25.03.2004, 20:45
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Zitat:AP: Officials Fear Terror at Olympics
By WILLIAM J. KOLE
Associated Press Writer
SOFIA, Bulgaria- Counterterrorism officials in Greece's rough neighborhood are concerned al-Qaida or other groups may be plotting attacks on the Summer Olympics from elsewhere in the southern Balkans, or targeting foreign athletes who plan to train in countries like Bulgaria.
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Although there is no hard evidence that al-Qaida has operatives in the area, experts see a clear and present danger. Much of the region is known for lax border controls, vast caches of easy-to-buy arms and explosives, and plenty of militants - including some with ties to radical Islam.
"The Olympics is the biggest event in the world. If a terrorist act occurred in Bulgaria against some of the teams training here, it would spoil everything," Maj. Gen. Boiko Borisov, a senior Interior Ministry official in charge of law enforcement in the country, told AP.
Bulgaria has established an Olympics security team that, once it becomes fully operational this spring, will have 24-hour hot lines. Borisov said the country is working with Greek authorities as well as with officials from the CIA, FBI and British, German and Russian intelligence "to share the whole spectrum of information on an operational level."
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Underscoring the potential for an attack, Greek border police earlier this month found a bomb attached to an empty freight train from Bulgaria that was bound for the northern port of Thessaloniki to fill up five tanks with propane. Greek and Bulgarian authorities said it appeared to be linked to organized crime, not terrorism, but the discovery showed how terrorists could strike.
Neighboring Turkey has blamed al-Qaida for a pair of truck bombings in Istanbul last November, and concerns have risen that terrorists might use Turkey as a staging point to strike Greece during the Olympics.
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