M A I N   N E W S

UK police apologises, says suspects
will be shot in the head
Brazil seeks explanation
H.S. Rao

London, July 24
The British police today accepted “full responsibility” for shooting a Brazilian who turned out to be totally unconnected to last week’s failed London terror blasts, but said it would have to shoot suicide bomb suspects in the head to prevent them from detonating explosives.

“There is no point in shooting somebody’s chest because that’s where the bomb is likely to be. There is no point in shooting anywhere else because if they fall down they detonate it. It is drawn on the experience from other countries, including Sri Lanka,” London’s police chief Ian Blair said about the way Jean Charles de Menezes was killed on Friday in South London’s Stockwell Underground station.

“The only way to deal with this is to shoot in the head,” he told a local TV channel.

But the Metropolitan Police accepted “full responsibility for the fatal shooting of Menzes,” he said, adding, “this is a tragedy. To the family I can only express my deep regrets.”

The police apology came as family members and Brazil’s government condemned the killing of the 27-year old electrician.

Zilda Ambrosia de Figueiredo, his grandmother, said there “was no reason to think he was a terrorist. He was very easy going and very communicative with everyone.”

His cousin Alex Alves Pereira from London said: “Apologies are not enough. I believe my cousin’s death was a result of police incompetence.”

Describing his cousin as a “person full of life” he told BBC that Menezez was “a victim of government’s mistakes,” adding who “does not have a past that would make him run from police.”

Scotland Yard had earlier confirmed that the victim was completely unconnected to Thursday’s bomb attacks, which came two weeks after the deadly blasts in the city’s transport system which killed 56.

Brazil’s Foreign Minister is seeking an explanation from Mr Jack Straw about the death of Menezes, who lived in Brixton, south London. Brazil’s government said it “looks forward to receiving the necessary explanation from the British authorities on the circumstances which led to this tragedy”.

Meanwhile, the police said it was certain that the 7/7 blasts and Thursday’s attacks were related. Two men had so far been arrested after bombers targeted three Tube trains and a bus in the failed attacks. — PTI

Another held over London bombings

London, July 24
Police investigating the July 21 attempted suicide bombings in London have arrested a third man under Britain’s anti-terrorism laws, the police said today.

The man was arrested late yesterday in south London, close to the neighbourhood of Stockwell where two other suspects were arrested on Friday, they said. A police spokeswoman said the man, who was not identified, was arrested “on suspicion of the commission or instigation or preparation of acts of terrorism”.

“He has now been taken to a central London police station for questioning,” she said. — AFP