U.S. offers Russia counter-bomb technology for Olympics security

[NewWorldRecord]

U.S. offers Russia counter-bomb technology for Olympics security

WASHINGTON Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:01am GMT

A police officer (L) stands near Olympic rings at the Olympic Park in the Adler district of Sochi January 18, 2014. Sochi will host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games from February 7 to 23. REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk

(Reuters) - The United States is offering American technology used to thwart roadside bombs in places like Afghanistan to bolster Russia's security during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, as Moscow faces militant threats to disrupt the Games.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed the possibility with his Russian counterpart during broader talks between the two military chiefs in Brussels on Tuesday, Dempsey's spokesman said. No decisions were reached.

The offer was first reported by the New York Times.

The discussions came a day after the Pentagon said it was conducting planning and preparations in support of Russia for "for all manner of contingencies." It noted that air and naval assets, including two ships in the Black Sea, would be made available if requested.

Russia is intensifying a security clampdown ahead of the Olympics, which open on February 7 in Sochi, a Black Sea resort on the western edge of the Caucasus mountains.

Insurgents who hope to create an Islamist state in the North Caucasus have threatened to attack the Games, and Russian authorities said on Tuesday that police killed a senior Islamist militant in a shootout in Russia's North Caucasus.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)