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Emergency Olympics summit after Istanboom
From World TribuneGreece has launched an examination of its security arrangements in the aftermath of the series of Al Qaidaâs suicide strikes in neighboring Turkey. There were serious US concerns already before the booming. Greece will host a meeting next week from eight countries on security for the Olympic Games in 2004 to determine whether new measures should be imposed. The meeting will discuss the Al Qaida suicide strikes in Istanbul. The meetings will include advisers from Britain, Israel and the United States. The British delegation will include members of Britainâs Scotland Yard. The United States has been unhappy over Greek security arrangements at the Olympic Games, Middle East Newsline reported. The complaints concern security breaches at Athens International Airport and other major facilities. The Greek newspaper Ethnos reported that 200 FBI agents have arrived in Greece to monitor the security situation. We could use the 200 for other more pressing things, it would seem to me. The newspaper said Greece was considering whether to invite NATO to ensure security at the Olympics, scheduled for August. Greece has budgeted nearly $800 million for security at the Olympics. They better dig into their pockets deeper or ask for EU financial volunteers. This is going to be one helluva budget with everything that was generated by the recent string of booms. Officials said that budget could increase over the next six months as Greek authorities seek to close security gaps pointed out by the Olympic Games advisory committee. Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-11-25 |
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