MILITARY GIVEN ROLE IN OLYMPIC SECURITY ATHENS ø Greece's military has been granted a role in the effort to prevent insurgency groups from attacking the country during the Olympic Games in August.

Greek officials said the military will deploy soldiers and assets around vital facilities in Greece during the games. They said the facilities include railroads, tunnels, fuel storage areas and other sensitive sites.

The military's role was determined during a meeting between Transport Minister Michalis Liapis and Defense Minister Spilios Spiliotopoulos. After their meeting on May 18, the two ministers said the military would do "everything humanly possible" to protect Greece's railroad network.

About 500 soldiers were expected to be deployed around critical facilities. They said most of the troops would protect the railroads.

Officials said Spiliotopoulos and other ministers will meet over the next week to help draft a plan to guard the railroads. They said the military and other authorities will hold training exercise to test the response to any emergency.

Greece's military also plans to intensify efforts to guard the nation's borders in the weeks preceding the Olympic Games. Officials said the focus would be to prevent insurgents disguised as migrants from entering Greece via the sea.

The Hellenic Coast Guard has intercepted 25 illegal migrants who tried to enter Greece via the Aegean Sea. The migrants said they arrived from Turkey and paid $2,500 to be smuggled into Greece.

The United States has agreed to expand military cooperation with Greece to help secure the Olympic Games. On Thursday, President George Bush, who met Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, said Athens was making "very good progress" to secure the games.

For his part, Karamanlis pledged to do "everything humanly possible in terms of energy, resources, professionals, to secure really successful Games, and I'm confident that we'll succeed."