BBC NEWS
Terror police swoop in London
Armed police investigating the 21 July attempted bombings have
surrounded two properties in a block of flats in west London in a
major operation.
Eye witnesses say they heard three shots and a large explosion as
officers wearing gas marks entered the property.
The area, around Basing Street, near Notting Hill, has been cordoned
off and the area has been evacuated.
One eye witness says a man dressed in a white forsenic suit has been
taken away in an unmarked police car.
West Midlands Police have denied using a stun gun on a suspected
suicide bomber was an unnecessary risk.
A Taser device was used during the arrest of the 21 July failed Tube
bombings suspect Yasin Hassan Omar.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said officers using a
Taser on a suspected suicide bomber ran an "incredible risk" of
detonating a bomb.
But West Midlands Police said Sir Ian did not know the full
circumstances surrounding the arrest.
The hunt for three other suspected bombers continues.
Sir Ian told BBC One's Questions of Security programme: "We use
Tasers in London regularly, but a Taser sends electric currents into
the body of somebody.
"If there is a bomb on that body, then the bomb is going to go off.
There is only one way to stop someone who is a suicide bomber
which is to kill that person
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair
"It may have been that they [officers in Birmingham] were clear there
wasn't a bomb. I don't know what the situation was."
Sir Ian said his officers had, tragically, been left with no choice
but to open fire on a Brazilian man wrongly suspected of being a
suicide bomber.
Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot dead at Stockwell Tube station
on 22 July.
Sir Ian said using a Taser in such a situation was "not an option".
He was "devastated" for Mr Menezes' family but stood by the force's
shoot-to-kill policy for suspected suicide bombers.
"There is only one way to stop someone who is a suicide bomber which
is to kill that person."
West Midlands Police said in a statement that Mr Menezes' shooting
and Omar's arrest "may appear similar but they were separate
incidents".
"The information and intelligence would have been different, the
threat level to officers and the public was different."
"Every situation in which firearms are deployed is unique."
West Midlands Police have voluntarily referred the use of the Taser
to the police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission
(IPCC), for investigation.
The IPCC have also launched a witness appeal at Stockwell station.
Chairman Nick Hardwick said the Home Office should stop
issuing "partial information" and "people" should "shut up" until his
independent investigation had established the facts.
On Thursday, the Home Office said Mr Menezes' visa had expired two
years before he was shot by police.
A passport stamp apparently giving him indefinite leave to
remain "was not in use" on that date, added officials.
The Home Office said it wished to end speculation over his
immigration status, but said the statement was not intended to
influence any investigations.
Mr Menezes will be buried in his home town of Gonzaga in the south-
east of Brazil on Friday.
Menezes family spokesman Asad Rehman told BBC News they and "all the
people of London and Britain want to see the truth of why this death
took place".
Meanwhile, BBC News has revealed that Muktar Said Ibrahim, suspected
of leaving the explosive device on the back seat of a number 26 bus
in Hackney on 21 July, failed to appear before magistrates on 19
January charged with a public order offence.
Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court in central London was reportedly
given an address in Farleigh Road, Stoke Newington, north London.
Neighbours told BBC News they had seen Mr Ibrahim, 27, also known as
Muktar Muhammad Said, wearing traditional Arabic dress in the past
few weeks.
He had aroused suspicion after moving in to the property at 0200 and
appearing to be in a rush, they added.
In other developments:
# Edgware Road station has opened for the first time since the 7 July
bomb attacks.
# The Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) - the biggest trade
union for Tube workers - is calling for more rail guards on trains
and better emergency training and equipment, including breathing
apparatus for rail staff.
# Nine men were arrested by police in Tooting, south London, on
Thursday, bringing the total number of people held under anti-
terrorist laws over the London attacks to 20.
# A major police operation was put into operation on the UK's
transport system, with officers on a precautionary high alert to
reassure the public and deter would-be attackers.
# The funeral of Mr Menezes is to be held in his home town of Gonzaga
on Friday.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/4727975.stm
Published: 2005/07/29 11:57:09 GMT
© BBC MMV
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