Glad they're going to protect the team.
Regards, Ivan
Posted on 08/10/2004 2:49:44 AM PDT by MadIvan
Armed British and US security guards will be deployed at the Olympics despite a Greek ban on foreign agents carrying weapons.
Officials are reported to have privately allowed police to carry guns, though the arrangement will not be formally acknowledged as it is barred under Greek law.
In deference to local rules, British handguns will be sent to Athens in diplomatic bags. The British Olympic Team will have an security squad of 130 Scotland Yard staff, with armed cover provided for visiting dignitaries.
The move comes as the Turkish city of Istanbul was rocked by explosions at two hotels and a gas plant, killing two and raising tension in the run-up to the Games.
Terrorists placed bombs under storage tanks at the plant on the outskirts of the city and targeted two budget hotels at about 2am local time (11pm GMT).
Workers at one of the hotels, Pars, in the Laleli district, said they received an anonymous call saying there was a bomb in a room only 10 minutes before the blast.
The explosions happened a few miles from the hotel where the US Olympic men's basketball team is staying during the final stop of its pre-Olympic tour. There is now speculation that the team's exhibition game against Turkey tonight will be cancelled.
At the Star Holiday Hotel in the Sultanahmet area, near the Topkapi Palace, glass and chunks of concrete littered the streets.
Police said that two people were killed at the Pars hotel, while there were injured at both hotels, including two Dutch tourists, a tourist from Ukraine, two Chinese tourists and a Turkish citizen.
Fanny Palli-Petralia, the Greek Cultural Minister in charge of the Games, said: "It was agreed that no armed agents from other countries will come to Greece. We have 70,000 policemen and agents from the army who are on duty. They have been trained for years."
Sports Minister Richard Caborn said he thought Athens was "the safest place on Earth" following a massive security clampdown.
SAS and Special Boat Service units will be in Athens during the Games, helping the Greeks protect the Queen Mary 2 as it hosts Tony Blair, George Bush Sr, President Chirac and other dignitaries.
Glad they're going to protect the team.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
I'm glad that protection is being supplied but sad that protection is needed from these animals who see athletic events as target-rich environments.
The police aren't allowed to carry guns? Excuse me?
That was my reaction, too.
Actually, now that I think about it, in all the time I've spent in Europe, the only law enforcement I recall with weapons were military and then only in the Paris Metro and the London Underground whent there was a security alert.
I wonder what the black market is like over there.
"tonfa"
For all you 'Mericans out there (like me) no need to look up tonfa (like I had to). It's the proper name for your standard side handle police baton.
Sorry about that, I was under the impression that "tonfa" was the name used in the USA. In French we just say "matraque" (baton), whether it has a side handle or not.
and in the US the side handled baton is the PR-24.
Cheers!
PR-24...I must say you have a real knack for making it sound an advanced technological device ! LOL
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