EU anti-terror forces carry torch to Athens Olympics

By Tony Mallett

Date: 24/06/04

IN THE largest sporting event to take place following the 11 September 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington and the atrocities in Spain this year, the 2004 Olympic Games will get under way in Athens, Greece, in less than two months' time.

The build-up to the 13-29 August extravaganza has been beset by delays - including the late arrival of the main stadium's sliding roof - but by far the greatest concern has been the safety of the 16,000 athletes and officials, as well as the general public.

Athens has budgeted €660 million to pay for security infrastructure and has worked in tandem with the seven-nation Olympic Advisory Group (OAG) to ensure the safety of the Games.

The OAG, made up of Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Spain, the UK and the US, has vast experience in security planning and has advised Greece on, among other matters, ways of countering chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

NATO will provide air cover using AWAC surveillance aircraft and plans have been laid with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to head off any potential "dirty-bomb" attacks. To this end, the IAEA has installed radiation detectors at key sites.

The Olympic village - temporary home to the competing athletes - has been surrounded by twin concrete barriers, complemented by X-ray machines and around-the-clock hi-tech surveillance. According to the Olympic Games Security Division and the Hellenic Police, jointly responsible for the event's security, the athletes and VIPs will also receive close personal protection.

Aside from the above, the Greeks have assigned 50,000 security staff, three times the number employed at the Sydney Olympics four years ago. These range from border surveillance experts (on land and sea) to OAG-trained terrorism and explosives staff.

Greece has also been sharing intelligence with more than 150 countries and organizations worldwide during the run up to the biggest sporting event on the planet.

With terrorism now one of the greatest threats to global society, EU leaders, (at the March summit in Brussels), appointed the Union's first "terror Tsar", to work under Javier Solana, the high representative for foreign affairs.

The Netherlands' former foreign minister Gijs de Vries, dubbed "Mister Terrorism", has since been working closely with London, Paris, Madrid and other European capitals in a bid to make certain that the Union's intelligence services can complement each other.

Aside from the fact that this year sees two major sports events (the Olympiad plus the ongoing Euro 2004 soccer championship in Portugal) - de Vries' appointment came in response to the train bombings prior to the Spanish general elections in March.

The creation of the job was accompanied by a host of EU-wide surveillance measures, including plans to retain mobile telephone records and emails, as well as internet data showing the time and address of any websites visited.

Since de Vries' appointment, Euro 2004 has begun in Portugal. So far, all games have passed off without any major terror alert - the main non-soccer issues of the tournament have proven to be those of drunken, mainly British, hooligans rioting on the Algarve and the appearance of the occasional xenophobic or racist banner.

The Olympics look set to be a much bigger headache, though. In the event of any terrorist attack, all member states are ready to intervene.

On the basis of a declaration adopted at the Brussels summit (and included in the recently adopted EU constitution) member states commit to "act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if one of them is the victim of a terrorist attack".

With fingers crossed for a peaceful conclusion to the Portugal tournament on 4 July, all eyes are now turning towards Greece.