Men held after terror raid may sue London police

LONDON - A lawyer acting for a man who was shot and arrested with his brother during a bungled police anti-terrorism raid said he might sue London's Metropolitan Police force for compensation.

Lawyer Gareth Peirce said 23-year-old Mohammed Abdul Kahar, a Muslim who was shot in the raid which police staged after a tip-off about a "chemical bomb", was still recovering and his family were suffering a series of "practical nightmares".

Asked about media reports that Kahar and his brother Abul Koyair would sue, Peirce said: "Of course it is more than likely, but that is subject to the family making a decision."

London's Metropolitan Police have been accused of a series of errors after launching the huge raid on the house in the ethnically-mixed Forest Gate area of east London.

Police have apologised for the disruption caused by the raid but say they had "no choice" but to act on "very specific intelligence". They have also promised to repair damage to the house caused by the search.

Around 150 Muslim campaigners staged a demonstration on Sunday to voice their anger at what they called "rising Islamophobia" outside New Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police's headquarters,

They carried banners asking "How intelligent is your intelligence?" and calling for "Justice for Muslims" and on police to stop "Terrorising our community".

Humeya Kalam, the sister of the released brothers, issued a statement to say the two men would have liked to have attended the demonstration to show unity.

"However, they are unable to do so because they are still recovering from their injuries, both physically as well as mentally," she said.

She said the protest would "help highlight the fact that no other innocent family should be forced to go through the same nightmare that we went through."

More than 250 officers took part in the raid on June 2, which Muslim groups have criticised as heavy-handed. No bomb was found in the search of the house and the brothers were released without charge on Friday evening after a week in custody.

The operation, in which officers wore chemical, biological and radiological protection suits, was one of the biggest police operations since last July's suicide bomb attacks on London underground trains and a bus killed 52 people.

Compensation claim

Peirce said she was discussing a possible compensation claim with the family, but stressed they had more immediate problems.

"There are a range of practical nightmares for the family," she told Reuters. "They are homeless, and they have not yet even been given the keys to the house back, they don't have anywhere to live, Kahar is in need of medical attention. Those are the practical problems that we are trying to help with right now."

The Muslim Council of Britain has called on police to help prevent extremist groups exploiting resentment in the Muslim community by acknowledging they made errors in the raid, and the Metropolitan Police Authority, which monitors the police, has also criticised them for "a series of mistakes".

The Metropolitan Police force is still waiting to hear if any officer faces prosecution over the fatal shooting of a Brazilian man last year.

Police shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes in the weeks after the July 7, 2005, attacks on London transport when they wrongly identified him as a potential suicide bomber.

- REUTERS