Muslim leaders accused Hong Kong police of insensitivity Monday following an exercise that involved the mock rescue of hostages from officers posing as Middle Eastern terrorists.
"This is the wrong practice. It hurts many people," said Saeed Uddin, chairman of the Islamic Community Fund of Hong Kong, an umbrella group for the territory's 120,000 Muslims.
Police carrying out such drills should not identify mock criminals "by country, sect or religion," Uddin said in an interview.
Uddin said he was going to consult with others in the Muslim community before deciding whether to seek an apology.
Police said they identified the hostage-takers as Middle Eastern so participating officers could "better grasp" the exercise last week at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport.
The drill was carried out amid global worries about terror following the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington and this year's bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that have been blamed on Muslim extremists.
"Maybe we looked at recent cases and we made these associations," police spokeswoman Margaret Ho said.
But she said police did not intend to target any race or religion and authorities will consider the Muslim leaders' objections when they review the exercise.
"We will learn from these remarks in a positive manner and will be more sensitive on the issue in future exercise planning," Ho said.
The terror drill simulated the capture of airline passengers being transported by bus while they were transiting Hong Kong's airport on a trip from the Middle East to New Zealand.
Mohamed Alli Din, president of the United Muslim Association of Hong Kong, said he was not surprised that the mock hijackers had been labeled as Middle Eastern.
"This is going on the whole time," Din said.