Irish bookmaker offers odds on Obama assassination

A leading Irish bookmaker is in hot water after offering odds on new American president Barack Obama's assassination.

The bookmaker has slapped odds of 12-1 on Obama not surviving his first term in office. This has, in turn, been greeted with dismay by politicians, some of whom have claimed that the odds on offer may tempt someone to kill the president in order to earn a payout.

“This is completely inappropriate,'' said a spokesman for the American embassy in Dublin.

The bookmaker has responded by saying that it is offering the market due to requests by its existing customer base, who frequently have the opportunity to bet on unusual political events.

It has also obvious that any large bets on Obama's assassination will place the bettors under suspicion should any harm befall the American president.

The Obama incident is not the bookmaker's first venture into politically incorrect territory. The company also landed in hot water when it screened television adverts which showed two old ladies crossing the road, accompanied by the odds on their making it to safety.