LONDON, July 22: Friday’s shooting incident at a rail station has sent shock waves though Britain’s Muslims, who now fear police are operating under a ‘shoot to kill’ policy. Muslims said the shooting deepened their anxiety about a violent backlash against their community in the wake of two sets of bomb attacks blamed on Muslim militants.

The Muslim Council of Britain demanded police explain why an Asian-looking man, reported as a ‘suspected suicide bomber’ by Sky News, was shot dead at Stockwell station on Friday.

A Muslim Council spokesman said Muslims were ‘jumpy and nervous’ and feared reprisal attacks.

“I have just had one phone call saying ‘What if I was carrying a rucksack?’,” said Inayat Bunglawala, referring to the rucksack bombs used in the London attacks.

“It’s vital the police give a statement about what occurred (at Stockwell) and explain why the man was shot dead,” Bunglawala said.

“We are getting phone calls from quite a lot of Muslims who are distressed about what may be a shoot-to-kill policy.”

“There may well be reasons why the police felt it necessary to unload five shots into the man and shoot him dead, but they need to make those reasons clear,” Mr Bunglawala said.

The shooting is the latest in a series of incidents which have threatened to create a rift between Britain’s large Muslim community and the rest of the population in the wake of the terrorist attacks here this month.

Some radical British Muslim preachers have blamed the government’s Middle East policy and the invasion of Iraq for the outrages, although the vast majority of British Muslims have condemned the bombings.

The government is drafting a range of tough new laws to crack down on extremism and those who advocate terrorism, including setting up special intelligence units to monitor Muslims nationwide.—AFP