Publishing an annual report on Britain’s counterterrorism strategy, Britain’s Home Office acknowledged that the 2012 Summer Olympics pose an acute security challenge.
“The government is working on the assumption that the greatest threat to the Games is international terrorism and that the threat in 2012 will be high,” the document stated.
Officials fear terrorists could attempt raids similar to those in Mumbai, India, in 2008, arriving on small high-speed boats and using gangs of gunmen to attack targets in central London.
Britain announced Monday the opening of a dedicated maritime security center — focused in part on piracy in eastern Africa, but also aimed at bolstering the country’s defenses against an attack from the water ahead of 2012.
Security officials have expressed worries that an attack against London could be launched from the River Thames.
“Things like the attack on Mumbai and the forthcoming Olympics in 2012 made us realize we needed to look at the maritime domain more closely,” said Britain’s terrorism minister, Alan West.
| The Associated Press