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| Sat 4 May 2002 |
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Galloway in the line of fire from actor Malkovich
CHRISTINE GRANT
GEORGE Galloway, the outspoken Labour MP, is consulting his lawyers after Hollywood star John Malkovich allegedly said he would like to shoot him.
Malkovich - star of movies including Dangerous Liaisons and The Killing Fields - is reported to have said that Mr Galloway, the Glasgow Kelvin MP, was one of two people he would most like to kill.
The MP yesterday expressed astonishment that the actor should have such animosity against him - or indeed should ever have heard of him.
The unexpected attack came as Malkovich, who is in the UK filming Johnny English with Rowan Atkinson and Natalie Imbruglia, addressed students at a Cambridge Union Society debate on Wednesday.
He was asked by one student who he would most like to fight to the death, and replied "I’d rather just shoot them," before naming Mr Galloway and the Independent newspaper’s Middle East correspondent, Robert Fisk. Union Society spokesman Luke Layfield said last night: "Someone asked him why he hated George Galloway and what his problem was. He said he was an idiot and he didn’t know. But then he was a bit more serious and he said people shouldn’t summarise thousands of years of history in just a few paragraphs because they are angry about something. He said ‘It’s dangerous; very dangerous indeed.’
"It would be fair to say you can infer from what he said that he was talking about the way George Galloway and Robert Fisk report on the Israel and Palestinian conflict and perhaps that they are not the most neutral of reports and come out with the Palestinian side."
Mr Layfield added: "He lives in France and he said he always reads the British press and he said he doesn’t like what George Galloway or Robert Fisk write but that he always reads it."
Michael Lynas, president of the Cambridge Union Society, said the comments were only a small part of the hour and a half debate, which was attended by 750 people, stressing that they were not a serious death threat but a "lighthearted" remark.
Mr Galloway assumed that his outspoken criticism of US policy in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq was behind the outburst.
He said: "In the current climate of terrorism and violence and so on, if it was a joke it is not very funny and if it wasn’t a joke, he will be hearing from my lawyers. We can have a high noon at the Old Bailey if he likes.
"His comments are especially dangerous because in a couple of days’ time, I will be in the Palestinian Authority visiting President Arafat and there are a lot of bullets flying around there."
In response to the comments, Simon Kelner, editor-in-chief of the Independent, said: "I am treating the remarks with the contempt they deserve."
Malkovich - star of movies including Dangerous Liaisons and The Killing Fields - is reported to have said that Mr Galloway, the Glasgow Kelvin MP, was one of two people he would most like to kill.
The MP yesterday expressed astonishment that the actor should have such animosity against him - or indeed should ever have heard of him.
The unexpected attack came as Malkovich, who is in the UK filming Johnny English with Rowan Atkinson and Natalie Imbruglia, addressed students at a Cambridge Union Society debate on Wednesday.
He was asked by one student who he would most like to fight to the death, and replied "I’d rather just shoot them," before naming Mr Galloway and the Independent newspaper’s Middle East correspondent, Robert Fisk. Union Society spokesman Luke Layfield said last night: "Someone asked him why he hated George Galloway and what his problem was. He said he was an idiot and he didn’t know. But then he was a bit more serious and he said people shouldn’t summarise thousands of years of history in just a few paragraphs because they are angry about something. He said ‘It’s dangerous; very dangerous indeed.’
"It would be fair to say you can infer from what he said that he was talking about the way George Galloway and Robert Fisk report on the Israel and Palestinian conflict and perhaps that they are not the most neutral of reports and come out with the Palestinian side."
Mr Layfield added: "He lives in France and he said he always reads the British press and he said he doesn’t like what George Galloway or Robert Fisk write but that he always reads it."
Michael Lynas, president of the Cambridge Union Society, said the comments were only a small part of the hour and a half debate, which was attended by 750 people, stressing that they were not a serious death threat but a "lighthearted" remark.
Mr Galloway assumed that his outspoken criticism of US policy in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq was behind the outburst.
He said: "In the current climate of terrorism and violence and so on, if it was a joke it is not very funny and if it wasn’t a joke, he will be hearing from my lawyers. We can have a high noon at the Old Bailey if he likes.
"His comments are especially dangerous because in a couple of days’ time, I will be in the Palestinian Authority visiting President Arafat and there are a lot of bullets flying around there."
In response to the comments, Simon Kelner, editor-in-chief of the Independent, said: "I am treating the remarks with the contempt they deserve."
This article:
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/politics.cfm?id=478912002