Briton Says He Pleaded With Police Who Fired for No Reason

A 23-year-old Muslim man who was shot during a massive police raid on his house, then released a week later without charge, said Tuesday that an officer fired at him without warning.

In his first public statements, Mohammed Abdul Kahar described himself as a law-abiding man who loved London, his birthplace. His emotional words, delivered at a news conference here, added to the embarrassment the anti-terrorism raid has caused Scotland Yard.

Kahar said he was shot in the chest as he and his brother came downstairs to investigate noises before dawn June 2.

“As I took the first step down the stairs ... I saw an orange spark and a big bang,” Kahar said. “I was begging the police, ‘Please, I can’t breathe.’ And he just kicked me in my face” and told him to shut up.

Police Commissioner Ian Blair has come under heavy criticism for missteps since four suicide bombers in London’s transit system killed 52 people in July. Shortly after those attacks, police mistook a Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, for a terrorist on the subway and shot him seven times in the head.

Prime Minister Tony Blair defended the police commissioner’s handling of this month’s raid, amid calls for the chief officer’s resignation.

“There is no doubt at all if they received information that there was a possible terrorist attack and did not act on that information and such an attack then took place, you can just imagine the outcry, the justifiable outcry, there would be,” the prime minister said.

The raid took place in Forest Gate, a neighborhood where many Pakistani and Bangladeshi shopkeepers, cabdrivers and others live alongside other working-class Britons. It drew widespread attention in a country where memories of the transit bombings remain fresh.

Kahar, a British-born Muslim of Bengali origin, said he had no idea why his home was targeted. His brother was also arrested and released.

“I knew they made a mistake from the time they entered my house. We’re a law-abiding family,” he said. “I was born and bred in East London. I love this town.”

Gareth Peirce, a human rights lawyer representing the brothers, said the raid showed the “danger of relying on information considered in secret.”

Peirce said that because police took over the house and damaged it during the search, the family had to leave its home of 20 years.

Asked at the news conference whether they would seek compensation, the brothers said they wanted an apology first.

A senior police officer later offered one.

“In mounting this operation we have caused disruption and inconvenience to many residents,” Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman said. “I apologize for the hurt that we may have caused.”