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Armed police officers patrolling in London. (Archive)
Last update - 18:30 05/10/2006
London police review move to excuse Muslim officer at Israeli embassy
By Reuters

London's police, facing an uproar over a report that a Muslim officer had been excused from guarding the Israeli embassy, said that the department decided not to use him there after the officer disclosed his concerns about a war in Lebanon.

"This is not about political correctness. I want to make it clear that this decision was taken on the basis of risk and safety," Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said in a statement released by Metropolitan Police.

Commissioner Ian Blair had ordered an urgent review of the decision following a report in The Sun newspaper saying that Constable Alexander Omar Basha, who worked in the Diplomatic Protection Group, had sought to be excused from duty at the embassy because of moral objections to Israeli bombing of Lebanon.
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Basha's wife is Lebanese and his father is Syrian, said Superintendent Dal Babu, chairman of the Association of Muslim Police.

Press Association, the British news agency, quoted unidentified police sources as saying the officer was willing to accept the posting, but feared reprisals against relatives in Lebanon if he was spotted guarding the embassy. Basha could not be reached for comment.

Stephenson said the department encouraged officers "to be up front and honest" about any matters which could affect their performance.

"At the height of the Israeli-Lebanon conflict in August this year the officer made his managers aware of his personal concerns, which included that he had Lebanese family members," Stephenson said.

"Whilst the Israeli embassy is not his normal posting, in view of the possibility that he could be deployed there, a risk assessment was undertaken, which is normal practice. It was as a result of this risk assessment - and not
because of the officer's personal views whatever they might have been - that the decision was taken temporarily not to deploy him to the Embassy.

"The public would expect us to conduct such a risk assessment and review the suitability of any firearms officer undertaking such duties."

Stephenson did not say what risks were discerned in this case.

Before any details of the case had been disclosed, debate raged between those who were shocked and those who dismissed it as a minor incident.

"By allowing this officer to avoid guarding the Israeli embassy, the Met has set an extraordinary and dangerous precedent," said Damian Hockney, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, which oversees the department.

"What happens if a Greek officer doesn't want to guard the Turkish embassy, or an anti-hunting officer refuses to protect pro-hunt demonstrators?" Hockney said.

But another authority member, Peter Herbert, said the story was a "ridiculous fuss about nothing."

"It is not uncommon for police officers to make requests of a personal nature," Herbert said. "Even officers with connections in Northern Ireland have made similar requests before."

Glen Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, whose union represents lower-ranking officers, said the officer did not refuse the posting but requested another on the basis of his family circumstances.

"It is one thing for an officer to refuse to do something without giving sufficient cause, it is quite another for an officer to make a polite request which if agreed to, would result in a variation of duties," Smyth said.

Babu said he understood that moral objections were not the issue. "This is about the welfare of an individual, and not about a moral issue," Babu said in an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"This particular officer had brought an issue forward - his wife is Lebanese, his father is from Syria - and he brought up this issue at the start of August this year, and had expressed a desire to be posted elsewhere while the war was going on," Babu said.

"He is now working normal DPG (Diplomatic Protection Group) duties, and clearly if an issue happens at the Israeli Embassy he will deal with it."

Diplomatic Protection Group officers are usually armed and are assigned to guard official buildings like the Houses of Parliament, politicians and visiting dignitaries as well as diplomats.

Two police officers with machine-guns guard were on guard Thursday outside the red-brick embassy on a quiet street in the ritzy Kensington district. Thick barriers in front of the embassy protect it from intruding vehicles, and
police deter passers-by from taking photographs.

The Israeli Embassy released a brief statement saying it had "full confidence in the ability of the Metropolitan Police force to provide the embassy with maximum security, as well as its ability to deal with this sort of grave
problem."

It later released another statement that said protecting the embassy was a "difficult problem," and expressed "full confidence in the devotion, professionalism and ability of the Metropolitan Police Force to provide the embassy with maximum security."
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  1.   Basha`s Moral Objection 03:32  |  Brad 05/10/06
  2.   Very Disconcerting 04:22  |  Gary 05/10/06
  3.   A policeman has a duty to uphold law - cannot refuse lawful order 04:25  |  Jake 05/10/06
  4.   Objects to Israel not Jews 05:22  |  Ahmad 05/10/06
  5.   #4 Ahmad 05:49  |  Dave 05/10/06
  6.   Fire him 06:10  |  Barry 05/10/06
  7.   Police officers do their duty... 06:22  |  NS 05/10/06
  8.   #1 in democracy 06:49  |  Jonathan 05/10/06
  9.   Question for Talkback 07:43  |  phillipe t. lucre 05/10/06
  10.   He made a request and it was granted 07:47  |  Colin Wright 05/10/06
  11.   UK police reputation tarnished 07:48  |  J.J. 05/10/06
  12.   objection or abjection? 07:53  |  Stan 05/10/06
  13.   Sensitive management 08:03  |  sh 05/10/06
  14.   Job definition 08:09  |  Dani Reiss 05/10/06
  15.   Seems fair enough 08:14  |  Clickfool 05/10/06
  16.   Fire this bigot and every other muslim who refuses to serve!!! 08:22  |  arthur 05/10/06
  17.   What if I morally object... 08:51  |  Frank 05/10/06
  18.   ridicolous 09:04  |  lionel 05/10/06
  19.   to 12; objection or abjection? 09:08  |  lionel 05/10/06
  20.   to Ahmad 09:09  |  Marcelo 05/10/06
  21.   Holier than thou? 09:23  |  Human 05/10/06
  22.   SHARIA LAW NOW!! 09:40  |  farid 05/10/06
  23.   REMOVE THIS SO CALLED OFFICER 09:45  |  Maurice 05/10/06
  24.   GOOD FOR YOU OMAR 09:50  |  indrajaya 05/10/06
  25.   he should be fired 09:57  |  Jeroen 05/10/06
  26.   Hmmmm!!! During the Apartheid years did....... 10:07  |  Joe Moer 05/10/06
  27.   #15, actually it didn`t 10:18  |  Danny - Israeli one 05/10/06
  28.   Religion and Politics 10:18  |  Ahmed 05/10/06
  29.   Where does this stop.?The USA Embassy,Russian,India --- 10:20  |  PETER SM 05/10/06
  30.   Uphold the law and lawful duty 10:21  |  Geoff 05/10/06
  31.   What are the facts? 10:23  |  Jerry 05/10/06
  32.   #22 sharia law now! 10:26  |  Geoff 05/10/06
  33.   #26 10:26  |  Jerry 05/10/06
  34.   C.FOOL.Your comparison reaches new heights in absurdity. 10:26  |  PETER SM 05/10/06
  35.   Muslims and democracy 10:28  |  Ralph 05/10/06
  36.   Joe Moer (#26) 10:28  |  EyeOnPal 05/10/06
  37.   Imagine if doctors refused to treat people based on who they are 10:43  |  Judith 05/10/06
  38.   Sensitive management 10:47  |  Joe 05/10/06
  39.   Namby Pamby 10:48  |  Fletch 05/10/06
  40.   Lionel you idiot 11:06  |  Jasmine Murphy 05/10/06
  41.   sh 11:10  |  Jasmine Murphy 05/10/06
  42.   SHARIA LAW 11:11  |  nasreen 05/10/06
  43.   that is right ahmed 11:12  |  sam 05/10/06
  44.   Two types of British citizens 11:16  |  An Australian 05/10/06
  45.   Joe Moer 11:16  |  piepiejoller 05/10/06
  46.   Conscientious objection 11:18  |  Tony Price 05/10/06
  47.   Maybe a wise decision from his part 11:35  |  BouSameer 05/10/06
  48.   # 9 Question 11:36  |  ChanahS 05/10/06
  49.   Not on moral grounds 11:37  |  Boycott 05/10/06
  50.   Colin Wright # 10 11:38  |  ChanahS 05/10/06
  51.   A Sad day for UK muslims... 11:39  |  Jack 05/10/06
  52.   Clickfools inanity @ 15 11:43  |  ChanahS 05/10/06
  53.   Lionel - Correction 11:45  |  ChanahS 05/10/06
  54.   "He felt unsafe " - From Bloomberg 11:49  |  BouSameer 05/10/06
  55.   Policing For All Not Just By Those You Choose 11:52  |  Paul Usiskin 05/10/06
  56.   # 21 Holier than thou 11:54  |  ChanahS 05/10/06
  57.   thats his `human-right` 12:02  |  Oppressed 05/10/06
  58.   Tony Pr ice - Priceless! 12:04  |  ChanahS 05/10/06
  59.   Tony Price # 46 12:06  |  ChanahS 05/10/06
  60.   A policemans job is to protect everyone 12:07  |  British academic 05/10/06
  61.   No 57 12:07  |  Paul Usiskin 05/10/06
  62.   On ClickFOOL and masturbation during Ramadan 12:13  |  Jonathan S 05/10/06
  63.   Youre going to see one hell of a fuss about this... 12:15  |  British academic 05/10/06
  64.   #37, been instances of Israelis not treating arabs 12:19  |  Danny - Israeli one 05/10/06
  65.   Loyalty to jihad rather than the british public 12:21  |  British academic 05/10/06
  66.   UNHEARD OF! 12:24  |  Alicia 05/10/06
  67.   Clickfool. Re objections. I have some. 12:25  |  Zardos 05/10/06
  68.   BouSameer: Cloudcuckooland 12:27  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 05/10/06
  69.   Jews have beards too 12:28  |  Jasmine Murphy 05/10/06
  70.   Risk of threat 12:32  |  JW 05/10/06
  71.   Indrajaya. His beliefs are the problem. 12:34  |  Zardos