UPDATE: FRANCE MOUNTS SECURITY DRILL AHEAD OF OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY
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Agency Report
On Friday, French police tested their security arrangements for the Olympic torch relay. A multi-layered ring of one hundred cops was supposed to be deployed to disperse protestors.
The relay is scheduled to commence on May 8 when the flame arrives in southern Marseille, ahead of the start of the Games on July 26. The authorities are concerned that this could cause any disruption to the event.
Anarchist networks, pro-Palestinian protestors, and environmental organizations like the Extinction Rebellion are considered possible threats, and security personnel are always on the lookout for terrorist assaults.
“For the party to be beautiful, it needs to be safe,” said chief Games organiser Tony Estanguet on Friday during the drill in the Aube area southeast of Paris that saw officers in plain-clothes jog alongside the torch bearer.
As the torch travels, covert anti-drone experts and riot and anti-terror police in cars will be stationed there permanently.
Throughout its 12,000-kilometer (7,500-mile) journey through mainland France and overseas French territories in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific, the Olympic torch is expected to pass through 400 cities and numerous tourist attractions.
Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister, is working feverishly to prevent a recurrence of the horrific scenes that occurred in 2008 when the Olympic torch relay passed through several nations en route to Beijing.
The relay in Paris had to be stopped due to protests by pro-Tibet activists and people who were against China’s human rights record, forcing the French authorities to put out the flame more than once.
Speaking in January, Darmanin likened this year’s relay to the annual Tour de France bicycle race but “with more originality and difficulties”.
The flame will be ignited in Olympia, Greece, then transported to Marseille via boat in the Belum, a three-masted French tall ship from the 19th century.
According to some media sources, the race will end atop the Eiffel Tower, although the organizers are keeping both the location of its final torch bearer’s identity and its resting spot a mystery for the length of the Games.
Since competitors will be sailing down the Seine in an armada of boats for the first time since the Games opened outside of the athletics stadium, the opening ceremony poses yet another significant risk to the French government.
Over half a million people are expected to witness the procession in person, comprising 326,000 ticket holders and an estimated 200,000 individuals who will be able to watch from buildings with a view of the river.
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