LONDON, ENGLAND (Reuters):

London police defended yesterday a controversial decision to excuse a Muslim firearms officer from guard duty at the Israeli embassy, saying it was based on a potential safety risk and not on the man's personal views.

The Sun newspaper reported that Constable Alexander Omar Basha told his bosses he morally objected to Israel's 34-day war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

However, the Association of Muslim Police Officers, which represented Basha in media interviews, said he was moved last week because he felt "uncomfortable and unsafe" guarding the embassy in west London.

"This is about the welfare of an individual and not about a moral issue," the association's Superin-tendent Dal Babu told BBC radio. "His wife is Lebanese and his father is from Syria."

Improving integration

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has been trying to improve integration among Britain's ethnic and religious communities after suicide bomb attacks by four Islamists on London's transport network in July 2005 killed 52 commuters.

London's Metropolitan Police ordered an urgent review of Basha's case, which sparked criticism that it would open the floodgates for officers of any religion or belief to refuse to carry out certain duties.

Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson later said the decision had been made after the officer had raised "personal concerns" including the fact he had Lebanese family members.

"Whilst the Israeli embassy is not his normal posting, in view of the possibility that he could be deployed there, a risk assessment was undertaken, which is normal practice," Stephenson said in a statement.

"It was as a result of this risk assessment - and not because of the officer's personal views whatever they might have been - that the decisions was taken temporarily not to deploy him to the embassy."