Gun ban for foreign Olympic security

Billions of dollars have gone into the 2000 Games

Foreign security personnel accompanying athletes to the Sydney Olympics will not be allowed to carry firearms, Australia's security chief has said.

We are a country where carriage of firearms is not encouraged

Attorney-General Daryl Williams

Attorney-General Daryl Williams, who is responsible for national security, said no delegation - including teams from Israel and the United States - would be exempt from the ban.

He was responding to reports in the Australian media that up to 12 Olympic delegations had requested exemption from the country's gun laws or expressed concern about security during the games.

In the run-up to the opening of the Games, Australian special forces have been conducting vigorous anti-terrorist exercises amid fears that the largest international gathering of the new millennium could be a prime target for terrorism.

Australian police have been training for years for the event

Under the code name Joint-Task Force Gold Australian defence, police and intelligence forces say they have been working at home and abroad for the past four years to establish set up a wide-ranging security operation for the Games.

They say the risk of any serious threat, including attacks by either chemical or biological weapons, is low.

The government meanwhile has gone as far as to predict that American athletes will be safer in Sydney during the Games than they would be back home.

No exemptions

The games are due to open on 15 September

As well as Israel and the US, teams from Turkey, Japan, China, Iran and Iraq were reported to have made requests to bring their own armed security.

However, Mr Williams said no formal request had been made nor would an exemption be given.

"We are a country where carriage of firearms is not encouraged," he said.

"Foreign security officials have no operational role in Australia."

One rare exemption was granted by the Australian authorities four years ago when US secret service agents travelling with President Clinton were allowed to carry weapons.

Top security

Israeli embassy officials have made no comment on arrangements for this year's games but say they are always concerned to ensure the highest security surrounds their athletes.

Mr Williams said special arrangements had been made for the protection of Israeli athletes, but declined to elaborate.

At the 1972 Munich Olympics 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian gunmen.

Their capture and eventual deaths in a bungled rescue operation was blamed by many on poor security planning on the part of the German authorities.

Sixteen years ago at the 1984 Los Angeles Games it was widely reported that Israeli officials had been caught smuggling weapons through diplomatic mail bags into the US.