Ken Livingstone has been attacked for producing a dossier defending a Muslim cleric who is reported to have suggested that Westerners killed by the tsunami deserved to die.

On Tuesday the mayor published an 80 page dossier defending himself against claims he should not have met Islamic scholar Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi last year.

In a piece of unfortunate timing for Livingstone, the Times published quotes from al-Qaradawi suggesting the recent disaster in Asia was a punishment for the behaviour of Western tourists.

The mayor invited the cleric to a number of events in