LONDON, Oct 5: Britain’s top policeman ordered an urgent inquiry on Thursday into a decision to excuse a Muslim officer from guard duty at the Israeli embassy during the recent Israel-Lebanon conflict, police said.
Sir Ian Blair, head of London’s Metropolitan Police, said that there would be an ‘urgent review of the situation and a full report’ after the Sun tabloid newspaper reported the case of police constable Alexander Omar Basha.
There were contradictory reports as to why the officer, whose wife is Lebanese and father Syrian, made the request.
The Sun wrote that Omar Basha said he could not carry out duties due to his ‘moral objection’ to the attacks.
But Dal Babu, head of the Association of Muslim Police, which is representing the officer, said it was a welfare. He said Omar Basha felt ‘uncomfortable and unsafe’ guarding the embassy during the conflict.
“The officer is from the Middle East. He has relatives (who) are Muslims and Christians and for welfare reasons, he’s asked to be posted elsewhere for a short period of time,” he told BBC radio.
Superintendent Babu said Basha was now back on duty with the diplomatic protection group.
He added: “If an incident happens at the Israeli embassy, he will deal with it.”
Amid intense media interest, Ian Blair’s deputy, Paul Stephenson, said police had decided not to deploy Basha after a risk assessment and not because of his personal views.
Coverage of the case of Omar Basha, who the Sun said was in his 20s and had taken part in recent anti-war rallies, has sparked controversy between top police figures.—AFP
