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A Newport councillor has been suspended from Labour as the party comes under intense pressure to root out anti-semitism.

A series of messages posted by Miqdad Al-Nuaimi, who represents the city’s Stow Hill ward, were republished on a blog.

They included the following tweets comparing the Israelis to Nazis.

A Welsh Labour spokesman said: “Miqdad Al-Nuaimi has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation.”

The councillor said in a 2014 Twitter post that the Israeli “regime and army” were assuming the “arrogance” and “genocidal character” of Nazis.

Mr Al-Nuaimi insisted he was not anti-semitic and said he supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He said: “Well, I am absolutely flabbergasted and amazed that actually the suggestion is being made that I am suspended. [As] of now I have not had anything formal to say that that is the case.”

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Describing his stance, he said: “I have been a critic of the Israeli regime in its treatment of the Palestinian people, and the people in Gaza. Some of the Tweets I have made were in the context of the attacks at the time either within the Palestinian territories or on Gaza.

“I am a strong supporter of the two-state solution. I’ve got no issue with the existence of Israel being side by side with a Palestinian state.

“It’s the approved UN position on that... I think the Israeli army have been very harsh in its treatment of the Palestinian population, which included children in some cases...

“I have been very measured in my comments but there are times when you wonder how a state which claims to be a democratic state can actually treat a large section of the population under its administration and control [the] way it does as far as the Palestinian people are concerned.”

Anti-semitism rejected

Iraqi-raised Mr Al-Nuaimi, who is an Emeritus Professor at the University of South Wales in the Faculty of Advanced Technology and said he had been in the Labour party for 30 years, stressed that he condemned anti-semitism.

He said: “I absolutely reject any form of racism, anti-semitism, Islamophobia. I’ve never been an anti-semitic person.

“I’ve never been an anti-Jewish person. I value the contribution Jewish people make in the Middle East, actually – you know, in the country I was born in, which was Iraq.”

Call for expulsion

A spokesman for the Welsh Conservatives the incident was “further evidence of a serious problem at the heart of the Labour Party”, adding: “Carwyn Jones needs to send out a strong message that Labour will act to tackle their party’s shame. Comments such as those being reported today warrant expulsion, not suspension, and the First Minister has an opportunity to show that unlike Jeremy Corbyn he is willing to take decisive action and sack Mr Al-Nuaimi.”

'Nothing to hide'

Mr Al-Nuaimi said that if he is formally notified of his suspension he “would be fighting it” and insisted he has “nothing to hide”.

He said: “I will fight it with all my energy. I am not an anti-semitic person.”

Clash in the Commons

During Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron demanded that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn withdraw a previous description of Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends”.

Mr Cameron quoted Mr Corbyn’s comments as a backbench MP, when he said he had invited “friends” from Hamas and Hezbollah to speak at an event.

Mr Cameron said: “He referred to Hamas and Hezbollah as his friends. Now, he needs to withdraw that remark...

“Are they your friends or are they not? Because those organisations in their constitutions believe in persecuting and killing Jews. They are anti-semitic organisations, they are racist organisations.

“He must stand up and say they are not his friends.”

Mr Corbyn said: “Obviously, anyone who commits racist acts or is anti-Semitic is not a friend of mine. [I] am very clear about that.”

A further suspension

A second councillor, Terry Kelly, who sits on Renfrewshire Council, has also been suspended.

The suspensions come as the party’s candidate for London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, apologised for referring to moderate Labour councillors as “Uncle Toms”.

Mr Khan acknowledged that the comment, made in a television interview in 2009, had been an offensive racial slur.

Watch the interview:

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He said: “It is, and I regret using that phrase.

“The context was me trying to encourage everyone to get involved in government consultations.

“I was a minister at the time. It was wrong and I regret it.”