LONDON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- London Mayor Ken Livingstone gave his backing Wednesday to beleaguered police chief Sir Ian Blair, currently facing calls for resignation over the police killing of an innocent Brazilian man.
Speaking to the BBC, Livingstone said Blair was the victim of disgruntled officers within the Metropolitan Police who were seeking to undermine him.
The Metropolitan Police commissioner has been accused of a cover-up following leaks from the independent investigation into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, shot eight times on an underground train by officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber.
Documents leaked to ITV last week suggested a version of events at odds with initial police accounts, including those given by Blair to the media.
But Livingstone said officers passed over for promotion had done "their bit to stab Sir Ian in the back" following the shooting of de Menezes on July 22.
Blair was "radical and reforming" and the "best news that London police has got," the mayor said.
But he said the police chief "has many enemies...who really don't want to see" the changes he is making to the force.
Livingstone said if Blair decided to quit over the mistaken shooting, he would "lock him in the room" until he dissuaded him.
Brazilian officials in Britain to investigate the shooting said Tuesday they did not believe there had been a Scotland Yard cover-up. But, speaking at a London press conference, Ambassador Manoel Gomes Pereira said he had been "perplexed" by leaks from the inquiry that contradicted early police and eyewitness reports.
Blair told media the day after the shooting that the Brazilian had displayed suspicious behavior which suggested he was a suicide bomber. Scotland Yard claimed de Menezes had been wearing a bulky jacket on a summer's day, had failed to stop when challenged by police at Stockwell station and had jumped the ticket barrier before running on to the train.
However the leaked documents, from police statements and eyewitness reports, suggested that he had not been challenged, was wearing a denim jacket and had used his ticket to enter the station. He then sat down on the train where he was restrained by an officer and shot eight times.
