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Cop sues Met Police for removal |
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Written by Islamic Times
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Tuesday, 06 May 2008 |
A Muslim who worked in the Metropolitan police as a firearms officer has launched a claim for compensation for his removal in 2003 from an elite close-protection unit guarding senior dignitaries, including the then Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Amjad Farooq, 40, a father of five, was transferred from the Diplomatic Protection Group as it allegedly was felt he was a threat to national security because his children had attended a mosque in Swindon, associated with a Muslim cleric linked to a suspected terrorist group.
However, Mr Farooq has insisted that he did not associate with any radicals at the mosque.
The hearing of his racial and religious discrimination claims by the employment tribunal is being held behind closed doors on the grounds of national security, according to a report in the Daily Mail. The outcome of the tribunal will be known in the summer.
Vetting of the officer by MI5 is understood to have revealed an alleged link between a former imam at the Jamia Masjid mosque in Swindon and the Sipah-e-Sahaba terror group in Pakistan. The group is banned in Pakistan and Britain.
Farooq, a firearms specialist with Wiltshire police, was promoted in 2003 to the Diplomatic Protection Group in London. However, he was not allowed to carry a gun until he had received full counter-terrorism clearance. After six weeks with the specialist unit, he was informed that he had failed the clearance and was transferred to a lesser post in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Mr Farooq, who is now working as a police trainer in London, is believed to be seeking damages of about £25,000, according to the report.
Mr Farooq’s solicitor Lawrence Davies told the newspaper: "This is the first employment tribunal where the public and press have been barred on grounds of national security. The decision sets a dangerous precedent."
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