British Prime Minister Tony Blair has apologised to the family of a Brazilian man shot dead by police in London but has defended the shoot-to-kill policy for terror suspects.
Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes (27) was killed on Friday morning after he ran from police in south London and attempted to board an underground train.
Detectives yesterday admitted he was not connected to the suspected suicide bomb bids on three underground trains and a bus the day before.
Mr Blair initially said Mr Menezes was "directly linked" to the investigation of Thursday's attacks but today acknowledged the shooting "was a tragedy."
"The Metropolitan Police accepts full responsibility for this. To the family I can only express my deep regrets."
But he said the shoot-to-kill policy would continue but only be applied when lives were believed to be at risk.
"I am very aware that minority communities are talking about a shoot-to-kill policy," he said. "It's only a shoot-to-kill-in-order-to-protect policy."
Blair said British police have drawn from the experiences of other countries, including Sri Lanka, that have dealt with suicide attackers. "The only way to deal with this is to shoot to the head," Mr said. "There is no point in shooting at someone's chest because that is where the bomb is likely to be."
Mr Blair's apology to the family follows a meeting between Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim who was visiting London and his British counterpart Jack Straw. Mr Amorim said his government and people were "shocked" by the killing, and he demanded a thorough investigation.
"We cannot recover the life of the Brazilian citizen who died but it is very important to know all the details," he said.
Mr Menezes was originally from the small city of Gonzaga, some 500 miles northeast of Sao Paulo. Local authorities said he was Catholic.
He was an electrician who had worked in Britain for three years, said his cousin, Alex Pereira, who also lives in London. "He was a 100 percent good guy who never did anything wrong and had no reason to run," Mr Pereira said.
"I don't think he ran from police. I don't think he would do that. They can't show anything that shows that he had."
The human rights organisation Liberty called for a "comprehensive" investigation, while rank-and-file police leaders urged people to remember that firearms officers had to "make split second decisions" with "life-long consequences".
The police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), has announced an independent investigation into the shooting.
PA