Interpol chief: No known threats on horizon for Athens Olympics

ATHENS, Greece -- Interpol's global network has detected "no threats" against the Olympics, but Greek authorities must constantly fine-tune their security operations until the games are over, the head of the international police organization said Tuesday.

The assessment by Interpol's secretary-general, Ronald Noble, backs up claims by Greek officials that the Olympics are not considered a prime target for a strike by al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.

Noble said officials from the agency's 181-member nations have picked up "no information that talks about or concerns any potential terrorist attacks."

"There are ... no threats or evidence of threats against the Athens Olympics," Noble told The Associated Press following meetings with Greek authorities as part of groundbreaking security cooperation between the agency and the host nation.

But Noble advised that Olympic security planners must remain "vigilant every second of every day.

"In today's world, prudence requires us to recognize that terrorists could attack at any point in time and any place in time," he said. "If any country doesn't accept that, a country is going to be suffering terrorist attacks that could have been avoided ... Greece recognizes that reality."

The Aug. 13-29 Olympics represent an important milestone in Interpol's reorganization following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Three Interpol envoys will be based in Athens during August to provide information of potential terrorist suspects, stolen documents and other police issues "in a matter of seconds" through a new encrypted database, Noble said.

At the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, Interpol had just one liaison who acted mostly as an observer.

"We've been working our way up to this level," said Noble, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief law enforcement officer in the U.S. Treasury Department.

He said Interpol also hopes to open cooperation talks with Chinese officials for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The Interpol team is part of the most costly security effort in Olympic history - costing more than $1.2 billion and involving more than 70,000 Greek police and soldiers.

Greece is also being assisted by a seven-nation security task force that includes the United States and Britain.

He lauded Greek authorities for showing "an extraordinary amount of commitment" to safeguard the first summer games since Sept. 11.

"This is our highest priority as well," he said following a meeting with Greece's public order minister, Giorgos Voulgarakis.

Greek authorities plan to impose full Olympic-level security measures at venues beginning Thursday.