LONDON, July 31, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – While the Metropolitan Police is seeking to recruit Muslim officers to bolster ties with the minority and help fight extremism, the government is planning a series of meetings with senior Muslim leaders across the country.

"The Met realizes there is still a great deal of work to be done in order to genuinely reflect the people of London," Simon Fisher of the Met's personnel department was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"It is continually in discussion with community leaders from all under-represented groups in London to raise the profile of the Met as an employer of choice."

Out of the 31,000 employees of the Metropolitan Police, only 900 are Muslim, according to AFP.

In the wake of the July 7 attacks, which killed 56 people, and the July 21 botched bombings, both Met chief Ian Blair and Prime Minister Tony Blair have been vigorously backing the push for more Muslim recruits.

"I need you," said the police commissioner, speaking at the Minhaj-ul-Quran Mosque in Forest Gate, east London.

"We have to seize a moment, in which the Muslim community in Britain changes from your position of shock and disbelief into active engagement in counter-terrorism," he said.

Blair told police chiefs they need to " get young Muslim men and women into the police service."

Earlier this month, The Guardian said British police are intensifying efforts to recruit more Muslim officers to boost intelligence gathering capabilities about Islamic communities in Britain.

Three of the four men blamed for London bombings were British-born Muslims of Pakistani origin.

The fourth was a Jamaican-born Briton who converted to Islam.

One of the biggest obstacles facing the drive is a reputation for racism in the police force, underlined by a number of reports in recent years.

Tahir Butt, spokesman for the Muslim Safety Forum, said the Met has long been racist, adding that Indian and Pakistani officers have faced isolation or even abuse in the force.

"There are a lot of sergeants who don't understand the interest of having Muslim officers."

He added that some do not, for example, see why Muslim officers should be given time and facilities to pray.

"For a practicing Muslim, it's compulsory to pray on Friday: at the end of the day, they will rather give up their job as opposed to give up their religion."

Since last year, Scotland Yard has organized some 86 employment events and run advertising campaigns in newspapers read by specific communities.

In the famously multicultural British capital, Dal Babu is an exception.

The 42-year-old ethnic Indian, a superintendent in the east end district of Bethnal Green, is the only Muslim of his rank in the Metropolitan Police force.

"I joined the Met in 1983. At that time, there was less than one percent officers from ethnic minority. We are at seven percent now, the change has been huge," he told AFP.

"It's important for the Muslim community to have a Muslim senior officer, they see me go to the prayer on Friday, it gives them confidence," he added.

Babu points out that Muslim staff in the Bethnal Green district, which has substantial Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities, have facilities for prayers, can eat halal food and do not have to work Fridays.

But while welcoming the progress, he regretted that Bethnal Green police station has only nine Muslim officers among its 1,200 staff.

"There is still much to do."

In another move toward better communication with the Muslim minority, the Home Office is planning meetings with Muslim leaders, reported AFP.

"The government is introducing a series of meetings during the summer to discuss the shared challenges facing the Muslim community and the government following recent events," said a Home Office spokeswoman.

She said eight meetings will take place before parliament returns in October, ending with "concrete proposals" on key issues from Home Secretary Charles Clarke.

Home Office minister Hazel Blears and a junior minister were to visit eight British towns and cities during August to consult with Muslim leaders.

"At the end of the eight meetings the home secretary will host a major roundtable talk with Muslim leaders on September 20 to discuss concrete proposals," the spokeswoman said.

Muslim scholars from around the world gathered in London Sunday, July 24, for a conference addressing the phenomenon of extremism and Islamophobia.

The police-sponsored one-day conference denounced the London attacks as "barbaric and inhuman," and called on the public and media to work more closely with the Muslim minority, estimated at 1.6 million.