Race chief meets family of murderered cabby

Mr Mohammad Amran, a high ranking official with the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), met local ethnic leaders and visited Mr Javed's family. He was welcomed to the town by the Mayor of Bury, Councillor Bill Johnson.

Also at the meeting at Bury Town Hall were Mr Khalid Hussain, director of Bury Racial Equality Council (REC) and its chairman, Dr Mohammed Salim.

Mr Amran, a commissioner with the race relations body, was accompanied by Ms Bhavna Patel, a senior CRE officer.

They met with Bury REC officials to listen to the progress made in eradicating racism and improving race relations in the borough.

They discussed the recent murder of Mr Javed. Mr Amran talked to Inspector Malcolm Kerford, Bury's police community affairs officer, on the subject of tackling racially-motivated crime.

The commissioner said: "The CRE, the local authority and Bury police need to support Bury REC if racism is to be effectively tackled in Bury." Dr Salim, recently awarded the MBE, commented: "This was the first visit by a CRE commissioner to Bury REC and we were delighted his team appreciated the hard work which has been put into restoring credibility to the organisation over the past 12 months."

Talking to the commissioner, Mr Hussain said that although Bury REC was founded in 1977, it remained a single organisation while the borough's ethnic minority population had grown considerably.

"It is therefore essential that Bury REC is strengthened to provide an even better service to its ever-growing number of clients," he added.

Both guests then visited the family of Mr Javed to pay their respects and to offer any help the CRE could provide.

Mr Asif Javed, the brother of Tariq, and Mr Amran congratulated Khalid Hussain in working tirelessly to help the family and other victims of racist crime.

The commissioner later signed the visitor's book at Bury Town Hall. The mayor presented him with a plaque as a memento of his visit to the town.