Enormous precautions in London ahead of Olympic games

LONDON (AP) — Fighter jets thunder above the English countryside. Missiles stand ready. And Big Brother is watching like never before.

Although other Olympics have taken place since 9/11 — Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin, Beijing and Vancouver — London poses a different breed of security challenge.

Protecting athletes has been a concern since a terror attack at the 1972 Olympics in Munich killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches.

“Israeli athletes will be staying away from the others in a more secluded area and with more security,” a senior Israeli intelligence official told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his job. “But a repetition of what happened in Munich is considered unlikely because Israel is ready and also because it isn’t the kind of attack Palestinians would want now.”

Technology has also advanced from past games.

Special Israeli surveillance technology has been rolled out for the Olympics across Britain, a country already known for its 4 million closed-circuit television cameras. Even more cameras have been installed at the Olympic Park.

Advanced facial and image recognition software will be used to identify suspects and connect multiple crime scenes. Cameras will be used to capture suspicious behavior. And special drones will be used for crowd surveillance, according to a salesman at an Israeli company who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Intelligence officials say there has been an expected increase in chatter among extremist groups but there are still no specific or credible threats to the London games. The terror level is labeled substantial, a notch below severe and what it has been for much of the past decade. A substantial threat level indicates that an attack is a strong possibility.

Adding to security issues, leaders from around the world will want to visit during the Olympics. The American delegation will be led by first lady Michelle Obama while President Barack Obama focuses on his re-election campaign.

“I’m confident that there is more than adequate security here for these games,” Louis Susman, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. told The Associated Press. “That said, we live in a tumultuous world, whether that be in New York or London.”

Ian Deitch contributed to this story from Jerusalem and Nicholas McAnally from Paris.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.