LOS ANGELES, June 25: Police were on Thursday investigating the televised beating of a black suspect by white policemen in Los Angeles that has resurrected the explosive spectre of the 1991 Rodney King assault.

Several officers have been removed from regular duties following the incident on Wednesday in which they were seen tackling a car theft suspect and beating him repeatedly with a metal flashlight.

The beating of the suspect, who was on foot, was caught by a television news helicopter in the city that was rocked by deadly riots in 1992 when the policemen who beat black motorist Rodney King were acquitted of assault.

The Los Angeles Police Department and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation have launched probes into the early morning beating that has outraged members of the city's large black community.

Black activist Najee Ali said he was "outraged and shocked" by what the videotape appeared to show. "And I'm wondering: what the hell is going again? Here we go again! Here we go again! This is Rodney King all over again ... this has got to stop."

Police Chief William Bratton told the Los Angeles Times that the latest incident appeared damaging to police but called for calm.

"There is no denying that it looks very bad from what is seen on the video. But there should be no rush to judgement before the investigations are completed."

Deputy police Chief Earl Paysinger said the unnamed officers involved had been put on house and other administrative duties pending the outcome of the criminal and internal investigations into the incident.

The suspect, who had been in a stolen car before fleeing on foot after a police car chase, was identified as 36-year-old Stanley Miller.

After his arrest, he was treated at a hospital for what police described as scrapes. Police said Miller had told hospital staff he had been struck on the head.

In the infamous King case, white Los Angeles policemen were caught on video as beat King in another night-time traffic stop during which one officer was seen kicking at the suspect while another clubbed him.

Four officers were acquitted of charges linked to the beating, triggering the 1992 Los Angeles riots, a several days of racial violence that left 54 people dead, 2,000 and caused more than one billion dollars of damage. -AFP