Stoning gays to death is OK in some countries – just not in New Zealand, Muslim MP Ashraf Choudhary has suggested. The comments came as part of an interview with Choudhary on the TV3 current affairs programme 60 Minutes last night. The Labour list MP who supported the Civil Union Bill was asked "Are you saying the Koran is wrong to recommend that gays in certain circumstances be stoned to death?" He replied: "No, no. Certainly what the Koran says is correct." He then partially qualified the statement: "In those societies, not here in New Zealand." Prime Minister Helen Clark is to seek clarification of the comments. "Clearly Ashraf is a devout Muslim and he will have his own views. But for the record let me spell out the Labour Party does not support capital punishment. It does not support flogging. It does not support stoning. We have very strong views about that," she said. "I don't care whether it's in any religious tract, it's not something that's acceptable to me." Gay MPs Chris Carter and Tim Barnett were today downplaying the comments. Choudhary voted in favour of the Civil Union Act last year on the basis that Muslims - as a minority group in New Zealand - had a duty to support the human rights of other minority groups, even though prevailing Muslim beliefs condemned homosexuality.