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Zeus protects Games

AFP, Athens
Greek officials are confident the massive security operation they have put in place for the Athens Olympics, which open in two days, will serve as a shield of Zeus to protect the Games.
"We've created an environment which is hostile to any threat. What we have done is huge, but an absolute guarantee does not exist," a high-ranking security official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
"At this time, we have no specific information about a possible attack, launched either by foreign or Greek perpetrators, in Greece during the Games," he said.
"Very much has been done already
but of course there are still things we could do, but we have done everything that is humanly possible."
In Greek mythology, Zeus was the supreme god, a protector and ruler of all mankind. In the 21st century, though, Greeks are relying on a little more than the blessing of the gods for the Games to pass off safely.
With the budget for the Games' security at 1.2 billion euros, the country has "spent a lot" on ensuring the 10,000 Olympic competitors from 201 nations, accompanying officials, foreign tourists and Greeks are able to enjoy a safe Olympics.
"Everything is in place: in the air, on the sea, on land."
More than 100,000 police, soldiers, coastguards and even hunters are already patrolling Olympic cities and venues; NATO AWACS radar planes have been monitoring Athens since Tuesday and the
transatlantic alliance's ships are patrolling international waters near Greece.
A high-tech blimp is hovering over Athens, keeping activities on the ground under surveillance and closed-circuit cameras are watching over Athens' streets.
Some 400 soldiers, mostly US troops, are on the alert on a base in Germany "ready to intervene, but only at Greece's request in the event of a really hard blow," said the official.
"But that seems highly improbable, given the level of mobilisation of the Greek army."
Greek air force jets have since Monday been patrolling the skies above Attica, the region of which Athens is the main city.
"An air exclusion zone has been set up over a radius of 40 miles above the Olympic complex."
And the high-tech C4I system -- for "command, control, communications, computers and intelligence" -- is "operational at between 85 and 90 percent.
"A few cameras are missing, so we don't have an absolute image of the Attica region, but that does not affect the general security plan," the source said.
But, as if all that were not enough, the organisers have called on the population to help out.
"We are also counting on the Greek people lending a hand," said the security official.
A free telephone number, 1014, has been set up for Athenians and visitors to report suspicious objects, people or activities, and has already taken dozens of calls.
"The callers, mostly aged under 40, report abandoned packages or other suspicious things that worry them."
Two Greek liaison officers have been dispatched to NATO headquarters in Belgium to coordinate civil assistance operations in the event they become necessary.
In addition to Olympic athletes, officials and spectators, Greece will also be welcoming some 70 heads of state and royalty during the Games, including former US president George Bush, who arrived in northern Greece on Tuesday.
Bush Senior is to head the US delegation of dignitaries who will reside on luxury ocean liner, the Queen Mary II, which arrived in the port of Piraeus Wednesday morning.
The Queen Mary will remain moored in Piraeus, south of Athens, for the duration of the Games, serving as a luxury hotel on water for hundreds of dignitaries.