A senior British politician has been sacked from her party's front bench for comments she made relating to the motives of suicide bombers in the Israeli-occupied territories.
Liberal Democrat MP Dr Jenny Tonge said she did not condone suicide bombers, "but I do understand why people out there become suicide bombers - it is out of desperation. If I was in their situation . . . I might just think about it myself."
Earlier today, Dr Tonge said she understood her remarks may have upset some people, but that it was important to try to understand "where suicide bombers are coming from".
"I was just trying to say how, having seen the violence and the humiliation and the provocation that the Palestinian people live under every day and have done since their land was occupied by Israel, I could understand and was trying to understand where were coming from," Dr Tonge told BBC radio.
Dr Tonge, a former International Development spokeswoman with the Lib Dems, said she wanted to highlight the Palestinians' cause. "They are in a terrible plight and the world is standing by and watching. . . . Something needs to be done."
Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said he had now asked her to stand down as the party's spokeswoman for children. "Her recent remarks about suicide bombers are completely unacceptable," Mr Kennedy said in a statement. "They are not compatible with Liberal Democrat party policies and
principles."