Help sought for security in Beijing
BEIJING (Reuters) – Beijing organizers have taken advice from the security chiefs of the last two Summer Games on how to keep the 2008 Olympics safe, an official said yesterday. China has made much of relying on its own security forces for next year’s Olympics and believes it can deliver a secure Games for a fraction of the $1.8 billion that Athens paid in 2004. Liu Shaowu, head of security for Beijing, however, said that foreign consultants were being hired. «Last month we invited Peter Ryan from Sydney to discuss with us about some particular security problems. We learnt valuable experiences from them.» Liu said Major-General Vassilis Constantinidis, who headed security for the 2004 Athens Games, had been consulted in addition to Ryan, commissioner of the New South Wales Police during the 2000 Sydney Games.
