Akmal Shaikh Executed

Today (29/12) China executed a 53 year old British Muslim named Akmal Shaikh after he had been convicted of drug smuggling. Apart from being a Muslim Mr Shaikh also had a history of mental health problems and habit for randomly sending long, rambling and delusional emails. According to his family Mr Shaikh had flown to China thinking that he was going to launch a pop career and release a truly terrible song called Come Little Rabbit which he believed would lead to world peace. Unfortunately for Mr Shaikh the people who recruited him in Poland and arranged for him to fly to China put 4kg of heroin in his luggage. This meant that on his arrival in China in 2007 he was promptly arrested for drug smuggling. Since then the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have made no fewer then 27 representations to the Chinese government over the case in order to not only discuss Mr Shaikh's religion but also his mental health, his strange emails and his desire to become a pop star.

Rather then being an innocent pawn who was duped by criminals to smuggle drugs into China Mr Shaikh was an innocent pawn who was duped by MI6 to get caught smuggling drugs into China in order to open a dialogue between Britain and China. In short Britain were trying to trade on my reputation without my permission.

Sadly for Britain and Mr Shaikh the Chinese lost interest in the game and carried out the death sentence which is the price you expect to pay if you are caught smuggling drugs into China. The execution is particularly humiliating for Britain because it not only highlights how utterly impotent they are in international diplomacy it also shows that MI6 cannot protect their agents in the field. Britain has responded to this embarrassment by making a big show of summoning the Chinese Ambassador in London to the FCO and complaining how disgusted they are at China's inhumane treatment of a man with mental health problems because they know that ultimately there is nothing they can do about it. Besides when Britain encountered the same man with the same mental health problems their first instinct was to stuff his luggage with heroin and fly him to China.

The only comfort I can find in the whole sorry story is that in death Akmal Shaikh has finally been set from from the great evil that possessed him in life.