Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
March 18, 2009
EDINBURGH is bracing itself for another round of angry political protests later this year when the Nato Parliamentary Assembly comes to town.
It will be the first major international political conference to be held in Scotland since the G8 summit in 2005, which saw violent clashes and more than 350 arrests.
More than 300 members of parliament from around the world, plus another 500 aides and experts, will convene at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in November.
Although the politicians expected to attend won't be as high-profile as the heads of state that gathered in Gleneagles four years ago, a similar security operation may be required.
A group calling themselves Edinburgh Anti-Militarists was formed in November last year with the express aim of disrupting the event, and members have held several meetings since to discuss their course of action.
The group claims solidarity with the direct-action groups that have broken into military weapons factories across the UK.
However, Edinburgh-based security consultant Stewart Crawford, an ex-Army officer who compiled a risk audit for the Gleneagles G8 summit, said the assembly may also be a target for more sinister elements.
He said: "It has to be remembered, at this point in history, the kind of activities that Nato is involved in, particularly in Afghanistan.
"It may turn out that this involvement attracts the attention of the more extreme groups, who resent that sort of influence, and result in a heightening of security surrounding the assembly."
The last time the Nato Parliamentary Assembly came to Edinburgh, in 1998, police took a "softly softly" approach to security, after a "ring of steel" of roadblocks and diversions around the previous year's Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting caused anger amongst local residents and traders.
The 1998 assembly passed off quietly. However, in 2004, police in Slovakia found two bags filled with explosives near the conference building in Bratislava where the assembly was meeting.
Mr Crawford said: "The best defence is intelligence.
"A great deal of interest will be paid to those who may be attempting to disrupt the assembly by illegal means. However, no-one will object to legal protests. There will be a number of shadowy official organisations, as well as special branches of the police, involved in monitoring these individuals - and not just from this country."
A spokesman for the EICC refused to comment on specific security discussions and said: "We do not discuss security arrangements for specific meetings but we are widely experienced in working with those responsible for the protection of high-profile delegates."
A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: "It's only March and the meeting is not until November, so the wheels have just been set in motion.
"It is not clear how the police will be involved, but in the coming weeks and months police will know more about what is required of us."
Edinburgh saw off competition from London, Manchester, Cardiff and Birmingham to host the assembly.
No comments:
Post a Comment