A Muslim police officer was excused from guarding the Israeli Embassy in London on safety grounds, not out of political correctness, Scotland Yard insisted today.

Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said the decision not to post Pc Alexander Omar Basha outside the embassy had been taken after a risk assessment.

A furore erupted and Commissioner Sir Ian Blair called for an urgent review after The Sun newspaper reported that PC Basha, who is attached to the Metropolitan Police’s Diplomatic Protection Group, asked for special dispensation not to work at the embassy because of his moral objection to Israel’s bombing of Lebanon over the summer.

Mr Basha’s wife is from Lebanon and his father is from Syria. Pc Basha's supporters said the officer was willing to take up the posting but was concerned about the safety of his family in the region if he was spotted guarding the embassy.

Critics accused senior officers of a "serious error of judgement" and said it was "the beginning of the end for British policing".

But Mr Stephenson said: "This is not about political correctness. I want to make it clear that this decision was taken on the basis of risk and safety."

He stressed that the impartial policing of all communities was "fundamental" to policing the UK and "non negotiable".

The force had a "long history" of policing demonstrations, marches and events, no matter what the personal views of its officers and if would be "wholly improper" if any officers broke their oath of allegiance which says that they serve "without fear or favour".

However, he continued: "At the height of the Israeli/Lebanon conflict in August this year, the officer made his managers aware of his personal concerns, which included that 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.

"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 decision was taken temporarily not to deploy him to the embassy."

A spokesman for the Yard said that the final decision to grant the officer's request had been made by "local management" and that the Commissioner had not been involved.

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