clubalien
07-23-2005, 03:48 PM
who needs terrorests when you can be murdered by your own police
By Matthew Jones and Jeremy Lovell
LONDON (Reuters) - Police admitted on Saturday they had shot dead the wrong man in a tragic error as they combed London for four men after attempted bomb attacks on the capital's transport system.
Plainclothes police chased the man onto an underground train on Friday after he ignored warnings to stop, shooting him five times in the head because they feared he was carrying a bomb and was going to detonate it.
"We are now satisfied that he was not connected with the incidents of Thursday 21st July 2005," police said on Saturday.
"For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets."
Thursday's failed attacks on three underground trains and a bus killed no one, but caused chaos just two weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 London commuters.
The Abu Hafs al Masri Brigade, an al Qaeda-linked group, has claimed responsibility for Thursday's bombing attempts and those of July 7, but the group's claims of responsibility for previous attacks in Europe have been discredited by security experts.
Police also carried out arrests and staged raids to prevent possible future attacks and to find the four men suspected of Thursday's failed bombings.
Muslim groups condemned the killing and expressed shock at the news of the victim's innocence.
"To give license to people to shoot to kill just like that, on the basis of suspicion, is very frightening," Azzam Tamimi of the Muslim Association of Britain told BBC television.
"It is human lives that are being targeted here, whether by terrorists or in this case unfortunately by people who are supposed to be chasing or catching the terrorists."
SHOCKED PASSENGERS
Human rights activists said police were in an impossible position, with split seconds to take a life or death decision, but insisted on a full and independent inquiry.
The killing in front of shocked passengers on a packed underground train triggered speculation that traditionally unarmed British police had adopted a shoot-to-kill policy.
Police were questioning two men were held after raids late on Friday in the Stockwell area of south London close to the site of one of Thursday's failed bombs on three underground trains and a bus -- the same targets as the July 7 bombs.
Later on Saturday armed police raided a house in the Brixton area of south London within walking distance of Stockwell.
It was at Brixton mosque that Richard Reid -- dubbed the shoe bomber for his failed attempt in December 2001 to blow up an airliner with explosives in his trainers -- worshipped.
Police released closed circuit television pictures of the four suspects and appealed for the public to help find them, but warned that they were dangerous and not to be approached.
One day after the pictures were released police said they had received nearly 500 calls and 80 emails from the public.
The killing of the man took Britain's fight against terrorism to a new level of force in a country where only specialist officers carry weapons and killings by police are very rare.
Mayor Ken Livingstone said the duty of the police was to protect the public against people considered to be terrorist suspects.
INVESTIGATION PLANNED
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it was investigating the killing, as it did all fatal police shootings.
Analysts said police were operating under secret new guidelines, codenamed Operation Kratos, allowing them to aim for the head if they believe there was a threat to the public.
"Simple nervous system shut-down, that is the objective," anti-terrorism expert Robert Ayers of the Royal Institute of International Affairs think-tank told Reuters.
The July 7 attacks killed 52 people and injured 700 in the worst peacetime attacks in the city's history. But on Thursday the devices failed to go off properly.
Because of that, police have more clues than after July 7, including the bombs, eye witness reports and CCTV footage.
But security experts and the former head of London's police warned the attacks could continue. Livingstone cautioned so-called soft targets could also be at risk.
"People may be worried now about going on the tube, but it is quite likely the next attack will be in a pub or club or simply on a crowded street," he told Sky News television as Italian soccer club Inter Milan cancelled a planned tour.
London's police chief Ian Blair said on Friday his force faced "the greatest operational challenge" in its history.
Police refused to say if the men in custody were among the four suspects pictured in the photographs.
By Matthew Jones and Jeremy Lovell
LONDON (Reuters) - Police admitted on Saturday they had shot dead the wrong man in a tragic error as they combed London for four men after attempted bomb attacks on the capital's transport system.
Plainclothes police chased the man onto an underground train on Friday after he ignored warnings to stop, shooting him five times in the head because they feared he was carrying a bomb and was going to detonate it.
"We are now satisfied that he was not connected with the incidents of Thursday 21st July 2005," police said on Saturday.
"For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets."
Thursday's failed attacks on three underground trains and a bus killed no one, but caused chaos just two weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 London commuters.
The Abu Hafs al Masri Brigade, an al Qaeda-linked group, has claimed responsibility for Thursday's bombing attempts and those of July 7, but the group's claims of responsibility for previous attacks in Europe have been discredited by security experts.
Police also carried out arrests and staged raids to prevent possible future attacks and to find the four men suspected of Thursday's failed bombings.
Muslim groups condemned the killing and expressed shock at the news of the victim's innocence.
"To give license to people to shoot to kill just like that, on the basis of suspicion, is very frightening," Azzam Tamimi of the Muslim Association of Britain told BBC television.
"It is human lives that are being targeted here, whether by terrorists or in this case unfortunately by people who are supposed to be chasing or catching the terrorists."
SHOCKED PASSENGERS
Human rights activists said police were in an impossible position, with split seconds to take a life or death decision, but insisted on a full and independent inquiry.
The killing in front of shocked passengers on a packed underground train triggered speculation that traditionally unarmed British police had adopted a shoot-to-kill policy.
Police were questioning two men were held after raids late on Friday in the Stockwell area of south London close to the site of one of Thursday's failed bombs on three underground trains and a bus -- the same targets as the July 7 bombs.
Later on Saturday armed police raided a house in the Brixton area of south London within walking distance of Stockwell.
It was at Brixton mosque that Richard Reid -- dubbed the shoe bomber for his failed attempt in December 2001 to blow up an airliner with explosives in his trainers -- worshipped.
Police released closed circuit television pictures of the four suspects and appealed for the public to help find them, but warned that they were dangerous and not to be approached.
One day after the pictures were released police said they had received nearly 500 calls and 80 emails from the public.
The killing of the man took Britain's fight against terrorism to a new level of force in a country where only specialist officers carry weapons and killings by police are very rare.
Mayor Ken Livingstone said the duty of the police was to protect the public against people considered to be terrorist suspects.
INVESTIGATION PLANNED
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it was investigating the killing, as it did all fatal police shootings.
Analysts said police were operating under secret new guidelines, codenamed Operation Kratos, allowing them to aim for the head if they believe there was a threat to the public.
"Simple nervous system shut-down, that is the objective," anti-terrorism expert Robert Ayers of the Royal Institute of International Affairs think-tank told Reuters.
The July 7 attacks killed 52 people and injured 700 in the worst peacetime attacks in the city's history. But on Thursday the devices failed to go off properly.
Because of that, police have more clues than after July 7, including the bombs, eye witness reports and CCTV footage.
But security experts and the former head of London's police warned the attacks could continue. Livingstone cautioned so-called soft targets could also be at risk.
"People may be worried now about going on the tube, but it is quite likely the next attack will be in a pub or club or simply on a crowded street," he told Sky News television as Italian soccer club Inter Milan cancelled a planned tour.
London's police chief Ian Blair said on Friday his force faced "the greatest operational challenge" in its history.
Police refused to say if the men in custody were among the four suspects pictured in the photographs.