http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/05/wolymp05.xml By Harry de Quetteville in Athens Filed: 05/08/2004 Ten days before the Olympic Games start in Athens, passes allowing vehicles into several venues, including the Olympic village, have been stolen. A security source told the Telegraph that the passes were taken from the windscreens of unattended official vehicles. "Some people left the doors of their cars unlocked and the thieves just came in and took the accreditations," he said. It is not clear whether the thefts were opportunistic or part of a plot to breach the £700 million security operation for the games, which begin on August 13. The security arrangements, described this week by Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, president of the Athens Organising Committee, or Athoc, as "the biggest contribution ever made by the armed forces at a time of peace in Greece" has mobilised some 70,000 soldiers and police. But the theft of the passes raises fears that terrorists driving car or lorry bombs could still get through. According to sources in Athoc, the games have been hit by another security failure, after plans to check the backgrounds of staff, contractors and volunteers were dropped as organisers ran out of time. The problems began in mid-May, when organisers began recruiting 7,000 workers to undertake jobs from general receptionists to housekeepers at the Olympic village. But with so many people to process in only three months, the planned background checks were scrapped. "Background checks require 20 days for each employee," a source said. "But Athoc was trying to hire so many people that the checks have not been done. "In many cases the pressure to recruit staff meant that extremely poorly qualified people were hired, but we don't know the backgrounds of many others." Now thousands of staff and contractors with unverified histories are moving freely around supposedly secure venues because formal accreditation passes, bearing photos of the holder, have still not been issued. Instead, Athoc is relying on so-called "bump-in" passes, which are handwritten and issued without photographs or background checks. "What worries me is the accreditation," said an Olympic insider, who spoke to the Telegraph on condition of anonymity. "Athoc has really screwed up the accreditations for staff, volunteers and contractors. Because they need people so badly they are letting them in with bump-in passes. Anyone can come into any venue, including the Olympic village. It's really bad news." The accreditation problem is so worrying that police and soldiers guarding some venues are now asking workers for a passport or other documents to supplement the inadequate passes. Meanwhile, ferry traffic at the port of Piraeus was interrupted yesterday while Greek minesweepers checked the harbour for explosive devices. The port, just southwest of Athens, is extremely busy ferrying tourists to the Greek islands. Once the games begin, liners will be moored in the harbour for use as floating hotels by VIPs including the former US president George Bush Snr, who is leading the US delegation to Athens. Protecting Piraeus against a suicide boat bombing, such as that which killed 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, is a priority for the navy and coastguard. _________________________________________ Help InfoSec News with a donation: http://www.c4i.org/donation.html
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