Ridge says progress being made on Olympics security
By Associated Press, 5/10/2004 13:19
WASHINGTON (AP) Recent talks about security for the Athens Olympics have been productive and indicate significant progress, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Monday.
Greek Minister of Public Order George Voulgarakis met in Washington last week with top U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials, including Ridge. Voulgarakis delivered fresh assurances that security measures will be ready to protect the Aug. 13-29 games.
Ridge said at a news conference he thinks a ''tremendous amount of progress'' has been made concerning Olympic security.
Afterward, Ridge spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said security work remained, in part, because Olympic projects still need to be completed.
Voulgarakis said on Friday that Greek and U.S. officials have no information to suggest international terror cells are operating in Greece and no evidence of plots aimed at the Olympics.
Ridge said several people from the Homeland Security Department are in Athens dealing with air and port security.
The Athens Games are the biggest security effort in Olympic history, with the price tag reaching nearly $1.2 billion. Organizers will receive assistance from NATO, and a seven-nation security advisory panel includes the United States, Britain and France.
By Associated Press, 5/10/2004 13:19
WASHINGTON (AP) Recent talks about security for the Athens Olympics have been productive and indicate significant progress, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Monday.
Greek Minister of Public Order George Voulgarakis met in Washington last week with top U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials, including Ridge. Voulgarakis delivered fresh assurances that security measures will be ready to protect the Aug. 13-29 games.
Ridge said at a news conference he thinks a ''tremendous amount of progress'' has been made concerning Olympic security.
Afterward, Ridge spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said security work remained, in part, because Olympic projects still need to be completed.
Voulgarakis said on Friday that Greek and U.S. officials have no information to suggest international terror cells are operating in Greece and no evidence of plots aimed at the Olympics.
Ridge said several people from the Homeland Security Department are in Athens dealing with air and port security.
The Athens Games are the biggest security effort in Olympic history, with the price tag reaching nearly $1.2 billion. Organizers will receive assistance from NATO, and a seven-nation security advisory panel includes the United States, Britain and France.
Australia and Greece are embroiled in a fresh diplomatic row over the Olympics just as Athens faces its critical final assessment by the International Olympic Committee.
The IOC began inspecting facilities this week in a city trying to persuade a nervous world it will be ready for the August opening, and that it will be safe.
Games organisers have criticised an Australian Government travel advisory warning of an increased terrorism threat in Greece.
The advisory makes particular reference to Australians planning to attend the Olympic Games in August or the Paralympics in September.
"Australians should be aware of a recent series of firebomb attacks on domestic political and commercial premises in Greece, mainly in Athens and Thessaloniki. More recently there have been incidents involving improvised explosive devices," it says.
It advises Australians to avoid demonstrations and large public gatherings, including football matches.
But an Athens Organising Committee spokesman, Serafim Kotrotsos, said: "The travel recommendation conveys a misimpression of Greece and is unfair."
A spokesman for Mr Downer's office said last night that travel advisories were framed "with the safety of Australians in mind. We're not mindful of any other considerations.
"It's not worth getting into a debate with them over this. We simply make the assessments we need to make and give out the information that Australians must have to ensure they can travel safely."
Athens organisers and Olympic officials are perplexed by Australia's reaction to three small bomb blasts in the city last week, including the response of the Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Australian Olympic Committee president, John Coates.
"It has been a massive over-reaction, what with the planes ready for an evacuation and Mr Howard suggesting armed guards," an Olympic official said.
Greek police have rejected suggestions athletes from high-risk countries like the US and Britain will be accompanied by their own armed security guards. Australia is rated a medium risk.
Yesterday the Ministry of Public Order spokesman, Col Eleftherios Ikonomou, reiterated that security was a Greek responsibility.
"When we have teams which are considered high risk there will be special measures, but there is no question of foreign security personnel coming in," he said. Greece is spending up to $US1.2 billion on security, more than triple the cost of Sydney Olympic security - using 70,000 personnel and a network of 1400 cameras that scan crowds and can zoom in on individuals.
This week the roof is crawling five metres an hour across the Athens Olympic stadium. But with just 93 days until the opening ceremony, the chief IOC inspector, Swiss lawyer Denis Oswald, said yesterday: "I am very confident. The situation is completely different compared with a few months ago and not only as far as the building work is concerned, it is positive for the moment."
The Athens 2004 chief executive, Gianna Angelopoulos, said organisers had clawed back three years of lost time.
"It's a fact that we are completing a seven-year project in four years," she said.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/12/1084289753762.html
The IOC began inspecting facilities this week in a city trying to persuade a nervous world it will be ready for the August opening, and that it will be safe.
Games organisers have criticised an Australian Government travel advisory warning of an increased terrorism threat in Greece.
The advisory makes particular reference to Australians planning to attend the Olympic Games in August or the Paralympics in September.
"Australians should be aware of a recent series of firebomb attacks on domestic political and commercial premises in Greece, mainly in Athens and Thessaloniki. More recently there have been incidents involving improvised explosive devices," it says.
It advises Australians to avoid demonstrations and large public gatherings, including football matches.
But an Athens Organising Committee spokesman, Serafim Kotrotsos, said: "The travel recommendation conveys a misimpression of Greece and is unfair."
A spokesman for Mr Downer's office said last night that travel advisories were framed "with the safety of Australians in mind. We're not mindful of any other considerations.
"It's not worth getting into a debate with them over this. We simply make the assessments we need to make and give out the information that Australians must have to ensure they can travel safely."
Athens organisers and Olympic officials are perplexed by Australia's reaction to three small bomb blasts in the city last week, including the response of the Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Australian Olympic Committee president, John Coates.
"It has been a massive over-reaction, what with the planes ready for an evacuation and Mr Howard suggesting armed guards," an Olympic official said.
Greek police have rejected suggestions athletes from high-risk countries like the US and Britain will be accompanied by their own armed security guards. Australia is rated a medium risk.
Yesterday the Ministry of Public Order spokesman, Col Eleftherios Ikonomou, reiterated that security was a Greek responsibility.
"When we have teams which are considered high risk there will be special measures, but there is no question of foreign security personnel coming in," he said. Greece is spending up to $US1.2 billion on security, more than triple the cost of Sydney Olympic security - using 70,000 personnel and a network of 1400 cameras that scan crowds and can zoom in on individuals.
This week the roof is crawling five metres an hour across the Athens Olympic stadium. But with just 93 days until the opening ceremony, the chief IOC inspector, Swiss lawyer Denis Oswald, said yesterday: "I am very confident. The situation is completely different compared with a few months ago and not only as far as the building work is concerned, it is positive for the moment."
The Athens 2004 chief executive, Gianna Angelopoulos, said organisers had clawed back three years of lost time.
"It's a fact that we are completing a seven-year project in four years," she said.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/12/1084289753762.html
ATHENS : A Greek extremist group claimed responsibility for bomb attacks in the run-up to the Olympic Games and issued a veiled threat against visitors to the summer sporting extravaganza.
The warning from the Revolutionary Struggle came after makeshift bombs exploded at a Greek bank in an Athens surburb early Thursday, and another explosive device was found at a nearby British bank.
The blasts, which caused some damage but no injuries, came eight days after dynamite explosions at a police station in Athens, an incident blamed on local extremists rather than international terror groups like Al-Qaeda.
Revolutionary Struggle, which reportedly could have about 20 members and has indirect links to Greece's oldest extremist group ETA, claimed responsibility for the May 5 bombings and issued a warning saying visitors to the Olympics were unwelcome.
"All senior members of the international capitalist system, from multinationals to businessmen, mercenaries from across the world and state officials as well as wealthy western Olympic tourists who plan to attend the Games are undesirables," said the letter published in a weekly newspaper.
It said the massive security operation and NATO's involvement had turned Greece into a fortress which meant the Olympics were not a celebration but a "war," the letter said.
Greek government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said Athens was "not worried" by the warning, but that it was treating security for the August 13-29 event with "seriousness and responsibility".
Athens has announced that 70,000 security personnel will watch over the Games -- outnumbering athletes by almost seven to one -- with Olympic officials saying Wednesday that preparations for the event were on track.
Athens called in NATO to boost security after the March 11 bombings in Madrid that left nearly 200 people dead.
In Thursday's incidents in Athens, explosive devices made up of gas canisters blew up 2 am (2300 GMT Wednesday) at the Alpha bank in the suburb of Voula.
Another unidentified explosive device was found outside the nearby office of the British-owned HSBC bank and defused, police said.
Alpha, Greece's second-largest bank, is one of the sponsors of the Olympic Games. HSBC was targeted in a series of deadly bombings in the Turkish city of Istanbul in November.
Gas canisters have been used in several minor attacks in Athens over the past years, which have largely been blamed on anarchists or far-left extremists.
Responsibility for these attacks, which are believed to have been carried out by individuals rather than structured groups, has rarely been claimed.
Public Order Minister George Voulgarakis has said that last week's attacks damaged Greece's image overseas in the run-up to the Games.
Organisers have also reacted with fury to an Australian travel advisory warning Australians to "exercise caution" and beware of terrorists, pickpockets and rapists if travelling to Greece.
Athens has also faced months of concern worldwide that preparations for the Games were lagging behind and that the four-yearly sporting extravaganza could turn into an embarrassing fiasco.
But International Olympic Committee officials gave the preparations a clean bill of health Wednesday after their final official visit.
"We know everything will be ready on time... no single project is at risk," IOC chief inspector Denis Oswald said. "In the past we had doubts. I am very happy to report all these doubts have disappeared."
The Greek capital expects to host around 16,000 athletes and officials, 45,000 volunteers, 21,500 journalists and millions of spectators for the Olympics.
The latest blasts came as about 300 officials from Greece and the seven countries advising it on Olympics security were set to take part in Olympic Guardian 2, a joint Greek-US four-day exercise in Athens Thursday.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/84803/1/.html
The warning from the Revolutionary Struggle came after makeshift bombs exploded at a Greek bank in an Athens surburb early Thursday, and another explosive device was found at a nearby British bank.
The blasts, which caused some damage but no injuries, came eight days after dynamite explosions at a police station in Athens, an incident blamed on local extremists rather than international terror groups like Al-Qaeda.
Revolutionary Struggle, which reportedly could have about 20 members and has indirect links to Greece's oldest extremist group ETA, claimed responsibility for the May 5 bombings and issued a warning saying visitors to the Olympics were unwelcome.
"All senior members of the international capitalist system, from multinationals to businessmen, mercenaries from across the world and state officials as well as wealthy western Olympic tourists who plan to attend the Games are undesirables," said the letter published in a weekly newspaper.
It said the massive security operation and NATO's involvement had turned Greece into a fortress which meant the Olympics were not a celebration but a "war," the letter said.
Greek government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said Athens was "not worried" by the warning, but that it was treating security for the August 13-29 event with "seriousness and responsibility".
Athens has announced that 70,000 security personnel will watch over the Games -- outnumbering athletes by almost seven to one -- with Olympic officials saying Wednesday that preparations for the event were on track.
Athens called in NATO to boost security after the March 11 bombings in Madrid that left nearly 200 people dead.
In Thursday's incidents in Athens, explosive devices made up of gas canisters blew up 2 am (2300 GMT Wednesday) at the Alpha bank in the suburb of Voula.
Another unidentified explosive device was found outside the nearby office of the British-owned HSBC bank and defused, police said.
Alpha, Greece's second-largest bank, is one of the sponsors of the Olympic Games. HSBC was targeted in a series of deadly bombings in the Turkish city of Istanbul in November.
Gas canisters have been used in several minor attacks in Athens over the past years, which have largely been blamed on anarchists or far-left extremists.
Responsibility for these attacks, which are believed to have been carried out by individuals rather than structured groups, has rarely been claimed.
Public Order Minister George Voulgarakis has said that last week's attacks damaged Greece's image overseas in the run-up to the Games.
Organisers have also reacted with fury to an Australian travel advisory warning Australians to "exercise caution" and beware of terrorists, pickpockets and rapists if travelling to Greece.
Athens has also faced months of concern worldwide that preparations for the Games were lagging behind and that the four-yearly sporting extravaganza could turn into an embarrassing fiasco.
But International Olympic Committee officials gave the preparations a clean bill of health Wednesday after their final official visit.
"We know everything will be ready on time... no single project is at risk," IOC chief inspector Denis Oswald said. "In the past we had doubts. I am very happy to report all these doubts have disappeared."
The Greek capital expects to host around 16,000 athletes and officials, 45,000 volunteers, 21,500 journalists and millions of spectators for the Olympics.
The latest blasts came as about 300 officials from Greece and the seven countries advising it on Olympics security were set to take part in Olympic Guardian 2, a joint Greek-US four-day exercise in Athens Thursday.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/84803/1/.html
WASHINGTON : Security at the Athens Olympics will likely be the toughest ever, FBI director Robert Mueller said as US President George W. Bush announced he would not be going.
Bush blamed his campaign ahead of the November presidential election for his decision to miss the August 13-29 games. His father, former president George Bush, will go instead.
Anti-terrorism measures are a major concern for the United States however and Mueller said: "We continue to monitor the progress with regard to the security at the Olympics ... and see what progress is being made to ensure that these Olympics are free from attack."
Mueller said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee it was "too early" to assess how well Greece has filled security gaps.
"To the extent that we have identified them ... over the last six months or so, the Greek authorities are moving to fill those gaps," Mueller said.
But he added that it was "too early" to say whether everything had been done to head off any attack.
"Is it safe to say that the level of security at these Olympics will be, perhaps, higher than has ever been seen at an Olympics before?" asked Senator Herb Kohl, Democrat.
"I think that's probably fair to say," Mueller replied.
Some US athletes have said they would consider missing the event for personal safety reasons and Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis was the latest of a series of high level visitors from Athens to Washington in recent weeks.
Bush praised Karamanlis for taking steps so that "people are able to travel to your beautiful country in as secure environment as possible."
"You're making very good progress, Mr Prime Minister, and I appreciate your hard work. I know your intentions are to have this the best possible games, and for that I'm grateful," he said.
"I would like to take the opportunity to say that we are doing everything humanly possible in terms of energy, resources, professionals to secure really successful games. And I am confident that we'll succeed," said Karamanlis.
"I wish I could attend, but this is a political season. So instead I'm sending my father to lead our delegation," Bush said as he welcomed Karamanlis to the White House.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/86051/1/.html
Bush blamed his campaign ahead of the November presidential election for his decision to miss the August 13-29 games. His father, former president George Bush, will go instead.
Anti-terrorism measures are a major concern for the United States however and Mueller said: "We continue to monitor the progress with regard to the security at the Olympics ... and see what progress is being made to ensure that these Olympics are free from attack."
Mueller said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee it was "too early" to assess how well Greece has filled security gaps.
"To the extent that we have identified them ... over the last six months or so, the Greek authorities are moving to fill those gaps," Mueller said.
But he added that it was "too early" to say whether everything had been done to head off any attack.
"Is it safe to say that the level of security at these Olympics will be, perhaps, higher than has ever been seen at an Olympics before?" asked Senator Herb Kohl, Democrat.
"I think that's probably fair to say," Mueller replied.
Some US athletes have said they would consider missing the event for personal safety reasons and Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis was the latest of a series of high level visitors from Athens to Washington in recent weeks.
Bush praised Karamanlis for taking steps so that "people are able to travel to your beautiful country in as secure environment as possible."
"You're making very good progress, Mr Prime Minister, and I appreciate your hard work. I know your intentions are to have this the best possible games, and for that I'm grateful," he said.
"I would like to take the opportunity to say that we are doing everything humanly possible in terms of energy, resources, professionals to secure really successful games. And I am confident that we'll succeed," said Karamanlis.
"I wish I could attend, but this is a political season. So instead I'm sending my father to lead our delegation," Bush said as he welcomed Karamanlis to the White House.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/86051/1/.html
ATHENS, GREECE -- It was 104 degrees today in Athens, Greece -- so a massive power outage that knocked out air-conditioning systems is generating a lot of questions.
Traffic was also snarled in the Greek capital, with darkened signal lights. Some people got trapped in elevators.
The outage is raising new concerns about Athens' ability to handle increased power demands when it hosts the Olympic games in August.
A government spokesman says it's possible a major substation failed and triggered a domino effect throughout the electrical grid.
Power was restored in Athens in about 20 minutes, but many outlying areas are still without electricity.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4871619.html
Traffic was also snarled in the Greek capital, with darkened signal lights. Some people got trapped in elevators.
The outage is raising new concerns about Athens' ability to handle increased power demands when it hosts the Olympic games in August.
A government spokesman says it's possible a major substation failed and triggered a domino effect throughout the electrical grid.
Power was restored in Athens in about 20 minutes, but many outlying areas are still without electricity.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4871619.html
With all this security they would be stupid to try anything. It seems as if the Australians do not wish these Olympics to be a success since most likely the Sydney Olympics would draw the most comparisons and no one likes to be upstaged let alone by the puny Greeks.Let Borat provide the security he would crush any terrorists. I have meet many of Greeks and the problem they seem to have is with something that the US did in 60's by US.Something about military government put in by US that crushed any protest and then it was revalations that we do this but despite freedom of information act our government still does not wish to tell what happened there and one other place. I cant remember where other place is I think in SE Asia.Supposedly if information is revealed about what happen it will make permanent harm to relations.Sounds like someone did somethings mean.Do anybodys kno what happened? I wish the Greeks the best.I do not know if I would go.Maybe.
