British police suspect London fire to soldier murder
Fir at a Islamic school in Britain is suspected of being a revenge attack murder of a soldier.
LONDON (AFP) - A fire which broke out overnight at an Islamic boarding school in Britain is suspected of being a revenge attack for last month s murder of a soldier on a London street, the country s top police officer said Sunday.
Detectives are "working tirelessly" to establish whether the blaze at the Darul Uloom Islamic School in the southeast London suburb of Chislehurst was started deliberately, according to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe.
There have been a string of attacks since soldier Lee Rigby was hacked to death in Woolwich, southeast London, on May 22 in a suspected Islamist attack.
Hogan-Howe urged all communities to shun violence.
"We should not allow the murder of Lee Rigby to come between Londoners," he said. "These are difficult times for London s communities.
"The unified response we have seen to his death across all communities will triumph over those who seek to divide us."
Emergency services were called to the school at around 11.50 pm local time (2250 GMT) on Saturday and the fire was extinguished shortly after the arrival of the fire brigade.
More than 120 pupils and staff at the boys school are believed to have been evacuated after the blaze was discovered.
Two people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation but their ages have not been released. There was minor damage to building at the 3,000-a-year ($4,650, 3,500 euros) school which was established in 1988.
A spokesperson for the school was not immediately available to comment.
