Greece seeks Olympics safe from fear

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Premier Costas Simitis on Thursday said Greece will try and host an Olympic Games that are not only secure, but also safe from fear and worry.

Following a review of security preparations so far, Simitis expressed the "certainty that the Olympic Games of Athens in 2004 will be safe and will not have any problem."

Greece will spend more than $600 million on security for the Olympics, much of it to plan for attacks and threats considered unthinkable before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We want an environment that does not inspire fear, that does not inspire worry," Simitis said after meeting with Public Order Minister Mihalis Chrisohoidis.

In the 22 months left before the Olympics, Simitis said a special department set up inside the ministry will train officers, test new equipment and review security plans. Athens is receiving counterterrorism advice from Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Spain and the United States.

Simitis said the breakup of Greece's deadliest terrorist group was a step in the right direction.

Police have so far arrested 17 suspected members of the far-left November 17 terrorist group following a bungled bomb attack on June 29. The group has been blamed for killing 23 people, including four American officials, since it first appeared in 1975.

The group, which merges hard-line Marxism and nationalism, is named for the day in 1973 when the 1967-74 military dictatorship crushed a student-led uprising. The junta fell the following year.

"We solved a problem that hassled our country for 27 years. A black page of post-junta history closes," Simitis said. "We proved one more time that when you have goals and plans, you also have results."

Although international security experts have lauded Greece's crackdown on domestic terrorism, there are worries about threats posed by the infiltration of foreign groups across the country's porous land and sea borders.

Greece to tax Olympics home rentals by 10 percent

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Government plans to tax revenues from apartments rented during the Olympic Games should not reduce people's interest in offering their homes, a spokesman said Thursday.

The government resorted to a proposal for people to rent out their homes and apartments during the 2004 Olympics because of a shortage of hotel rooms in Athens. Nearly all of the capital's best hotel rooms and a small fleet of cruise ships have been set aside for the "Olympic family" -- mainly sports federation members and sponsors.

Initially officials had contemplated making the rentals tax-free as an incentive to offer homes. The government announced Wednesday that it will submit legislation levying a 10 percent tax on such rentals from July to September 2004. The tax would have to be paid in advance.

"I believe there will be a big offering," said Tilemahos Hitiris, a 2004 government spokesman. "In August many people leave (the capital) and this will be helpful ... by giving their homes they will get a high income."

Public opinion polls, however, have shown that interest in renting apartments was low before the government decision to levy a tax.

An opinion poll released in June by 2004 Olympic organizers showed that 74.1 percent of those questioned said they would either "definitely not" or "most probably not" rent out their homes during the Olympics. More than 60 percent of Athenians also said they would stay in the capital for the games.

Other proposals for housing hundreds of thousands of expected foreign visitors include leasing more cruise ships or organizing tour packages that would involve ferrying people from nearby tourist islands or resorts.

Athens 2004 organizers have launched an international competition for real estate companies interested in supervising the apartment rentals.

 

Related information

Stories

Report: Athens organizing committee set for shake-up

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video