A Muslim policeman is claiming religious discrimination after being removed from guarding Tony Blair because of fears he has links to extremists.

PC Amjad Farooq was dropped from an elite firearms unit after it emerged his children had attended a Mosque associated with an Islamic preacher linked to a suspected terrorist group.

The father-of-five was told he was a threat to national security and that his presence in the Diplomatic Protection Group SO16 may upset the American secret service.

The group guards senior dignitaries including the Prime Minister.

PC Farooq, 39, was a firearms specialist working for the Wiltshire Constabulary when he was transferred to the protection group, whose main role is to guard government, diplomatic and Metropolitan Police sites.

All officers undergo security vetting including a counter-terrorism check, but PC Farooq had already been working for the group for six weeks in 2003 before he found out he had failed to get clearance.

The Met told him they had evidence to justify sacking him from the role, citing the fact that two of his children - sons aged nine and 11 - had attended their local mosque for religious studies when the building was associated with a cleric linked to an extremist Islamic group.
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