Britain to stage biggest security on Bush visit

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 26, 2003

Britain to stage biggest security on Bush visit

The biggest security operation ever in Britain will be mounted when US President George W. Bush makes a state visit to Britain in November, The Times reported on Friday.

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The biggest security operation ever in Britain will be mounted when US President George W. Bush makes a state visit to Britain in November, The Times reported on Friday.

The paper said for the safety of Bush, armed officers will be drawn from Special Branch, the Royalty Protection and diplomatic groups and Scotland Yard's SO19 firearms unit, with David Veness, head of counter-terrorist and security operations in London, in charge.

A contingent of American bodyguards will follow immediately behind in a convoy of a dozen or more vehicles and armed Scotland Yard motorcycle escorts and a number of the Americans will be armed with heavy-calibre hand guns, the paper said. A team of Special Branch officers will be responsible for the president's close protection, working with the US Secret Service team.

The Bush visit has been planned for more than a year but could have been "better" timed for Tony Blair, raising the specter of the Iraq war when he might have hoped that it was beginning to fade from public memory, the paper said.

"Millions of Britons who opposed the war which George Bush dragged us into will be horrified at this news ... If he does visit Britain, he will be met by demonstrations and protests everyday," Andrew Murray, of the Stop the War Coalition, was quoted as saying.

The Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday that Bush will pay a state visit to Britain from November 19 to 21 at the invitation from the British Queen Elizabeth II. Bush and his wife Laura will stay at Buckingham Palace.

It is the first time that such a trip by a US president has been dubbed a "state visit," although the Palace said the Bushes will receive the same treatment as their predecessors including the Kennedys, President Richard Nixon, the Reagans, Bush's parents and the Clintons.

Bush to visit UK in November: Buckingham Palace

US President George W. Bush is expected to visit Britain in November, the Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday.

According to a statement issued by the press office of the Buckingham Palace, Bush has accepted an invitation from the British Queen Elizabeth II to pay a state visit to Britain from Nov. 19 to Nov. 21.

During his visit to Britain, Bush would stay at the Buckingham Palace, the statement said.

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