Nationalists who
are currently pressing for tougher airgun laws in Scotland and had been
riding high after victory in the Glasgow East by-election.
Earlier, we confronted Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with a copy
of our front page story as she was leaving a Glasgow press conference.
She knows Mr Hanif well - parts of her Govan constituency overlap Hanif's
Govanhill ward - and the councillor was a key ally in her 2007 election
victory. Ms Sturgeon said she couldn't comment as she hadn't read the
story.
Later the SNP issued a statement saying: "Councillor Hanif has this
afternoon been suspended from the party, and therefore the council group,
pending a disciplinary hearing where he will have the opportunity to
explain himself and this incident from 2005.
"Councillor Hanif has not had the opportunity to put his side of the story.
"On the face of it he has not broken the law and there is no suggestion of
any involvement in anything untoward. Nevertheless, this was very foolish
and inappropriate conduct.
"He is well aware of the SNP's strong views against firearms, particularly
involving children."
In the line of fire
by Caroline Wilson
Glasgow Evening Times
Calls for the immediate resignation of a senior Glasgow councillor were
growing today after the Evening Times revealed he had fired a deadly AK-47
assault rifle.
We told yesterday how SNP councillor Jahangir Hanif was seen shooting the
powerful weapon on a video during a family trip to Pakistan and had also
encouraged his children to fire the gun.
Last night the nationalists suspended Mr Hanif from the party and issued
an apology from him for his actions.
But Scotland's main opposition parties today insisted he should resign
immediately as councillor for Govanhill.
And they were backed by Evening Times readers with a massive 84.4%
responding to our online poll saying he should go.
In a statement issued by the SNP, Mr Hanif, who is currently in Pakistan,
said: "I regret this happened and apologise - it was foolish and
inappropriate. It took place over two-and-a-half years ago, long before I
became a councillor."
Mr Hanif originally stood as an SNP candidate at the local elections in 2003.
The video was shot 17 months before he was elected on to Glasgow City
Council in May 2007.
The disturbing images are a huge embarrassment for the Nationalists who
are currently pressing for tougher airgun laws in Scotland and had been
riding high after victory in the Glasgow East by-election.
Earlier, we confronted Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with a copy
of our front page story as she was leaving a Glasgow press conference.
She knows Mr Hanif well - parts of her Govan constituency overlap Hanif's
Govanhill ward - and the councillor was a key ally in her 2007 election
victory. Ms Sturgeon said she couldn't comment as she hadn't read the
story.
Later the SNP issued a statement saying: "Councillor Hanif has this
afternoon been suspended from the party, and therefore the council group,
pending a disciplinary hearing where he will have the opportunity to
explain himself and this incident from 2005.
"Councillor Hanif has not had the opportunity to put his side of the story.
"On the face of it he has not broken the law and there is no suggestion of
any involvement in anything untoward. Nevertheless, this was very foolish
and inappropriate conduct.
"He is well aware of the SNP's strong views against firearms, particularly
involving children."
