UK police defend shoot-to-kill after fatal mistake

LONDON, Sunday (Reuters)

British police on Sunday defended a policy of shooting to kill suspected suicide bombers after shooting dead a Brazilian electrician by mistake in the hunt for London's bombers.

Brazil has demanded an explanation from Britain after police searching for four men suspected of trying to bomb London's transport system last Thursday shot Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, at an underground railway station in south London.

"I think we are quite comfortable that the policy is right, but of course these are fantastically difficult times," Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair told Sky Television.

Asked if the instructions were to shoot to kill if police believed a suspect was a suicide bomber, he said: "Correct. They have to be that."

"It's still happening out there, there are still officers having to make those calls as we speak ... Somebody else could be shot," Blair added.

Last Thursday's failed bomb attacks, which killed no one but caused mass panic, came exactly 2 weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 people on London's underground rail network and a bus.

Police had earned widespread praise for their handling of the inquiry, but the killing of an innocent man has raised concern about the trade-off between human rights and security.

Muslim leaders fear members of their community will be targeted after police identified the four men who blew themselves up on July 7 as British Muslims.

"To give licence to people to shoot to kill just like that, on the basis of suspicion, is very frightening," said Azzam Tamimi of the Muslim Association of Britain.

Former London police chief John Stevens wrote in the News of the World newspaper that he had sent teams to Israel and other countries hit by suicide bombings to train in combating them.