Submitted by ABN on Fri, 2006-06-09 13:31. Religion | Europe
CAIRO — British police have apologized to the Muslim minority for last week's anti-terror raid on a house in east London, which resulted in the arrest and shooting of an apparently tow innocent Muslim brothers and undermined the minority's trust in the police establishment as they felt unjustly targeted in the anti-terror drive.
"I am aware that in mounting this operation we have caused disruption and inconvenience to many residents in Newham, and for that I apologize," Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman of the Metropolitan Police said in an official apology published by The Independent newspaper on Friday, June 9.
Appealing for calm, Hayman said: "We must all pull together in a tolerant manner. This isn't the time for conflict and anger."
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Hayman said senior police officials would meet Muslim minority leaders to discuss tactics and examine whether things could have been done differently.
"There was a difficult balancing act between officers' safety and public safety and those we would come into contact with in the house. It would be difficult to see how we could reduce the level of officer attendance and equipment," he said.
Hayman said he understood that some communities "may be feeling confused or indeed, angry" but he insisted anti-terror operations were not targeted against any particular community, race or faith.
Two British Muslims, Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, his brother Abul Koyair, 20, have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist plot after a dramatic anti-terror swoop on their home in Forest Gate, east London, which saw the shooting of one of the pair in his shoulder.
The two brothers have strongly protested their innocence.
The swoop on the house in Lansdown Road was ordered after a police informant gave information about the preparation of a portable device containing cyanide that had been built and was ready to be used.
Growing Anger
The heavy presence of police inflamed Muslim anger in Forest Gate.
Police say the search of the house is only one strand of their investigation and they will soon switch to other avenues of inquiry.
British Muslims in Forest Gate say police have added insult to injury as they have not eased their "blockade" and kept on searching suspected passers-by under the Terrorism Act.
Now the heavy police presence has inflamed their anger.
"Maybe it was my stubble, or maybe it was my rucksack. I threw my bag down in front of them because that is all I could do to show my anger," Sikander Khalid, 28, told The Independent of his police encounter experience.
The Pakistani-born young man was running to get to work when he found himself surrounded by policemen, who stopped and frisked him.
"Is this what they mean by being calm? Of course I'm angry and of course I'm going to be at the protest that's going on to tell the world that we are human, and we shouldn't be punished for being Muslim. What they did last Friday has made me mad and I hope people fight back."
Many Muslims in Forest Gate are determined to show their anger at a protest rally Sunday, June 11, organized by a coalition of Muslim groups.
"The heavy-handed tactics of the police are proving counterproductive. Instead of increasing security, high-profile 'terror' raids have only spread more fear. The anti-terror legislation is eroding all of our civil rights," a spokesman for the protest told the daily.
The Independent reported on June 6 that many angry Muslims were considering to leave Britain feeling no longer safe following the high-profile raid.
British lawmakers warned that anti-terror police raids risk to harm relations with the Muslim minority in the country, estimated at some 1.8 million people.
They said if the raids turned out to be mistaken Muslims would feel "confronted and embattled."
Although forensic specialists have been examining the site for almost a week, it soon became evident that they were unlikely to find anything incriminating.
Senior officers admit they have almost given up hope of finding chemicals on the site, The Independent said.
Counter-terrorism officials told the Guardian on Tuesday, June 6, that the intelligence that led to the raid was wrong and based on a single apparently uncorroborated source.
British police have already endured almost a year of harsh criticism, including accusations of a cover-up, since officers gunned down an unarmed Brazilian on a subway train suspecting him to be a bomber last year.
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well if the egyptian police were doing this do you think they wud apologise nah they go and shove ur self where the sun dont shine ,and so if they made a mistake im a muslim and im really so fed up with these mostly pakistanis aho think as awhole we owe them sumthing ,to stop saying they were supressed wat happened when the ira were doing the fucking blasting i was there at hyde park and do u know there was never any help there hardly and no apolgising to any irish here when they were raided being me step father is irish , i actually come from a hard liner family and really ive had enough of this whole sharade it pittys me in so many ways but i will say ine thing im proud to be of islam but allah help us ?
has anyone seen the little green beret video u will see the ones who were arrested actually in the video shouting hatered to the kaifers and death to britain and here is going to be 7/7 now dont you think if the police made mistake and yeah we can go over boared but they will put the fear in them now if they were at sumthing even if they can find sumthing but believe me now be on ur guard and see if nothng happens now i bet we will hear of something soon happening in britain ,im fed up !!!
Posts: 354 | From: deputydawgland | Registered: Jun 2006
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