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Bush's Trip to London May Be Security Nightmare
Aired November 12, 2003 - 14:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A trip to London for President Bush could be a security nightmare, as you might imagine. When the president makes his trip next week, thousands of anti-war demonstrators are expected to descend on London. And there's a new worry. What if al Qaeda mingled with the crowd and somehow got close to the president? Our Robert Oakley is in London with more on all this. Hello, Robin.
ROBERT OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. Well that's certainly the worry of the security authorities in London. I've just been at London Police headquarters hearing from one of their senior officials and he said all police leave in London has been canceled. They're turning out more policemen, 5,000 of them, than have ever been responsible for looking after a visiting leader before.
And they're acknowledging that there could be as many as 60,000 demonstrators coming out on the streets to protest against the president's's policy in Iraq. A policy, of course, supported strongly by Tony Blair and which has led him into great political trouble at home.
So there is a real security threat, they're saying. There is the danger that if demonstrations got out of hand anywhere, that terrorists could use those as a cover for their activity.
But the London Police are saying that there is no specific threat attaching to the president's visit. There's not any intelligence information suggesting of any particular effort from terrorism on this occasion -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Robin, I'm curious, who is going to be spearheading the security effort there while on the ground? And is there -- is it clear the lines of authority, put it that way?
OAKLEY: Absolutely clear, the lines of authority, Miles. Yes, the Metropolitan Police are responsible for decisions in London about what marchers are allowed to do, what security detail is provided.
Of course, they are working closely with the president's own security detail and the U.S. Secret Services over the president's security. That would be inevitable.
But they're saying decisions essentially are down to the chief of the metropolitan police here in London. There are special arrangements for U.S. details to be able to carry arms, which normally people wouldn't be able to do on the streets. Specific rules of engagement under which they will operate.
There have been a lot of stories in the British media that the White House has been pressuring the London Police for exclusion zones to keep a bubble around the president, to have streets closed down when he's anywhere nearby. But the Metropolitan Police are saying, No, there will be specific streets closed down at certain times, but they're not going to overdo that operation. They've faced criticism in the past for overdoing things when President Jiang Zemin of China was in London.
And they're saying that it's not part of their duty to spare the president any embarrassment. If he comes up against protesters and demonstrators, well, so be it, because they, the London Police feel, it is part of their duty to allow their demonstrators their democratic right to protest.
What they will do is crack down hard on any real troublemakers who go in for violence -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Of course, sometimes hard to separate the wheat from the chaff in these cases, isn't it?
OAKLEY: Well, indeed. It's very difficult. If things do get out of hand. But the London Police are pretty confident of these kind of things. They handle a lot of demonstrations. There were a million people out on the streets of London protesting against the Iraq war before it started. And they said there were only four arrests on that occasion. That that was fewer than you got on the average Saturday with football matches -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: That's an impressive number right there. Robin Oakley in London, thanks a lot.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 12, 2003 - 14:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A trip to London for President Bush could be a security nightmare, as you might imagine. When the president makes his trip next week, thousands of anti-war demonstrators are expected to descend on London. And there's a new worry. What if al Qaeda mingled with the crowd and somehow got close to the president? Our Robert Oakley is in London with more on all this. Hello, Robin.
ROBERT OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. Well that's certainly the worry of the security authorities in London. I've just been at London Police headquarters hearing from one of their senior officials and he said all police leave in London has been canceled. They're turning out more policemen, 5,000 of them, than have ever been responsible for looking after a visiting leader before.
And they're acknowledging that there could be as many as 60,000 demonstrators coming out on the streets to protest against the president's's policy in Iraq. A policy, of course, supported strongly by Tony Blair and which has led him into great political trouble at home.
So there is a real security threat, they're saying. There is the danger that if demonstrations got out of hand anywhere, that terrorists could use those as a cover for their activity.
But the London Police are saying that there is no specific threat attaching to the president's visit. There's not any intelligence information suggesting of any particular effort from terrorism on this occasion -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Robin, I'm curious, who is going to be spearheading the security effort there while on the ground? And is there -- is it clear the lines of authority, put it that way?
OAKLEY: Absolutely clear, the lines of authority, Miles. Yes, the Metropolitan Police are responsible for decisions in London about what marchers are allowed to do, what security detail is provided.
Of course, they are working closely with the president's own security detail and the U.S. Secret Services over the president's security. That would be inevitable.
But they're saying decisions essentially are down to the chief of the metropolitan police here in London. There are special arrangements for U.S. details to be able to carry arms, which normally people wouldn't be able to do on the streets. Specific rules of engagement under which they will operate.
There have been a lot of stories in the British media that the White House has been pressuring the London Police for exclusion zones to keep a bubble around the president, to have streets closed down when he's anywhere nearby. But the Metropolitan Police are saying, No, there will be specific streets closed down at certain times, but they're not going to overdo that operation. They've faced criticism in the past for overdoing things when President Jiang Zemin of China was in London.
And they're saying that it's not part of their duty to spare the president any embarrassment. If he comes up against protesters and demonstrators, well, so be it, because they, the London Police feel, it is part of their duty to allow their demonstrators their democratic right to protest.
What they will do is crack down hard on any real troublemakers who go in for violence -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Of course, sometimes hard to separate the wheat from the chaff in these cases, isn't it?
OAKLEY: Well, indeed. It's very difficult. If things do get out of hand. But the London Police are pretty confident of these kind of things. They handle a lot of demonstrations. There were a million people out on the streets of London protesting against the Iraq war before it started. And they said there were only four arrests on that occasion. That that was fewer than you got on the average Saturday with football matches -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: That's an impressive number right there. Robin Oakley in London, thanks a lot.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
