Use of Taser on bomber 'incredible risk'

LONDON, July 29 (UPI) -- British police chief Sir Ian Blair has criticized the use of a Taser in the arrest of July 21 bomb suspect Yassin Hassan Omar.

"It's an incredible risk to use a taser on a suicide bomber," he said on a special BBC program, "Questions of Security," Thursday night.

The Metropolitan Police commissioner said such action was not "policy" but the officers may have made sure there was no bomb present.

"The Taser itself could have set it off," he said.

He defended the killing of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes last week by officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber, saying in such a situation shooting to kill was the only option.

"Despite everything that's been said here, there is only one way to stop someone who is a suicide bomber, which is to kill that person," Sir Ian said.

West Midlands Police, who apprehended Omar in Birmingham Wednesday, issued a statement saying each situation was unique.

"The information and intelligence would have been different, the threat levels to officers and the public was different."

Both incidents were subject to inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, they said.