Omar Bakri Mohammed, who resided in the UK until shortly after the July 7 bombings, says the Danish cartoonist(s) should be given a fair trial under shari’a law and then executed. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)

Omar Bakri Mohammed, the radical Muslim cleric, has said the cartoonist behind caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed that have sparked outrage across the Arab world should be tried and executed under Islamic law.

The cleric said the cartoonist had insulted Islam and must pay the price, as three people were killed during protests against the cartoons in Afghanistan.

“The insult has been established now by everybody, Muslim and non-Muslim, and everybody condemns the cartoonist and condemns the cartoon,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “However, in Islam, God said, and the messenger Mohammed said, whoever insults a prophet, he must be punished and executed. This man should be put on trial and if it is proven to be executed.”

The cleric said Muslims in Britain were not allowed to kill people who insulted Islam because it was against the law of the country.

“We are not saying ourselves to go there and start to look to him and kill him, we are not talking about that. We are talking about Islamic rules. If anybody insults the prophet, he will have to take a punishment.”

He said if countries refused to put people on trial for insulting Mohammed they must “face the consequences”.