LONDON, July 25: Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Monday that Britain was ‘desperately sorry’ for the death of an innocent Brazilian man who was shot dead by police in an anti-terror chase in London last week.

“We are all desperately sorry for the death of an innocent person, and I understand the feelings of the young man’s family,” Mr Blair told a press conference.

“But we also have to understand that the police are doing their job in very very difficult circumstances and I think it’s important we give them every support,” Mr Blair said at Number 10 Downing Street, his office and residence.

Mr Blair’s spokesman said Foreign Secretary Jack Straw spoke to his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim on Sunday about the ‘context’ in which anti-terror police killed 27-year-old electrician Jean Charles de Menezes on Friday.

“As Jack Straw said yesterday, we deeply regret what happened,” he said.

The spokesman refused to comment on the specifics of the Brazilian’s death but urged understanding for the new challenges that police faced.

The threat of terrorism “poses unique challenges which have then to be decided by the police as to how they respond,” he added.

“The problem is that it does come to a split-second decision and what the police face is a threat not only to themselves — which is what makes this different — but to the public and to the surrounding area,” the spokesman said.—AFP