London mayor: 'No apology' for Nazi jibe

LONDON, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- London Mayor Ken Livingstone said Tuesday "there will be no apology" for his "concentration camp" comment to a Jewish reporter from the Evening Standard.

It had been anticipated that the mayor would at least express regret at causing offense at his weekly press conference, but he instead launched a fresh attack on the Evening Standard and its sister paper the Daily Mail.

The mayor has been at the center of a row since he told reporter Oliver Finegold, who had approached him at a party, that he was behaving like a "concentration camp guard."

Livingstone -- who claims he has been the victim of a 24-year hate campaign by Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Evening Standard and the Daily Mail, -- said, "You are just like a concentration camp guard, you're just doing it because you are paid to, aren't you?"

Despite being urged to apologize by Prime Minister Tony Blair, Livingstone instead accused the Mail group of supporting the Nazis and propounding anti-Semitic and racist policies for half a century.

He said he never intended to cause offense to, and would happily meet with members of Britain's Jewish community to explain his remarks.

A formal investigation has been launched by the Greater London Authority.