Security at the Athens Summer Olympics next year will be tighter than ever before, as Greece prepares to host more than 500 thousand athletes and spectators in August.
As the smallest country ever to stage the Olympic Games, Greece is overseeing the biggest ever security operation the Games have known. A record 58,000 security personnel, over three times the number used in Sydney in 2000, will be stationed at major venues while NATO AWACS aircraft will be patrolling the skies of Attica http://www.gocamping.gr/camp/map.asp?mapid=9&mapitem=Attica.
The August 13-29 Olympics will be the first Games since 9/11 and the cost to safeguard the event against a repeat of the 1972 massacre at the Munich Olympics will reach a record 650 million euros, far surpassing the budget of previous host cities.
International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge said that the surge in international terror has cast a security shadow over the preparations for the Athens Games. However, the IOC head is confident that Greek organisers are doing everything possible. "We can never have 100% security, but everything possible is being done," Rogge said. “There has not been a stone left unturned,” he added.
Omnipresent, yet discreet
For a nation not used to this level of security, the sight of armed police at almost every corner and a state-of-the art Zeppelin (59m in length) hovering at 1,500m over the city, balancing safety with enjoyment, will be a challenge. “Security will be visible,” said Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni . “We hope it will not be oppressive.”
1250 closed-circuit cameras set on 12-metre high poles around the city will feed images to a central command station while coast guard vessels, modified with surveillance equipment, will patrol the bay of Phaleron and the Pireas port which will be fenced off. Only accredited individuals cleared by security will be allowed access to the port. Security will also be tight at the Athens metro , which is being supplied with gas masks to deal with a chemical attack.
Despite the problems involved in predicting and preventing terror attacks, Athens organisers are confident the Games will be safe. “We have the people, the budget and the right plan,” said Athens 2004 Organising Committee’s head Gianna Angelopoulos Daskalaki .
Vehemently denying criticism of insufficient security, organisers insist that, “security is the country’s top priority” shrugging off talk of security lapses in recent months “as fantastic scenarios”.
