LONDON (AP) — Britain will ban leaders guilty of human rights abuses from traveling to Britain for the 2012 London Olympics.
Jeremy Browne, the Foreign Office minister, told lawmakers on Wednesday that people linked to such crimes will not be allowed into the country — assuming there is credible and independent evidence of such abuses. Browne added in a written statement that anyone subject to a European Union or U.N. travel ban will not be welcome.
The comments come days after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was eager to attend the London Olympics but Britain didn’t want to host him. Ahmadinejad was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying he wished to be “beside Iranian athletes” but the British are reluctant to have him.
The Olympics run from July 27 to Aug. 12.
