Britain puts up 'unprecedented' security for Bush

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 15, 2003

Britain puts up 'unprecedented' security for Bush

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British most senior police officer said Friday that there will be an "unprecedented" police operation to guard the safety of US President George W. Bush when he pays his state visit to London next week.

"We have to accept the circumstances around the event next week are unprecedented," said Metropolitan Police chief Sir John Stevens.

"The security is unprecedented because one, the level of terrorism threat and two, the nature of the president's visit," he told reporters.

A study from the Control Risk Group said earlier this week that London now is more at risk from a terror attack than either New York or Washington, citing Britain's staunch support for the US war in Iraq has helped stirring the likelihood of a suicide attack in London.

The police have already refused the requirement from the organizers planning an anti-war protest during Bush's visit to march past parliament and Whitehall but allowed them to march in other parts of London.

However, the organizers -- the Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim Association of Britain -- said they will not give up and will hold talks again with the police Monday over the march route. The set demonstration date is Thursday.

"It is a difficult issue," Stevens admitted, noting that the intense negotiations over the route of the protest march were continuing.

He defended that the police had to strike a balance between granting people the right to demonstrate while ensuring the safety of Bush, who will visit London from Nov. 18 to 21.

Stevens said about 5,000 police officers will be deployed to protect Bush from any possible terrorist attack or chaos from the mass demonstration.

According to local media, Bush's cortege will be heavily protected by armed officers and his route will be closed to traffic and demonstrators.

An estimated 100,000 Britons are expected to come to London to protest against Iraq war on Nov. 20.

In February, one month before the US-led war against Iraq erupted, an anti-war march brought more than one million Britons on to the streets through the British capital.

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