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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (493936)	11/17/2003 9:30:00 AM
From: laura_bush	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Palace limits US security changes November 17, 2003 The Queen was not amused at proposed safeguards for George Bush's visit, reports Tim Walker in London. Queen Elizabeth has rejected a request from President George Bush's security advisers to bolster Buckingham Palace's structural defences against a terrorist attack during his state visit to Britain this week. Senior courtiers said that the Queen was not willing to countenance bomb and airborne assault proofing that would have involved substantial alterations to her London home. The Americans fear that al-Qaeda terrorists are planning an attack when the President and his wife, Laura, stay for three nights in the ground-floor Belgian Suite at the Palace. One courtier said: "They wanted blast and bullet-proofed windows and curtains and some strengthening to the walls of the President's suite and other rooms at the Palace where he would be spending time. The President's security men seem obsessed with the idea of an airborne attack on the Palace. "Her Majesty takes the view that no amount of strengthening of windows and walls could protect the President in such an eventuality and that the work would cause disruption and involve discarding original fixtures and fittings." The Queen has also limited the number of American security staff who will stay at the Palace. "Her Majesty's view throughout was that since there are going to be 5000 British police officers involved in the security operation for the President, it's not unreasonable to expect her guests to have some faith in their abilities," the courtier said. Britain's security services have been placed on a high level of alert for Mr Bush's visit. The severe general alert, the second highest, follows information about plots by al-Qaeda supporters from North Africa. The Sunday Telegraph has also learned that two suspected al-Qaeda terrorists were stopped from entering Britain last week because it was feared they were plotting to assassinate the President, using anti-war protests as cover. A senior intelligence official said: "We are aware of an al-Qaeda plot and we know of at least two individuals who have been stopped from coming into the country during the last week. Another person is known to be in the country but the situation is under control." The Queen will welcome the President in a ceremony in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. - Telegraph theage.com.au