Athens yesterday firmly rejected newspaper claims that security measures for the August Olympics have been jeopardized by the fitful pace of preparations for the Games.

Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos countered the New York Times report by pointing out that Greece has spent a billion euros on Olympic security.

“Our country is doing all that is humanly possible to ensure the Olympic Games are conducted under maximum security,” he said. “This has been acknowledged by experts and by press reports the world over... So-called complaints by anonymous sources that are general, vague and lacking in any substantial evidence only serve to reproduce highly imaginative scenarios.”

The New York Times story quoted unnamed “officials from Greece and other countries involved in [security] planning” as saying venue construction delays have kept back the installation of the electronic Olympic security command center. As a result, the paper said, there will not be enough time to properly test the systems, or to train technicians.