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BRUSSELS, July 23: US forces on standby in case of terrorist attacks during the Olympics may be based in Greece despite the host's public insistence that no foreign troops will be deployed on its soil, Nato diplomats said on Friday.
Nato agreed on Thursday to take command of some 400 US special forces personnel during the August 13-29 games. But the 26-nation alliance's 'decision sheet', its formal agreement, deliberately avoided specifying where they would be based.
"They dodged the question of whether they will be in-country or over-the-horizon troops. You could end up with a bit of both, but they certainly don't want to advertise that," one diplomat said.
Greek Public Order Minister George Voulgarakis, in overall charge of Olympic security, said on Thursday that the Nato-led crack troops would be on alert "in some third country".
The Greeks are sensitive about the presence of foreign troops in their country, which won independence after centuries of occupation by the Ottoman Turks. A New York Times report that the Nato-commanded troops would be deployed to protect US athletes and dignitaries during the games provoked a furore in Athens this week, prompting the public reassurance from Voulgarakis.
Diplomats said protection for US citizens in Greece was essentially a job for bodyguards, and an agreement on this would be worked out bilaterally between Washington and Athens, and not through Nato channels.
US TROOPS 'UNDER NATO COVER': Greece has drawn up the most expensive security plan in the history of Olympic to guard the first summer games since the Sept 11 suicide attacks on the United States.
The estimated cost of 1 billion euros ($1.23 billion) is more than three times the amount spent to protect the Sydney 2000 Games. Greece already has assurances that Nato will assist in air and sea patrols and provide specialist troops to deal with a potential nuclear, chemical or biological attack.
But Washington also wanted to send US counter-terrorism forces for the games. When it became clear this would not be possible due to Greek sensitivities, it pressed Athens to ask for them - as one official put it - 'under Nato cover'. -Reuters
- Agrees to send troops for Afghan polls
BRUSSELS, July 23: Nato agreed on Friday to send up to 2,000 Spanish and Italian troops to bolster security for Afghan presidential elections, ending a standoff over whether to deploy elements of its new rapid-response force.
The alliance said in a statement that for eight weeks straddling the Oct 9 poll, a Spanish battalion would be deployed as a quick-reaction force and an Italian battalion as an in-theatre operational reserve force.
The Italian battalion is currently attached to the fledgling Nato Response Force (NRF), which will be made up of over 20,000 crisis management troops when it becomes fully operational in October 2006.
Washington and other allies pressed at a Nato summit last month for the NRF to be activated to counter threats of poll-related violence in Afghanistan. But France argued against the elite force's deployment, saying that it should not be used as a solution to troop shortages for routine operations.
One diplomat said a showdown at Nato's headquarters had been averted by formally removing the Italian battalion from the NRF for the period of its deployment to Afghanistan.
