Asia-Pacific

Security in Washington tight

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-12 07:27
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WASHINGTON - A small army of security forces, shuttered Metro stops, re-routed buses - Washington will leave nothing to chance this week to protect leaders at the Nuclear Security Summit.

Security in Washington tight
People walk past the Washington Convention Center as iron fencing is erected around it in Washington on Saturday ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit. [Agencies]

The summit, to be attended by more than 40 nations - the widest international gathering the US capital has seen in decades - will draw on security know-how and manpower on a staggering scale and place parts of the capital under lockdown, officials said.

"The level of security needed ... is immense," said Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, noting that the city is no stranger to "big events" like presidential funerals or visits by the Pope or Britain's Queen Elizabeth.

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But this gathering is "without any question one of the biggest, most prestigious important meetings that has ever taken place, not just in this city but anywhere in the world," he said.

Motorcades zooming to and from the White House or the State Department are nothing new to Washington, blockaded streets come and go with events like World Bank or IMF meetings, but even jaded citizens may be in for some headaches.

"Be patient with us. This is Washington DC, we do a lot of big events here. It's a world class city and I think we do them very well," said the city's police chief, Cathy Lanier.

Each world leader is expected to bring their own security detail, but Obama's US Secret Service bodyguards are overseeing efforts to keep visiting dignitaries safe.

"There will be different layers of security that will include a variety of different things visible and not visible," said Lanier, who declined to give precise numbers of agents deployed "for security reasons."

There will be parking bans, bus lines will deviate from their daily routes, some Metro stops will be closed, and police are expected to set up checkpoints in a three-block radius around the city's convention center.

Washington's airspace will buzz with security helicopters hovering overhead, while Coast Guard vessels will patrol the Potomac and other nearby waterways.

AFP