Tory peer admits he was also at Palestinian conference at centre of Jeremy Corbyn's wreath-laying controversy

Lord Sheikh said there ‘may have’ been figures from Hamas at the Tunis event but emphasised he did not meet any

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with a wreath at the ceremony in 2014 (Ambassade de Palestine en Tunisie/Facebook)

A Conservative peer has admitted he was also at the Palestinian rights conference in Tunisia Jeremy Corbyn was at when he controversially attended a ceremony during which terrorists behind the Munich massacre were commemorated.

Conservative Muslim Foundation (CMF) founder Lord Sheikh said that while he was at the wider conference in 2014, he was not aware of, and did not attend, the specific ceremony Mr Corbyn was at.

The Tory peer also accepted there “may have” been figures from the banned terrorist organisation Hamas at the Tunis conference but emphasised that he did not meet any.

The admission comes as Labour leader Mr Corbyn attempted again to explain his presence at the wreath-laying ceremony for the terrorists behind the Munich massacre, arguing that he had only laid a wreath honouring other people who died in a 1985 Israeli air force raid in Tunisia.

Lord Sheikh confirmed he attended Tunisia’s International Conference on Monitoring the Palestinian Political and Legal Situation in the Light of Israeli Aggression event four years ago.

He said the north African country’s government paid for accommodation and flights to the event, which had been declared at the time.

The Tory peer added that he remembers Jeremy Corbyn being at the event but did not know beforehand that he would be there and “had no conversation with him”.

Jeremy Corbyn said he was “present” when the wreath was laid but “I don’t think I was actually involved in it”.

Lord Sheikh went on: “If there was a wreath-laying ceremony, I was not aware of the wreath-laying ceremony. I did not go to the ceremony.”

If there was a wreath-laying ceremony, I was not aware of the wreath-laying ceremony. I did not go to the ceremony

Conservative peer Lord Sheikh

The Kenya-born and Uganda-raised politician was made a peer in 2006, the year after he created the CMF.

He recently criticised Boris Johnson over comments the former foreign secretary made regarding niqabs in a newspaper column.

On the CMF website Lord Sheikh described the 2014 Tunisia event as “an international conference”.

Asked about the presence of the Palestinian organisation Hamas, he said: “There may have been Hamas. I did not meet any Hamas people, I am very careful obviously. When I talk on Palestine, I’m very balanced with regards to Palestine.

“If you read my speeches in the House of Lords, I have always been very, very balanced on the whole issue. Both sides obviously have to come to a compromise.

“So I don’t sympathise with Hamas, I have no dealing with Hamas.”

Mr Corbyn has admitted he was “present” at a memorial event which commemorated those from the Black September group responsible for the 1972 attack in Munich, despite his office previously insisting he was only at the event in question honouring Palestinians killed in an Israeli air strike.

The Labour leader was forced to explain himself after pictures showed him holding a wreath next to a memorial plaque for the perpetrators of the terrorist attack in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered.

But asked by Channel 4 news on Tuesday if he did then lay a wreath himself, he said: “[Only] In memory of all those that died in the 1985 Israeli attack, which as I’ve repeated now again, was condemned by the UN Security Council and the UK government and the US government.”

The reporter responded: “But was that wreath not laid by the graves of those who were killed in the Mossad strike in Paris in 1992?”

Mr Corbyn then said: “It was laid on the grave of all those who died. Look, I totally condemned what happened in Munich in 1972. Appalling. Totally wrong by any stretch of the imagination. I condemn all killing. All killing is wrong.”