Two top Brazilian officials met with London police to find out how and why officers killed a Brazilian man mistaking him for a suicide bomber. A relative of the victim also demanded that Prime Minister Tony Blair make sure those responsible were prosecuted.
Pressure has mounted on London's Metropolitan Police and its chief, Commissioner Ian Blair, over allegations of serious failings in the lead-up to Jean Charles de Menezes' death on a subway train. The shooting occurred in July, at a time of high security in the British capital following two terrorist attacks.
The Brazilian officials -- Deputy Attorney General Wagner Goncalves and high-ranking Justice Ministry official Marcio Pereira Pinto Garcia -- met with Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Yates and other officials. Police said Commissioner Blair joined in for part of the meeting.
"This was a positive and constructive meeting,'' police said in a statement. They said Yates had reiterated an apology on behalf of the police force for Menezes' tragic death and outlined to the Brazilian officials the process and protocols for the independent inquiry.
The Brazilian officials were also to meet British government representatives and an independent watchdog agency that is investigating the shooting of Menezes.
On Monday, about 100 people held a vigil in the victim's honour outside 10 Downing St., where Prime Minister Blair lives and works.
Menezes' cousin, Alessandro Pereira, left a letter at No. 10, saying it demands that those "responsible for the murder of Jean'' be prosecuted and that officials hold a full public inquiry into the killing.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police waited two days to inform the family of Jean Charles de Menezes that the young Brazilian was not fleeing or behaving suspiciously when he was shot dead by armed officers in the capital's subway.
"Mr. De Menezes' family in the United Kingdom, his cousins, were briefed by police that Mr. De Menezes did not run into the tube station, that he used a ticket to get through the tube station barrier -- specifically that he did not vault the barrier -- and that he was not wearing a padded jacket or carrying a bag," the Metropolitan Police said in astatement.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Yates told the visiting Brazilian delegation that the family was informed on July 24, two days after 27-year-old De Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder, the statement said.