Defense chief: Global forces on standby

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- NATO allies and other countries will be on standby during the Athens Olympics to send forces or biochemical antidotes in case of a terrorist attack, Greece's defense minister said Friday.

The plan is part of a broad web of military and intelligence cooperation that includes "reinforced" scrutiny among Balkan neighbors for possible signs of al-Qaida or other terrorists in Greece's back yard, Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou told The Associated Press.

Efforts to safeguard the Aug. 13-29 Olympics -- already carrying a record security price tag of more than $750 million -- took on added urgency following this month's suicide bombings in neighboring Turkey.

Papantoniou described a vast security network during the games that will include AWACS surveillance planes, 10,000 military personnel working alongside 40,000 police and a 200-member team trained by U.S. and British experts to face biological, chemical and nuclear attacks.

"We shall try not to give the impression that Athens is a military camp," he said.

NATO allies, including the United States, and other countries will have troops ready for rapid deployment to Greece in case of a major terrorist attack, Papantoniou said.

"Standby forces ... might have to complement our effort in case of need," he said.

Defense chiefs from the NATO alliance begin a two-day meeting Monday in Brussels, Belgium, where Papantoniou is expected to discuss Olympic security and shore up commitments for military backup if needed during the games.

Greek officials are compiling a list of biochemical resources available in Europe that could reach Greece quickly following attacks using nerve agents, anthrax or other toxins.

"There will be no foreign troops here or on staff (during the Olympics)," Papantoniou said, "but we accept cooperation and we ask for cooperation in case of emergency ... to draw these resources if and when a terrorist attack emerges."

Papantoniou added that anti-terrorist intelligence gathering has been greatly expanded across the Balkans, where some experts believe al-Qaida or others could try to gain important footholds in Europe.

"There is a concern," Papantoniou said.

He said intelligence and military links with Balkan nations have been "reinforced substantially in recent months ... (on) security cooperation for the Olympic Games."

Papantoniou said Turkey and Israel are also part of "a very wide network of cooperation agreements with all types of intelligence services around the world."

In an interview broadcast earlier Friday by private Mega television, Britain's top anti-terrorism official, David Veness, urged broader intelligence gathering in areas of past "combat and conflict," such as Kosovo and elsewhere in the Balkans, to look for possible links to al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.

On Thursday, Albanian authorities arrested two suspected terrorists who allegedly had remote-control rigged explosives. In Bulgaria, the British Embassy closed for several hours Thursday in the capital of Sofia due to a "security alert" possibly linked to the Nov. 15 and Nov. 20 attacks in Istanbul.

"Such attacks are not outside the realm of what was envisioned to happen," Papantoniou said. "So it's not forced any substantial changes of our (Olympic security) plans. It has, of course, led to higher levels of alertness."