Olympic security in full operation

February 7, 1998

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Olympic security in full operation

The security operations that the Japanese police have installed at the Nagano Winter Games went into full force as the 16-day Olympic sports festival got under way Saturday.

Thousands of police officers combed the streets of Nagano from the first daylight, directing traffic and watching out for potential trouble.

Security was particularly tight around the Olympic stadium in Minami Nagano Sports Park where the opening ceremony was held in the presence of Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Juan Antonio Samaranch, and dozens of dignitaries.

Yuko Sekiguchi, head of the National Policy Agency (NPA), is personally overseeing the security of the imperial couple, who arrived from Tokyo by a Shinkansen superexpress train Friday.

In Tokyo, top NPA officials gathered early Saturday and directed the security operation from the security control room on the fifth floor of the agency's headquarters.

More than 6,000 police, including 4,000 from outside Nagano Prefecture, have been mobilized to protect visiting dignitaries, the more than 3,000 athletes and officials, and thousands of foreign visitors who have turned the city of 360,000 into an international carnival.

National Police Agency officials say there is no ''specific information'' about a possible terrorist attack but security authorities are not taking any chances.

At Minami Nagano Sports Park, all the 50,000 spectators had to pass through metal detectors before they were allowed into the Olympic stadium.

Outside the sports park, police officers wearing bright yellow uniforms and baseball caps patrolled major thoroughfares of Nagano, staring down at manholes and keeping the traffic moving.

With a record 72 countries and territories represented in the Games, Nagano provides an attractive target for terrorists intent on making a political or religious statement, or simply hoping to draw attention.

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, a bomb went off during the Games and the culprit is still at large.

In 1972, 11 Israeli athletes and officials were killed by Palestinian guerrillas during the Munich Games.

(Kyodo News)

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