More armed police for London

2005-08-07 14:20

London - London's metropolitan police intends to beef up the numbers of officers trained and licenced to carry firearms in the wake of the July bombings, its commissioner Sir Ian Blair was quoted Sunday as saying.

"We do need more firearms officers and I expect to see an increase in the low hundreds as a minimum," Blair told the Mail on Sunday newspaper as the hunt for the masterminds of the July 7 bombings which killed 56 continues.

"We must have the capacity to stop a suicide bomber before he has a chance to detonate," he said.

With more than 30 000 officers, the Metropolitan Police is one of the world's biggest police forces, but only 2 000 officers are "authorised firearms users," the Mail on Sunday said. The others pound the street unarmed.

Controversy about the force's "shoot to kill" policy towards suspected terrorists swelled when an innocent Brazilian electrician was shot eight times by armed police who mistakenly thought he might be a suicide bomber.

The killing occurred in a south London subway station on July 22, a day after a failed attempt to repeat the July 7 attacks put the British capital on edge.

The News of the World newspaper meanwhile reported that 500 foreign Muslim extremists will face deportation under tough new anti-terrorism measures announced Friday by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The first to be booted out of Britain will be a dozen radical clerics, followed by up to 100 more within a month, and another 100 by the end of the year, the best-selling tabloid said.

All 500 names have been taken from a "watch list" compiled over five years by British intelligence, the newspaper said, adding that Home Secretary Charles Clarke would begin the process when he gets back from holiday this week.

- SAPA