British Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing caused uproar last night by predicting the assassination of Barack Obama if he becomes the first black U.S. president.

The 88-year-old novelist's remarks came as the Democratic candidate toasted the most successful day in his White House campaign.

Mr Obama, the 46-year-old son of a black Kenyan man and a white American, dismissed Mrs Lessing's comments.

Miss Lessing said: "He would probably not last long, a black man in the position of president. They would kill him."

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She said it would be better if Mrs Clinton, 60, became America's first woman president with Obama as her running mate.

"Hillary is a very sharp lady. It might be calmer if she wins," she told a Swedish newspaper.

But one Democratic analyst said: "Suggesting Obama is in danger if he wins the election in November is not only divisive, it is insulting to the American people."

Princeton University political science professor-Melissa Harris-Lacewell raised assassination fears last month, saying: "For many black supporters, there is a lot of anxiety that he will be killed. It is on people's minds.

"You can't make a prediction like this - like he has a 50 per cent chance of getting shot.

"But the greater his visibility and the greater his access to people, there is a danger."

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