Rowan Laxton, a 47-year-old diplomat and Middle East expert, allegedly shouted various obscenities not fit to be printed on YWN while watching news reports of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza last month at the gym, according to the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph.

He also reportedly said that Israeli soldiers should be “wiped off the face of the Earth” during the rant at the London Business School gym near Regents Park on January 27.

The tirade reportedly continued even after other gym users asked him to stop.

He was later arrested for inciting religious hatred.

“The 47-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an incident that took place on January 27, following a complaint received by police from a member of the public,” a spokesman for London’s Metropolitan Police said.

“He was bailed pending further enquiries, and is due to return at the end of March to a central London police station.”

In the meantime, he continues to work as usual as head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s South Asian group, in charge of UK diplomatic policy in the region. In that job he would be expected directly to brief Minister David Miliband, who is himself Jewish.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said it was “aware that a complaint has been made about an alleged incident involving a member of our staff.”  She declined to comment further however.
Israel’s ambassador in London, Ron Prosor, was quoted as saying that the diplomat’s comments “did not reflect the health and fitness of our relations”.

Prosor said in a statement: “The treadmill of diplomacy between our countries continues to run smoothly. The abusive tirade of this one individual should not be seen as a reflection of the health and fitness of our relations.

“From the nature of our work with the British Foreign Office, we understand that the unacceptable outburst expressed by a British diplomat does not reflect the official policy of the United Kingdom and we have been informed that an internal investigation is currently taking place.”

(Source: EJP)