LONDON, May 18: “We condemn the violence in Karachi over the weekend and urge restraint on all parties,” a British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokesman said here on Friday.

He was commenting on the recent violence in Karachi and “the position of Altaf Hussain.”

The spokesman said Altaf Hussain was a British citizen, and “like anyone else in the UK, must abide by UK law. Any allegations against him will be thoroughly investigated in accordance with UK law.”

The following is the statement of the spokesman:

“Please find below an FCO comment on the recent violence in Karachi and the position of Altaf Hussain. You can attribute these comments to an FCO spokesman.

— We condemn the violence in Karachi over the weekend and urge restraint on all parties.

— Altaf Hussain is a British citizen and, like anyone else in the UK, must abide by UK law. Any allegations against him will be thoroughly investigated in accordance with UK law.”

The spokesman’s reference to allegations against Altaf Hussain was perhaps the FCO’s response to reports appearing in the British media to the effect that the MQM leader who is a British citizen and lives in London permanently was in part responsible for encouraging his party which is in power in Karachi to resort to violence.