Israel and the United States will be allowed to bring
their own security force to protect athletes during the Olympic Games in
August.
Most of the other delegations at the Aug. 13-29 games will
be guarded by Greek security, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
However, Israel and the United States will bring an unspecified number of security guards to
protect their athletes, the report said.
[Greece plans to enforce a no-fly zone over the Olympic
sites and to hoist a huge aerostat surveillance system, Middle East Newsline reported.]
"Competitors from high risk countries, presumably including the United
States, Britain, Spain, and Israel, will have Greek security escorts," the
report said. "Some, including the U.S. and Israeli teams, also will have
their own security forces. The U.S. State Department Bureau of Diplomatic
Security will provide the U.S. Olympic team with a security force of 100-110
agents, analysts, and administrators."
The congressional study, entitled "Greece: Threat of Terrorism and
Security at the Olympics," reviewed Greece's military preparations for the
Olympic Games. They included the installation of 1,400 security cameras
stationed at Olympic facilities and central points around Athens.
The Greek government has
awarded $250 million to the U.S.-based Science Applications International
Corp. to provide components of the security infrastructure.
SAIC heads an international consortium that includes Germany's Siemens,
Sweden's Nokia, AMS, E Team, and the Greek
companies Altec, Diekat, and Pouliadis-PC Systems. The consortium has been
constructing a security command and control center to connect the police,
the national first aid center, fire department, coast guard and military.
But the report, authored by Middle East analyst Carol Migdalovitz, did
not rule out major deficiencies in security because of a delay in Olympic
Village construction. The report said contractors could not install
surveillance cameras without walls, and police could not review security
pitfalls during construction.
The report cited some of the Israeli security help provided for the
Olympic Games. Israel, a member of the seven-nation advisory board on
Olympic security, has conducted training to identify and neutralize suicide
bombers.
