London shooting leaves unanswered questions: new Muslim leader
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, June 5, IRNA
UK London Shooting-MCB
Newly-elected secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, Muhammad Abdul Bari, said Monday that the police should acknowledge if mistakes were made in the last anti-terrorism raid that led to the shooting of a 23-year old Muslim.
"Friday's massive police raid purportedly looking for a suspected chemical bomb factory, and the conflicting accounts surrounding the shooting of the twenty-three year-old Abdul Kahar, have led to many questions being asked which need urgent answers," Bari said.
He said it was "in the interest of all of us that trust is maintained and that if mistakes have been made by the police, that they are acknowledged and steps taken to rebuild relationships." Bari, who was elected on Sunday to replace outgoing MCB secretary general Sir Iqbal Sacranie, was due to make his visit as the new leader to the scene of the police raid in Forest Gate, east London.
He said he was going with senior colleagues to listen to concerns amongst the Muslim community there, especially those of Muslim youths.
His visit comes amid doubts about the intelligence basis of the operation, which involved some 250 anti-terrorism officers storming the family home of Mohammed Abdul Kahar in a pre-dawn raid.
Kahar, who was shot in the shoulder, was arrested on terrorist offences along with his 20 year old brother Abul Koyair, both of whom have protested their innocents.
The Guardian newspaper reported Monday that "confidence among officials appeared to be waning as searches at the address continued to yield no evidence of a plot for an attack with cyanide or other chemicals" as had been claimed.
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