Probe into UK terror response

2005-09-13 15:05

London - British interior minister Charles Clarke and the country's top policeman Ian Blair were being quizzed by lawmakers on Tuesday about the official response to the London bombings in July, notably a controversial police shoot-to-kill policy.

Clarke and Blair were scheduled to appear before the influential home affairs select committee, an all-party House of Commons body, later on the day.

MPs have said they want to question Blair, head of London's Metropolitan Police, about his stated policy that officers should shoot suspected suicide bombers in the head with the intention of instantly killing them.

Menezes case sub judice

On July 22, Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was shot repeatedly in the head by police officers at a London Underground subway station in circumstances which are still being investigated.

The incident came a day after a seemingly failed wave of suicide bomb attacks on subway trains and a bus. Two weeks before, 52 people and four suicide bombers were killed in a near-identical set of attacks.

John Denham, the lawmaker who chairs the committee, said that specific questions about the Brazilian's death could not be asked due to ongoing investigations.

"It will be possible for members to ask general questions about shoot to kill, but it will not be possible to ask specifically about the shooting of Mr de Menezes as this is sub judice," he said, referring to incidents under the consideration of the courts.

Preventing terrorism attacks

It would also be difficult to carry out detailed examination of the July 7 and 21 incidents to avoid breaking laws relating to prejudicing future trials, he added.

Instead, the session would help MPs to "take stock" of the official response to the bombings and the government's wider strategy on terrorism, Denham told BBC radio.

"The big question probably is: What's our assessment today of the terrorist threat? It's perhaps different to what we thought it was three months ago.

"And, knowing what we now do about terrorism, is the government doing the right things about it? Are the measures that have been announced, the things that have been put in place, the things that are most likely to minimise the chance of a repeat event?"

London mayor Ken Livingstone and Iqbal Sacranie, leader of the influential Muslim Council of Britain, were also due to appear.

- AFP