A British politician (MEP) barely escaped the siege of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. But as he was escaping, Sajjad Karim said one of the gunmen smiled as he started to fire his weapon in the lobby.
Sajjad Karim is a Member of the European Parliament for North West England.
He was elected in 2004 for the Liberal Democrats, but joined the Conservative Party on 26 November 2007, he was the first British Muslim elected to the European Parliament.
Background
Karim was born in Blackburn in Lancashire.
His father was a Conservative councillor.
Karim attended the College of Law in Chester studying Law.
He qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1997 and rose to becoming an equity partner very quickly specialising in cases of serious fraud defence work.
Sajjad was elected a member of Pendle Borough Council in 1994 and served until 2001.
MEP
Karim was first elected to the European Parliament for North West England in 2004 where he become the first British Muslim to be elected to European Parliament.
Karim serves on the International Trade and Human Rights Committees and was a Member of the European Parliament's 'Committee of Investigation into alleged CIA extraordinary renditions and secret prisons' after having been the first MEP to officially raise the matter.
He is Vice-President of the European Parliament's Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup and Co-Chair of the European Muslim Forum. He has focused on the rise of intolerance in Europe in recent years, notably the rise of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. He was the European Liberal and Democrat Group (ALDE) Spokesperson on the WTO and he is the European Parliament Rapporteur on EU-India Trade and Economic relations
Karim is interested in human rights issues including child labour and the civil liberties of EU citizens in the War on Terror.
He led the successful European Union contribution to the campaign for the commutation of the death penalty of British man, Mirza Tahir Hussain, who had spent half of his life on death row in Pakistan, for a crime he maintains he did not commit.
The arrest of Shadow immigration minister Damian Green has caused cross-party anger. 
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has announced a cut in the UK VAT tax rate from 17.5% to 15% until the end of 2009.
