Why doesn't Bush keep his asshole home in his fortress?

London Tightens Security for Bush Visit
By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - Armed police turned the British capital into "Fortress London" Monday amid heightened fears of a guerrilla attack on the eve of President Bush's visit.

But the tight security did not stop a lone woman protester scaling the gates of Queen Elizabeth's Buckingham Palace where Bush will stay and unfurling an upside down U.S. flag with the inscription "Elizabeth Windsor and Co. He's not welcome."

The White House, wary of an al Qaeda strike, has insisted on tough precautions, ruling out traditional events such as a horse-drawn carriage ride with the Queen.

Weekend suicide bombings against two synagogues in Istanbul that killed 24 people served as a reminder that militants could strike anywhere, at any time, without warning.

An Arabic newspaper said Sunday a unit of the al Qaeda network had claimed responsibility for the bombings and planned more attacks against the United States and its allies Britain, Italy, Australia and Japan.

Britain had already moved to a higher state of alert after warnings of a possible al Qaeda attack received days ago.

Fears of terror strikes and renewed geopolitical instability have swept financial markets, sending stocks lower, boosting bonds and helping drive safe-haven gold to nearly $400 an ounce.

But British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush's staunchest ally in his "war on terror," insisted: "Now is not the time to waiver. Now is the time to see it through."

"This is the right moment for us to stand firm with the United States of America in defeating terrorism wherever it is and delivering us safely from what I genuinely believe to be the security threat of the 21st century," he told business leaders in Birmingham, central England.

ROADS BLOCKED

In London, roads were blocked and drivers stopped and searched as police tightened a security ring around the capital.

"The security is unprecedented because one, the level of terrorism threat and two, the nature of the president's visit," London police chief John Stevens said.

But organizers of a major protest march through London planned for Thursday rejoiced Monday when police finally granted permission for them to parade past key government buildings where Bush will be holding meetings.

"I would consider it to be a triumph for democracy and the peace movement," Kate Hudson, chairwoman of organizer CND told reporters, saying she expected 100,000 people to take part.

At the climax of the march in Trafalgar Square, protesters will topple a giant effigy of Bush in a symbolic repeat of the destruction by U.S. troops in April of a statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"This does not mean that we support Saddam. He was a nightmare. But what Bush has done has not helped ordinary Iraqis at all. There is chaos there. Children are dying every day," Mell Harrison, 32, of the Theater of War activist group said.

Most Britons opposed the U.S-led war which Blair supported. British troops play a major role in occupying southern Iraq.

A YouGov poll ahead of the trip showed just what poor regard Bush is held in by Britons. He was branded a threat to world peace by 60 percent while 37 percent said he was "stupid."

Police snipers will line the president's route on rooftops and all the capital's rapid response armed units are on full alert ahead of his arrival late Tuesday.

Police will be putting a total of 14,000 officers on duty in the capital's biggest security operation.

A study released last week said London was at greater risk of a terror attack than any other major city in the United States or Western Europe.


11/17/03 14:36