UK: A young Muslim shot by police during a dawn terror raid on a suspected bomb factory in east London broke down yesterday as he described the moment anti-terrorist officers stormed his house.
He insisted that police officers gave no warning before they shot him. "He [ the officer] looked at me straightaway and shot and I fell on the floor," he said.
Mohammed Abdul Kahar (23) choked back tears as he recalled the 4am raid on June 2nd. He told a packed press conference how he was woken by the screams of his younger brother. "From my room I could hear this screaming so I got out of bed," he said.
He said he was clad only in boxer shorts and a T-shirt. "I assumed a robbery was happening." He told how he edged down the stairs before suddenly seeing a spark and hearing a big bang.
"I fell on the wall," he said. "I was on the floor, I looked at my chest and I saw bleeding coming down my chest and I saw the hole in my chest. At that moment I knew I was shot."
Speaking publicly about the raid for the first time, he said as he lay on the stairs bleeding and in fear for his family, he was kicked in the face by a police officer and told to "shut the f*** up".
He told how he put his hand over his chest and saw two officers walking towards him. He then described feeling the shotgun against his chest. "I was begging 'please, please, I cannot move'." He claimed that as he pleaded with them, the officers told him to "shut the f*** up, stay here, stay here".
"At that moment I thought they were going to shoot me again or shoot my brother," he said. "I heard them shouting 'secure the room'. At that moment I still did not know they were the police, they never said a word about the police."
Mr Kahar claimed he was grabbed and dragged down the stairs and then thrown on the pavement outside. "I just thought 'they're going to kill us'."
He told reporters he did not realise the raid was a police operation until he was lying on the street. He also said he did not support terrorism.
"Violence is not in my nature. It's not in my religion."
His brother Abul Koyair (20) told the press conference the police raid had been "like a dream". He recalled being woken by an alarm which appeared to be coming from inside their house.
He said his elder brother emerged from his own bedroom and started going downstairs before suddenly being shot. "After that it was all quiet. No one said anything. I thought it was like a dream.
"After about one or two minutes I realised that this was not a dream. I realised that my own brother had got shot for no reason. They tried to murder my brother."
He then saw the police officers dragging his brother downstairs, hitting him as they went. Mr Kahar said he was in great pain when he was taken to the hospital, adding: "It seemed like fire. I was burning." He said he had pleaded with the doctor not to allow him to be taken away to be interviewed, but had seen police officers asking the doctor to release him early.
He said while he was being interrogated, officers repeatedly asked him if he was a member of an extremist group, including at one point the Ku Klux Klan.
His brother told the press conference that before the raid in Forest Gate, east London, he had applied to be a community police officer. He said he no longer wanted to join the force.
The brothers' personal testimonies could pile more pressure on Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, who has faced fresh calls to resign since the brothers were released without charge on Friday, a week after their arrest.
Asked about Sir Ian, the brothers stopped short of calling for him to go. Mr Koyair said: "Whoever is responsible should be put to justice, whoever gave the order for this happen." Mr Kahar said: "I want everyone that was involved in it to apologise."
Mr Kahar said he supported the role of the police, adding: "Without police the country would be lawless."
He said that during his detention in Paddington Green police station, he feared officers would frame him. "I'm a law-abiding citizen. I was born and bred in east London. I love my town." He went on: "I ain't done nothing to this country. This is my country. I love everyone around."
The two men were arrested when 250 officers - some armed and some wearing chemical suits - raided their house. Both were held under anti-terror legislation.
Since the raid, Scotland Yard has insisted officers had no choice but to act after receiving intelligence about a chemical bomb.
Mr Kahar said he "had no idea" who could have given the police intelligence about them. "From my point of view the person who did this, they have terrorised me and my family," he said. - (PA)