British Police Face Questions On Shoot To Kill Policy

To his family, a

tragedy; to police, a

regrettable incident

on the Tube

Link
Many leads are falling flat, four terrorists may still be at large and an innocent man is dead. That was the grim state of play in Britain's biggest anti-terrorism operation yesterday.

Yet as police faced questions over a shoot-to-kill policy towards suspected suicide bombers, investigators revealed what may be a crucial piece of evidence linking the men who tried to explode four bombs last Thursday and the July 7 bombers.

Police believe that men they are seeking in relation to Thursday's failed attacks were on a rafting trip in north Wales in May with two of the suicide bombers, Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer. Evidence police found in rucksacks left behind on Thursday led them to three London addresses. A check of the electoral roll showed that names connected to those addresses matched those of men who had gone on the trip.

Discovery of the link was one bright spot in a bleak weekend for investigators. While police have made two arrests, they denied reports that a would-be suicide bomber had been arrested late on Friday, according to The Sunday Times . A report that a British-born man linked to al-Qaeda and the July 7 bombings had been arrested in Pakistan also turned out to be incorrect.

Worst of all, police admitted that the man they shot dead on Friday was not a suicide bomber but a Brazilian electrician with no connection to Thursday's attempted bombings.

Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, lived in the same south London block of flats as a man police had under surveillance following Thursday's attacks.

He emerged from the flats wearing a padded jacket on a warm summer's morning, adding to police suspicions. What happened next is unclear, but Mr de Menezes may have panicked when confronted by armed police at Stockwell Tube station. Witnesses said he leapt the barrier and was pursued on to a train by five officers, one of whom shot him five times in the head.

Within hours, senior police had said they were "very confident" the man was "directly linked" to the attempted attacks. On Saturday they released a statement saying that "for somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one the Metropolitan Police Service regrets".

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Ian Blair, apologised to the dead man's family but acknowledged "somebody else could be shot" as the hunt for the suicide bombers continued.

Sir Ian told Sky News the shoot-to-kill policy for suspected suicide bombers would stay. "There is no point in shooting at someone's chest because that is where the bomb is likely to be. There is no point in shooting anywhere else if they fall down and detonate it."

The Brazilian Government said it was shocked by the killing and has demanded an explanation from the British Home Secretary, Jack Straw.

Mr de Menezes's grandmother said on Brazilian television there "was no reason to think he was a terrorist", while a cousin, Alex Alves Pereira, told the BBC that "apologies are not enough. I believe my cousin's death was result of police incompetence."

Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said although "we accept that the police are under tremendous pressure to apprehend the criminals who are attempting to cause carnage on the streets of London, it is absolutely vital that utmost care is taken to ensure that innocent people are not killed due to overzealousness".

Witness reports of the shooting also showed the potential for people to jump to false conclusions. One witness described Mr de Menezes as Asian; another said he appeared to be wearing a belt with wires strapped to it.

On Saturday afternoon police stormed a flat in Stockwell that is believed to be in the same block as Mr de Menezes's home. In a separate development, police also raided two homes on Friday belonging to people with family connections to Somalia and Ethiopia, The Observer reported.

--What a clusterfuck.--