would any other officer have been given the same choice?

Inquiry into embassy police row

Sir Ian Blair ordered the review after reports in the Sun newspaper

An inquiry has been ordered by Met Police chief Sir Ian Blair after
a Muslim constable was excused from guarding the Israeli embassy in
London.

Sir Ian says he wants an "urgent review of the situation and a full report".

The Sun newspaper said the officer was reassigned on "moral grounds" as he objected to Israeli actions in Lebanon.

But the Association of Muslim Police Officers said it
was a "welfare issue" - the officer had Middle Eastern relatives and
felt unsafe in that role.

The officer, who has been named as Pc Alexander Omar Basha, is attached to the Scotland Yard's Diplomatic Protection Group.

The particular officer has brought an issue forward. His wife is Lebanese and his father is from Syria Association of Muslim Police Officers

He has a Syrian father and a Lebanese wife.

During the summer, when Israel was involved in a
month-long conflict with Lebanese militants, Pc Basha asked to be moved
from the Israeli embassy because he felt uncomfortable and unsafe.

Now the conflict is over, the Association of Muslim
Police Officers - which is speaking on his behalf - said Pc Basha had
asked to be excused from his duties because he felt "uncomfortable and
unsafe".

Superintendent Dal Babu, from the association, told BBC
News the officer's reassignment had nothing to do with politics but was
an "issue around the welfare of a particular officer".

"The particular officer has brought an issue forward. His wife is Lebanese and his father is from Syria.

"He brought this issue up at the start of August and has expressed a desire to be posted elsewhere whilst the war was going on."

Oath of allegiance

Supt Babu said Pc Basha was now back on diplomatic
protection group duties and that "if an incident happens at the Israeli
embassy he will deal with it".

Supt Babu accepted that excusing officers from assignments because of moral beliefs would be unacceptable.

"I think that we're going down a very, very slippery
slope if we then start having postings based on individual officers'
conscience," he said.

"As police officers we have to deal with some very
difficult situations and we need to be objective and make sure that we
police all members of the community fairly.

"We can't pick and choose."

If officers have political, religious, ideological or moral views about things then they've got to put their duties above that because their service is to the public Lord Mackenzie

Lord Mackenzie, former president of the Superintendents'
Association of England and Wales, said the move sounded like "a step
too far".

"There are cases where clearly you can grant compassionate leave in certain circumstances," he said.

"But if officers have political, religious, ideological
or moral views about things then they've got to put their duties above
that because their service is to the public.

"What we don't want is a situation where one particular
section of the community is given special reasons for not performing
duties because that will simply alienate the rest."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said it would sometimes
consider a special request to be moved on moral grounds - but added it
reserved the right to post an officer anywhere.

The Metropolitan Police Authority, which oversees the force's work, pointed out that police officers took an oath of allegiance.

The authority, which has also asked for a report, said
officers often had to undertake duties where the subject conflicted
with their personal beliefs.