Olympics: Greece Prepares for 'Dirty Bomb' Threat
May 25, 2004 — By Angeliki Koutantou
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece began deploying U.S.-supplied radiation detectors at strategic points across the country to prevent a radioactive "dirty bomb" attack during this summer's Athens Olympics, officials said on Tuesday.
Greece is hosting the first summer Games since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and has put together the largest security plan in Olympic history, with a price tag of around one billion euros ($1.21 billion).
A series of minor bombing attacks over the past weeks, which the Greek government called "isolated domestic events," has raised security concerns for the hosts and countries planning to send their teams to the Games.
A "dirty bomb" is a device using an explosive like dynamite that is laced with radioactive material. When the explosive is ignited it disperses the radioactive material over a wide area.
Experts say that a dirty bomb would not necessarily cause much physical damage but would be devastating due to the panic and chaos it would create.
To help prevent such an attack, the United States and seven other countries, along with the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have been providing the Greek government with technology, expertise and intelligence.
The IAEA said that radiation detectors had been installed at borders and other entry points in Greece, while mobile detection devices will be deployed elsewhere. Hand-held radiation monitors are being distributed among the thousands of security and customs officials policing the Games.
"The equipment is being deployed to detect radioactive materials that might be used as a weapon by terrorists in a radiological dispersal device, a so-called dirty bomb," the IAEA said in a statement.
There has never been a dirty bomb attack, but atomic experts have warned it is only a matter of time before one occurs. "This equipment will...(help prevent) exposure to radioactive materials that can be released either by accident or through criminal intent," U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said at a ceremony for the arrival of U.S. detection devices.
The detectors will be installed at 32 points of entry across the country, including seven airports, 12 seaports as well as 13 border crossings and customs offices.
Greece will deploy about 45,000 armed guards in the capital, three times the amount used in the Sydney 2000 Games, in addition air and sea patrols provided by NATO.
"The Athens Games will be the safest ever organized," Public Order Minister George Voulgarakis said.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20040525_233.html
Explosion ruptures gas pipeline
From correspondents in Karachi, Pakistan
May 26, 2004
A POWERFUL blast ripped open a gas pipeline in southern Pakistan today, disrupting gas supplies, police said. No injuries were reported.
It wasn't clear what caused the blast and no one claimed responsibility.
Police official Ameer Ali said they were still investigating the explosion at the village of Thari Mirwah, about 400 kilometres northeast of Karachi.
He said the experts of state-owned gas pipeline company Sui Southern Gas Pipelines Ltd had reached the site to assess the damage and repair the pipeline.
"It could have been a bomb blast, it could be the result of some technical fault," Mr Ali said.
A spokesman for the company, Inayat Ullah, also refused to say what caused the blast, the second in Sindh province in a month.
"Our experts are examining the pipeline. We cannot say anything about it at this stage," he said.
Mr Ullah said they would take two or three days to repair the pipeline.
Attacks on the pipeline are common, but arrests are rarely made. Authorities have blamed previous attacks on tribesmen who want more royalties for gas extracted from their locality.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9666413%255E1702,00.html
There are more than usual low flying helicopters here today. How's it in the City?
Be back in a few hours.