WASHINGTON, January 22 (RIA Novosti) – A senior US congressman on Wednesday lauded the scope of the Russian government’s security measures for next month’s Winter Olympics but said the risk of a possible lone attacker remains a concern.
“It’s very impressive. But it only takes one suicide bomber to get in to cause a real problem,” US Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told CNN after his visit this week to the Olympic site in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.
Security at the Sochi Games, which are set to kick off February 7, has been addressed at the highest levels of the US government this week.
US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone Tuesday, discussing among other issues a “safe and secure Sochi Olympics,” the White House said, adding that Washington “has offered its full assistance” with the games.
McCaul told CNN on Wednesday that cooperation between the two countries on the ground in Sochi, where agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation are being dispatched, “has been very good” but said Russia has been wary of sharing intelligence.
“I think we could help them a great deal if they would open up information-sharing more to us,” he said.
McCaul said Russia has deployed some 100,000 security officials, including special forces and military personnel, and erected a security infrastructure “that stretches into the mountains” to prevent terrorists from targeting the games, which are slated to run through February 23.
“It’s quite fortified,” he said.
McCaul also said the US and Russia should cooperate on electronic technology designed to disrupt improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by terrorists.
Top generals from the US and Russia on Tuesday discussed the possibility of using US technology to counter the possible use of IEDs at the Sochi Games should it be compatible with systems currently used by Russian security forces.
Putin last week made his first public comments about security at the Sochi Games, saying everything possible is being done to keep the Olympics safe, and that showing any weakness would be playing into the hands of terrorists.
