British Muslim cleric publicly states that apostates should be killed.

The website "Islam in Europe" has just posted the following report (link):

British Muslim cleric Haitham al-Haddad participated in a debate in Amsterdam this past Friday. Asked by a member of the audience who left Islam what the cleric thought of him, al-Haddad told him apostates should be killed in an Islamic country.

It's all on youtube: here is a direct link to the exchange in question (at 39m4s).

An Iranian man who had left Islam asked the cleric, "My question is very simple: what do you think about me?"

The cleric replied: "Apostasy deserves, once the requirements are met, capital punishment in an Islamic state. And I can state this openly, I am not trying to hide it."

Below is a brief description of Haitham al-Haddad from his web page at the Islamic Research Foundation (link), an organization devoted to "the proper presentation, understanding and appreciation of Islam, as well as removing misconceptions about Islam - amongst less aware Muslims and non-Muslims."

Haitham al-Haddad is a London-based Islamic Scholar and a prominent Muslim community leader. He was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and is of Palestinian origin.

Shaykh Haitham sits on the board of advisors for a number of key Islamic organisations in the United Kingdom, including the Islamic Sharia Council. He currently holds the position of chair person and operations advisor for the Muslim Research and Development Foundation– a think tank aiming to find solutions based on the original teaching of Islam, for Muslims living in the west (website: www.islam21c.com).

He has studied for a number of decades and gained proficiency in many Islamic sciences under the tutelage of world-renowned scholars.

Shaykh Haitham holds a B Sc (Honours) in Law and Sharia from Omdurman University in Khartoum, Sudan. He also holds a B Sc in Computer Science from the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. He is currently pursuing his P hD in Islamic Law at SOAS in London.

Shaykh Haitham is qualified to deliver religious verdicts with a specialization in Islamic Jurisprudence and its principles, Islamic Law and Islamic Finance. He had edited a number of Islamic books in Arabic and is in the process of completing four more books in English (to be published soon).

Here is the whole debate (over 1 hour and 15 minutes worth):