Senior British cop wears bin Laden costume

London, Sep 11 : A senior British police officer who visited the annual 9/11 memorial service in New York two years ago has been castigated for attending a Cornish village fete dressed as terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Terry - a Devon and Cornwall officer currently working in Afghanistan - also wore a white turban, scarf and Arab robe.

Chief Superintendent Colin Terry's choice of fancy dress was described as "unacceptable" by his own police force after he took part in a parade at the Grampound Carnival wearing robes and a rubber mask representing al-Qaeda leader.

Terry, who is on secondment to the Foreign Office, made the bizarre outfit choice just a few days before the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attack, The Times reported.

It is understood that in 2006 the officer travelled to Ground Zero for the fifth anniversary service held at the site where the World Trade Centre was hit by two hijacked planes.

The incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and Devon and Cornwall police said today that they would have begun misconduct proceedings if the officer had not been working at the Foreign Office.

Terry bought his Bin Laden get-up from a fancy dress shop for Saturday's carnival in the Cornish village of Grampound, where he used to live.

"The decision to participate in the carnival and the choice of costume were both personal decisions by Chief Superintendent Terry himself," said a police spokeswoman.

"Whilst we believe his actions were misguided rather than malicious, they were clearly inappropriate and we would condemn any such actions by any police officer as unacceptable."

The carnival was held on Saturday in the village of Grampound, where Terry lives with his family. Today, residents said they were surprised by the adverse reaction to the costume choice.

ANI