Muslim cop refuses to shake hands with senior officer

LONDON: Close on the heels of the veil row, a Muslim woman police officer has sparked off a new debate by refusing to shake hands with Britain's most senior police chief for religious reasons.

The incident happened at a passing-out parade where Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair was inspecting a line-up of 200 recruits.

In addition to refusing a traditional congratulatory handshake from Blair, the officer, who wore a traditional Muslim hijab (headscarf), also declined to be photographed with him as she did not want the picture used for 'propaganda purposes', The Daily Mail reported on Sunday.

The woman had earlier insisted that for her to touch a man would be contrary to her religious teaching.

The paper said that the incident had sparked off top-level discussions at Scotland Yard.

An inquiry has now been launched and the unidentified officer described as 'a non-Asian Muslim' - could face the sack if it is considered that her strict religious beliefs prevent her performing as an effective police officer.

However, senior commanders are worried that dismissing her would deepen the atmosphere of mistrust between the police and the Muslim community, the paper reported.

Scotland Yard has allowed Muslim officers to wear an adaptation of the hijab since 2001.

There are still only around 300 Muslims among the Metroplitan Police's 35,000 officers and fewer than 20 are women.

A row erupted last year after a British Muslim teaching assistant refused to remove her full face veil in the classroom.