PARIS: France says it has asked 46 countries if they would be willing to supply more than 2,000 police officers to help secure the Paris Olympics this summer, as organizers finalize security planning for the French capital’s first Games in a century while on heightened alert against potential attacks.
The Interior Ministry said Friday that the request for foreign security assistance was made in January, seeking nearly 2,185 reinforcements. The officers are sought to help with Games security and “the spectator experience” and to “strengthen international cooperation,” the ministry said.
“This is a classic approach of host countries for the organization of major international events,” the ministry added.
It noted that France sent 200 of its gendarmes to soccer’s World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and also welcomed 160 officers from other European security forces for the Rugby World Cup that France hosted last year.
Separately, the French Defense Ministry has also asked foreign nations for “small numbers” of military personnel who could help with “very specific” tasks at the Games, including sniffer dog teams, said Col. Pierre Gaudillière, spokesman for the army general staff.
Poland’s defense minister said his country will be sending soldiers to the Paris Games. The Polish armed forces delegation will include dog handlers and “its main goal will be to undertake activities related to the detection of explosives and counteracting terrorist phenomena.” the minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, posted on X.
Security is the biggest challenge for Paris Games organizers in a city that has been repeatedly hit by deadly attacks by Islamic extremists and which is expecting as many as 15 million visitors for the July 26-Aug. 11 Games and Paralympics that follow.
Security concerns are notably high for the opening ceremony, which will involve boats along the Seine River and huge crowds watching from the embankments.
France’s government increased its security alert posture to the highest level in the wake of the recent deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and Daesh’s claim of responsibility.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the decision in a post on X, saying authorities were “taking into account Daesh’s claim of responsibility for the (Moscow) attack and the threats weighing on our country.″
France asks for foreign police and military help with massive Paris Olympics security challenge
https://arab.news/jz2mb
France asks for foreign police and military help with massive Paris Olympics security challenge
- The Interior Ministry said Friday that the request for foreign security assistance was made in January, seeking nearly 2,185 reinforcements
- The officers are sought to help with Games security and “the spectator experience” and to “strengthen international cooperation,” the ministry said
Nigeria police charge driver in fatal Joshua crash
- Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode charged with reckless and dangerous driving causing death
- British boxer's two friends Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami were killed in the crash
LAGOS: Nigerian police on Friday charged the driver of a car carrying British boxer Anthony Joshua that was involved in a fatal crash with “reckless” and “dangerous driving causing death.”
Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, was also charged with driving without a valid “driver’s license” and “driving without due care and attention, causing bodily harm and damage to property,” Oluseyi Babaseyi, a spokesman for the police in Ogun state, told AFP.
He was granted a five million naira bail ($3,500) but will remain in detention until he meets bail conditions, Babaseyi said.
Kayode was driving the boxer and two of his friends, Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami, on a busy highway linking Lagos and Ibadan in southwest Nigeria when the Lexus SUV in which they were traveling rammed into a stationary truck on Monday.
Nigerian police and state officials said that Ayodele and Ghami died at the scene, while Joshua and the driver sustained minor injuries.
The Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) in Ogun state, where the accident occurred, told AFP earlier in the week that its preliminary investigations showed that the vehicle was moving at an excessive speed and had burst a tire before the crash.
Kayode is due to appear in court on January 20.
