Posted on 07/22/2005 9:39:45 AM PDT by jern
British Muslims said they feared police were operating under a "shoot to kill" policy after a man was gunned down at an Underground train station following a new wave of bomb attacks.
Muslims said the shooting deepened their anxiety about a violent backlash against their community in the wake of two sets of bomb attacks blamed on Islamist militants, including one that killed 56 people on July 7.
The Muslim Council of Britain demanded police explain why an Asian-looking man, reported as a "suspected suicide bomber" by Sky News, was shot dead at Stockwell station in south London on Friday.
Police have confirmed that officers pursued and shot a man who was pronounced dead at the scene, but have offered no explanation for the shooting.
The incident came a day after another apparent wave of would-be suicide bombers hit London's mass transport system, two weeks after four suspected Islamist suicide bombers on trains and a bus killed 56 people.
No one was injured in Thursday's attacks after the bombs apparently failed to go off. A website statement purportedly from the Al-Qaeda terror network claimed responsibility for the attacks Friday but this has not been confirmed.
A Muslim Council spokesman said Muslims were "jumpy and nervous" and feared reprisal attacks.
"I have just had one phone call saying 'What if I was carrying a rucksack?'," said Inayat Bunglawala, referring to the rucksack bombs used in the London attacks.
"It's vital the police give a statement about what occurred (at Stockwell) and explain why the man was shot dead," Bunglawala said.
"We are getting phone calls from quite a lot of Muslims who are distressed about what may be a shoot-to-kill policy."
Witnesses told Sky News that police shot the man five times at close range after shouting at him to stop. Others described seeing many heavily armed plainclothes officers in unmarked cars at the scene.
"There may well be reasons why the police felt it necessary to unload five shots into the man and shoot him dead, but they need to make those reasons clear," Bunglawala said.
The shooting is the latest in a series of incidents which have threatened to create a rift between Britain's large Muslim community and the rest of the population in the wake of the terrorist attacks here this month.
Some radical British Muslim preachers have blamed the government's Middle East policy and the British-backed invasion of Iraq for the outrages, although the vast majority of British Muslims have condemned the bombings.
"Unless British foreign policy is changed and they withdraw forces from Iraq, I'm afraid there's going to be a lot of attacks, just the way it happened in Madrid and the way it happened in London," radical British Muslim preacher Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed told the New York Times this week.
The government is drafting a range of tough new laws to crack down on Islamic extremism and those who advocate terrorism, including setting up special intelligence units to monitor Muslims nationwide.
Prime Minister Tony Blair called Tuesday on Britain's Muslim community to confront the "evil ideology" behind terrorism following a meeting with leaders from Islamic groups.
In another incident Friday, armed police briefly threw a cordon around a mosque in east London, while the home of a Muslim convert identified as one of the suspected July 7 suicide bombers was sealed off after a suspected arson attack.
Analysts said the officers involved in the Stockwell shooting did not appear to be operating according to normal procedures.
"These guys may have been some sort of plainclothes special forces," said terrorism expert Professor Michael Clarke.
"To have bullets pumped into him like this suggests quite a lot about him and what the authorities, whoever they are, assumed about him."
Professor Paul Rogers of Bradford University said the shooting had parallels with the "very strong" methods used by Israeli security forces and US troops in Iraq.
"The kind of tactics the Met (Metropolitan police) appear to have used this morning are very similar to the very tough tactics that the Israelis use against suspected suicide bombers," he said.
All they have to do is renounce the evil cult they practice, wear normal clothes, and they shouldn't have anything to worry about.
Londoners fear Muslims have 'bomb to kill' policy after bomb attacks
Then the policy works.
I'm not sure what they have to fear from 70 virgins awaiting them? Or are they not telling the truth again?
Muslims sure know how to work the system.
The policy seems to be a success.
Bump.
Shoot to Kill?
Works for me!!!
Sounds like the Democrats when they discuss politics over here...
"Muslims said the shooting deepened their anxiety about a violent backlash against their community"
Maybe this is a discussion the Muslims should be having with the terrorists in their midst that they have tolerated for so long.
This story illustrates the problem in the UK-that the Muslim community is surprised that the police might actually shoot suicide bombers. Shocking.
Didn't take long, did it?
Great Comment...nothing like turning the tables
Damn right they should shoot to kill! One dead terrorist or 50 dead Brits? I'll take the dead terrorist for $100, Alex!
Well now, how does it feel to be "in the crosshairs" for a change.
Americans, particularly those in cities like NY, Chicago, Wash DC and LA, have been pegged for attacks for 4 years now.
I choose to be catholic and that puts me and my family at risk from psychotic members of YOUR religion ... you made your choice, live with it.
Turnabout is fair play.
excellent...kill a few more, then these Muslin mongrels will leave town.....head back into the desert where they belong....
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