British police deny cash offer for killed Brazilian

    LONDON, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- London police on Saturday denied reports that they offered 1 million US dollars in compensation to the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian who was wrongly killed by police in a London underground station last month.

    "The only discussions we have had so far with the family of Jean Charles de Menezes have been about initial expenses," a police spokesman told Sky News television.

    "We strongly refute any suggestion that a figure anywhere in the region of 1 million dollars has been offered as compensation," he added.

    Earlier reports said de Menezes' parents have turned down an offer of 1 million pounds (1.8 million dollars).

    They reportedly rejected the offer as an insult.

    "We will not be bought off. We will not be silenced. This is not about money, this is about justice," they told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.

    The 27-year-old Brazilian was shot seven times on the head and once on the shoulder by police at the Stockwell underground station in south London on July 21. He was mistaken as a suicide bomb suspect.

    Both the police and the British government have announced their apology for the death of the innocent man and offered to compensate for the mistake.

    The shoot-to-kill policy taken by police aimed at suicide bombers following London's serial bombings has been under attack after de Menezes' death. Enditem