Western embassies fortify in Tirana, Greeks pledge Olympic security
In July 1999, then-US Secretary of Defense William Cohen suddenly cancelled an expected trip to Albania. The reason? Intelligence sources had discovered that a chap named Osama might be planning to crash the party in a most uncultivated way. Of course, it was swept under the rug, seeing as the just-concluded Kosovo intervention had proven that some Muslims did in fact like the US.
Fast-forward to 2003, when the war on terror is in full swing and the Balkans, though peaceful enough, is back under the microscope. True, nobody’s cancelled any visits, but nobody of stature is rushing back either. Along with Bosnia, Albania has been singled out as a likely source of terrorist infiltration into Europe The solution? If you can’t shut the place down- build a wall!According to a report last Thursday in the Scotsman, the British Embassy has just gotten a new 8 ft. high barricade- a forbidding wall of cement, made of crane-lifted “massive blocks” placed “…so that cars would not be able to speed into the embassy grounds.” This practice is said to be going on with other Western embassies in Tirana, especially those known as supporters of the Iraq war, such as Italy and Spain.
Apparently, earlier suspicions from both US and local investigators seem to have some credibility: according to the newspaper, “…police claim they prevented an attack last month when they arrested two suspected Albanian terrorists who allegedly had remote-controlled explosive devices police said had been meant to be used in Tirana.”
Bulgaria, another close American ally, stated Tuesday that expected construction of US military bases on its territory could increase the risk of a terrorist attack. This possibility has also been voiced recently in regards to neighboring Romania, which has been equally zealous in its support of the US.
Meanwhile, just below in Greece, security officials have recently proclaimed renewed readiness to defend against terror during the Athens Olympics next August. Buoyed by the recent convictions of the leftist Nov. 17th terrorist leaders, the Greek minister of public order Giorgios Floridis stated that the convictions showed that “Greece has a newfound determination to fight terror… we believe that traditional terrorism as we knew it in Greece, no longer exists.”
However, it is not “traditional” Greek terrorism that is worrying foreign governments. Nov. 17th was responsible for a handful of targeted assassinations and hardly caused the kind of mayhem wreaked by an al Qaeda bombing, for example. Reportedly, the recent attacks in Istanbul forced a rethink on the part of the Greeks, who are already spending a record $750 million on security for the Games, and employing over 40,000 security officers.
An international advisory panel made up of experts from the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, France, Germany, Spain and Australia has been actively involved with the Greeks. Apparently around 200 FBI agents and a CIA team have been dispatched to Athens well in advance of the Olympics- many more than were sent to any previous Games.
As could be expected, Israel is taking a strong interest in offering security advice. However, some of the Israeli concerns- such as a renewed threat from the devastated Nov. 17- seem unjustified. The New York Times on 10 December quoted a former Mossad chief, Shabtai Shavit, as downplaying the value of the convictions:
“…the Greek government thinks this was a big success for them, but to my mind that is very much exaggerated… one cannot rule out the possibility that somewhere there are still operatives of this organization thinking, plotting and planning to make havoc of an event like the Games.”
Indeed, somewhere out there no doubt there are many people thinking, plotting and planning, about all sorts of things. Yet an almost completely destroyed political “pressure” group such as Nov. 17 poses little threat. In fact, it never did. The euphoria over their dissolution is as simulated and politically motivated as is the dark downplaying of the Israelis, Americans and others. It is well-known that Israel has long harbored a certain animosity to Greece for its support of the Palestinian cause (though that is another story in itself).
In the end, the only real threat is the one crane operators in Tirana were last week trying to stave off: from imported fundamentalists hiding out in the Balkan wilds. Greece admits that its wooded, sometimes mountainous northern borders can be porous in places, and it is not beyond the bounds of reason to assume Albania could be used as the jumping-off point into Greece for would-be terrorists originating in Bosnia or Kosovo.
While Western governments are being highly secretive, as are the Greeks, about their preparations and worries, it would seem at least from the press attention over the past year that the Nov. 17 threat- past, present and future- has been wildly exaggerated due to mainly political reasons. One hopes that security officials have not wasted too much time barking up the wrong tree, as the clock, after all, is ticking.
Like to delve into the wilds of Albania? Pick up The Accursed Mountains by Robert Carver today!