London, Mar 15, IRNA - Chief Superintendent Ali Dizaei has been promoted to the rank of commander in London's Metropolitan Police at the fourth attempt after previously being at the center of a controversial four-year internal inquiry.

His promotion comes after Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair last year apologized for the Pnds 4 million (Dlrs 8 m) investigation against the Iranian-born officer, which he said caused "considerable damage" within the Britain's largest police force.

The rank of commander, equivalent to assistant chief constable of the UK's other regional forces, means that 46-year old Dizaei joins the Association of Chief Police Officers, which leads and coordinates the direction and development of the police service in Britain.

After his last refusal in March 2007, National Black Police Association (NBPA) questioned the decision, suggesting that there was a "vendetta" against Britain's second-highest ranking Muslim officer.

Yard rocked by race row as senior Muslim officer fails to win promotion -Daily Mail, March 2007

Dizaei, whose father was a deputy commissioner of police in Tehran, was investigated by his own force from 1999 for corruption and even spying for Iran, but was subsequently cleared of any charges at a trial in 2003, despite being subjected to intense surveillance.

After his acquittal, he decided to stay with the Metropolitan police becoming Chief Superintendent first in Hounslow, which covers Heathrow airport, then Hammersmith and Fulham in west London.

Last year, Dizaei published his book entitled 'Not One of Us: The Trial That Changed Policing in Britain Forever,' which was highly critical of the investigation launched against him.

Throughout his career, he has been an outspoken critic of institutional racism in the police service and the use of stop and search powers, which disproportionately targets Britain's two million Muslim communities.
 

... Payvand News - 03/15/08 ...