ITALY: OLYMPIC GAMES - Security has been visibly tightened in Turin and in the Alps ahead of the Winter Olympic Games

Record ID: 331876

  • Title: ITALY: OLYMPIC GAMES - Security has been visibly tightened in Turin and in the Alps ahead of the Winter Olympic Games
  • Date: 6th January 2006
  • Summary: BUSSOLENO, ITALY (RECENT) (REUTERS) STREETS BANNER READING: "NO TAV" (No High Velocity Train) OLD WOMAN ON BICYCLE PUPPET OF SANTA CLAUS WITH "NO TAV" WRITTEN ON THE BACK HUNGING OUT OF BALCONY (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ANTONIO FERRENTINO, ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE 'NO TAV' MOVEMENT, SAYING: "It is clear that if the negotiations (between the government and the protesters on the building of the high velocity train railway) will stop or if someone thinks to use the excuse of the Olympics to resume works on the railway it would be very worrying and nobody could guarantee that people here would not try to disrupt the Games to protest"
  • Embargoed: 21st January 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA4TKNULHUU8MOLFP1B0ZOBBYB8
  • Story Text: Skiers enjoyng the slopes in Sestriere, northern Italy, have been presented with the unusual sight of dozens of soldiers in full camouflage uniform in the last few weeks - taking ski-lifts, skiing down mountian passes and gathering in small groups on hill tops to be debriefed by officers. Soldiers from the 3rd Alpine Regiment are getting acquainted with the mountains where they will be deployed as part of the security network during the Winter Olympics set to begin on February 10. Over 1,200 Alpine soldiers will be operational on the Alps, ready to help with injuries or security aspects during the three weeks of games. "Our men will be deployed all over the montains, both for technical support and, let's hope it will never be needed, for the rescue in case of accidents" said Lt.Col. Giovanni Manione, their commander.
    The military presence is high throughout the olympic theatre, both in Turin and in the Alps. Every Olympic venue is sealed off from public access and will be so right up to the Games. Armed paratroopers stand guard at the gates of the venues and patrol the most sensitive areas, such as Turin's train station.
    Italy's continued involvement in Iraq makes it a possible target for international terror attacks and Turin's Winter Olympics, given their international visibility, are considered a high risk event.
    "(It is absurd) that an event that was created to establish ties of peace, tollerance and dialogue among peoples has to spend so much energy to defend itself from external (international) and internal (national) threats" Mario Pescente, the government's Sport Undersecretary, told Reuters Television.
    "We are doing everything possible (to ensure security)" Pescante added.
    Turin's residents, observing the army and police presence growing next to the ongoing building efforts everywhere in the area, seem unperturbed about the security scares.
    "They need to step security up because these are troubled times but we need to go ahead with it, we cannot give in to the threats" said Francesco Marrat.
    "I just hope that if they do something they don't touch the underground, we've been waiting for it for twenty years...No, I'm not worried at all (of security threats)" said Gloria, a university student.
    Besides international terrorism, the government expressed fears that anarchists and anti-globalization protesters, who led violent demonstrations at the last major international event hosted by Italy, the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001, will to try to disrupt the Games.
    But the toughest security challenge to the Games could come not from international terrorism, not from anti-globalisation protesters but from the local inhabitants of one of the valleys that hosts the Olympics, the Val di Susa.
    Last November, the valley was the scene of a fierce confrontation between the government and a large part of the population who strongly opposed the planned construction of the TAV, the high-speed railway line which is to link Turin with Lyon, France.
    The protest, which involved thousands of demonstrators and 40 mayors who represent the local population, went into stand-by in early December as protesters finally achieved that the works on the railway line be stopped untill further negotiations between them and the government take place. "It is clear that if the negotiations will stop or if someone thinks to use the excuse of the Olympics to resume works on the railway it would be very worrying and nobody could guarantee that people here would not try to disrupt the Games to protest" warned Antonio Ferrentino, one of the leaders of the No TAV movement.
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