Greek official thinks security force can be tapped after Games too

ATHENS, Greece -- Greece's security expertise from its billion-dollar campaign to protect the Olympics could be harnessed against terror threats to future events, the country's top law enforcement official told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

But all of Greece's hopes of gaining stature as a counterterrorism "superpower" rests on whether the Olympic security network passes the test during the Aug. 13-29 Games.

Any gaps exploited by al-Qaida or other terrorist networks could devastate Greece's tourism industry and leave the country with little to show after spending more than $1.2 billion to safeguard the games.

"We are going to have after the Olympic Games the most educated, the most trained personnel in the police... and counterterrorism," Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis said in an interview.

"I believe that Greece will be, let us say, a superpower from this point of view. (This is) something we can export," he said.

Voulgarakis sketched out proposals for a Greek-run international security institute that could offer expertise and assistance to other small nations. The idea was an early hint of how Greece may seek to extract some dividends from its Olympic security plans -- if the games take place without mishap.

He said the foundation for such an agency would be Greece's close cooperation with a seven-nation security task force that includes the United States, Britain and Israel. NATO, Russian forces and the European Union are also closely involved.

The U.S. ambassador to Greece, Thomas Miller, and others have described the Athens Olympics as an experiment for future international security planning.

"We have benefited from the experience that the most important nations have," said Voulgarakis, who met with U.S. officials in Washington last month. "I believe Greece can give this experience back to the world by having this institute... We can give it back as we took it from others. We paid a lot for that."

Some government officials have questioned whether staging the Olympic homecoming was worth the cost and hassle. Greece, with about 11 million people, is the smallest nation to host the Summer Games since Finland in 1952.

Voulgarakis said security planning drills will take place until the final moments.

The next exercise, planned for early this month, will concentrate on guarding the port of Piraeus, where cruise ships will serve as floating hotels for dignitaries, officials and others. Some terrorism experts have speculated that al-Qaida could be plotting a maritime attack on ports or shipping lanes.

Voulgarakis described the drills as "very big" and both police and armed forces. Previous drills involved possible attacks by al-Qaida, Chechen rebels and the consequences from a dirty bomb -- a conventional explosive that spreads radiation.

But he reiterated that foreign security agents, including Americans, will not be allowed to carry firearms.

"They will not, definitely. Otherwise, why are we spending a billion (dollars)? What's the point?" asked Voulgarakis, a parliament member for nearly 25 years.

It took only a few small bombs, however, to severely rattle security preparations.

On May 5 -- the start of the 100-day countdown to the Games -- three bombs damaged a police station. The blasts were claimed by a Greek radical group that complained about the stringent Olympic police measures and said the "famous dogma of total security is meaningless."

Voulgarakis repeated his opinion that local extremists most likely would not threaten Olympic venues, but said authorities would apply heavy security around tourist sites, parks and other parts of the city during the games.

"All of Athens is a venue," he said. "'Venue', for us, is not only (the main stadium complex). It's the Acropolis, for example... We are going to police all the venues and, by the term venue, we include all the buildings."

"We do our best. We do whatever is humanly possible. The point is: The international community has to decide whether this celebration has to be kept or not," he said. "No matter the cost, no matter the effort, no matter the test... we have to continue to have the Olympic Games."