Winter Games begin, Putin keen to prove doubters wrong

[NewWorldRecord]

Winter Games begin, Putin keen to prove doubters wrong

By Mike Collett-White
SOCHI, Russia Thu Feb 6, 2014 8:05pm GMT

Russian security forces patrol the streets as preparations continue for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Rosa Khutor February 6, 2014. REUTERS-Sergei Karpukhin

(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics on Friday determined to prove his doubters wrong after militant attacks, a row over gay rights and ballooning costs overshadowed preparations.

Putin has staked his reputation on hosting a safe and successful Games in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where a three-hour spectacle before 40,000 spectators at the new Fisht Stadium will signal the start of the full sporting programme.

Some 37,000 security personnel are on high alert over threats by Islamist militant groups based in the nearby north Caucasus region to attack the February 7-23 Games.

Separatist guerrillas seeking an independent Islamic state in Chechnya and neighbouring regions of southern Russia have vowed to disrupt the Olympics, which they say are taking place on land seized from Caucasus tribes in the 19th century.

Despite a "ring of steel" around venues, Russian forces fear a woman suspected of planning a suicide bombing may have slipped through.

Security analysts believe that an attack is in fact more likely to occur elsewhere in Russia to humiliate Putin, who launched a war to crush a Chechen rebellion in 1999.

Twin suicide bombings killed at least 34 people in December in Volgograd, 400 miles (700 km) northeast of Sochi.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told reporters in Sochi that Russian security services were working with colleagues from Europe and North America to minimise the risk of attack.

"There is no reason to believe that the level of danger in Sochi is greater than at any other point on the planet, be it Boston, London, New York or Washington," he said.

TOOTHPASTE THREAT

A senior U.S. security official said earlier this week that Washington had issued a warning to airports and some airlines flying to Russia for the Olympics to watch for toothpaste tubes that could hold ingredients to make a bomb on a plane.

The official did not say why such a specific warning was issued now. Airlines have long been aware of the dangers of bombs being made on aircraft from liquids smuggled aboard, and have limited the carriage of liquids and pastes by passengers.

In addition to fears over security, Russia, hosting the Winter Games for the first time, has been under fire since the government passed legislation last year which critics say curtails rights of homosexuals and discriminates against them.

Putin has defended the law as protecting minors and said homosexuals would not face discrimination at the Sochi Olympics.

Organisers and many competitors have said they hoped that the thrills and spills on ice and snow in Sochi, and at the mountain base 40 km (25 miles) to the northeast, would take centre stage once the Games were in full flow at the weekend.

"I don't really feel like the Olympics is a place for that kind of politics ... I think it's a place for sports and a place for cultures to put aside their differences and compete," said veteran U.S. Alpine skier Bode Miller.

The 36-year-old, winner of the men's Super Combined gold medal in Vancouver four years ago, also said the issues surrounding Sochi were "no more political than the ones in China (in 2008) or Olympics as far back as you can remember."

Canada was already talking up its medal prospects.

"Canada is here to compete and win," said Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) head Marcel Aubut. "Our aim is to contend for the number one spot in overall medals won.

"We are not here to participate, we are here to win."

Traditional winter sports powerhouse Russia won just three gold medals four years ago, compared with Canada's 14, and is hoping for a marked improvement on home turf.

ROBUST DEFENCE

Russian organisers launched a robust defence of Sochi, which cost an estimated $50 billion (30 billion pounds) to stage, making it the most expensive Games - summer or winter - in history.

"Russia has created a wonderful example to follow for future organisers of Olympic Games," Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the local organising committee, told reporters on Thursday.

He was addressing alarm among members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the costs associated with Sochi could deter others from bidding to host the event.

Officials said much of the infrastructure built for 2014 was designed to be used long after the Games had finished, and the plan was to turn Sochi into a year-round resort, international sports centre and amusement park.

(Additional reporting by Pritha Sarkar, Keith Weir and Steve Keating in Sochi and Mark Trevelyan in Rosa Khutor; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

 

[NewWorldRecord]

U.S., European security officials worry about Sochi-related attacks

By Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON Fri Feb 7, 2014 12:19am GMT

Volunteers walks in the finish area of the Alpine Skiing events of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Rosa Khutor February 4, 2014. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

(Reuters) - Intelligence agencies believe attacks by militants during the Sochi Winter Olympics are highly likely, but will probably be aimed at "softer" targets elsewhere in Russia, such as public transportation or other civilian venues, U.S. and European officials said.

Several U.S. and European security officials said that last-minute intelligence reports about possible Olympics-related attacks have continued to flow into Western agencies and that U.S. and European agencies take them very seriously.

"I'm more concerned now than a week ago," one U.S. official said on Thursday. He said there are multiple militant groups who have indicated they intend to carry out attacks during the Games. The official and other officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The U.S. official added that, while security at the Olympic venues is formidable, there are potential soft targets not far outside the Olympic perimeter where militants might be able to attack, attracting huge media coverage.

At a hearing before the House Intelligence Committee earlier this week, Matthew Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center said, "We think the ... greater danger from a terrorist perspective is in potential for attacks to occur outside of the actual venues of the games themselves in the area surrounding Sochi or outside of Sochi in the region."

Other officials said the Russian capitol, Moscow, could be high on militants lists' of potential targets.

In a sign of heightened concern, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is temporarily banning all liquids, aerosols, gels and powders in carry-on luggage on flights between Russia and the United States, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official said on Thursday.

"As always, our security posture, which at all times includes a number of measures both seen and unseen, will continue to respond and appropriately adapt to protect the American people from an ever evolving threat picture," the official said.

Delta Airlines posted a statement on its website saying that Russia-bound passengers would still be able to place liquids, gels, aerosols and powders in checked baggage. However, passengers headed to Russia will be required to check in personally with a Delta agent at the airport and will not be able to use automatic or online check-in facilities.

Some U.S. officials on Thursday played down the significance of a disclosure that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had warned airlines to be on guard for toothpaste containers that could contain bomb-making ingredients.

Officials confirmed the warning had been issued. But several officials said that it was based on intelligence that was collected some time ago and that little, if any, new information had surfaced to confirm that any toothpaste plot related to Sochi was in progress.

Sill, U.S. and European security officials said multiple militant elements pose significant and current Olympic-related threats.

The main threat, said both European and U.S. officials, is posed by the Caucasus-based Imarat Kavkaz movement, which has attacked a Moscow airport and the capital's subway system. Officials said they could not confirm rumours that the group's leader, Doku Umarov, who last July called on his followers to disrupt the Olympics, had been killed.

Even if Umarov is dead, security officials believe the group is decentralized and its commanders are sufficiently autonomous to carry out attacks on their own.

Some officials said that attacks could also be attempted by "lone wolf" militants or returnees who had been fighting with militant factions in Syria. But such attacks are thought less likely.

Laith Alkhouri of Flashpoint Partners, a private firm which monitors militant websites for government and private customers, noted that militants have had "months and months to plan" Olympic-related attacks.

"Although the Russian government was also preparing for the games all this time, many of its security measures were ad hoc and reactionary, which might be a point of weakness in their security design," he said.

Alkhouri also said Russian security forces had recently stepped up their operations in the Caucasus, most notably in Dagestan, a militant hotbed. He added, however, that "the Caucasus militants are security-cautious, tech-savvy, highly motivated, and cannot be profiled easily."

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)