http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21771532-5006009,00.html
Terror warning on APEC meeting By Nick Ralston and Maria Hawthorne May 21, 2007 12:00 A top US terrorism expert has told Australia to be prepared for all possibilities at September's APEC meeting in Sydney, as the cost of hosting the summit hit more than $330 million. White House adviser and counter-terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman, who is on a week-long visit to Sydney, said Australia had traditionally been a difficult target for terrorists. But he said the notion that terrorists were now only plotting against soft targets was "wishful thinking". "I think Australia takes very seriously the idea that you have to prepare, train and plan for any eventuality," he told reporters. "(The idea that) terrorists look for a soft target is a bit of wishful thinking ... I think you really do have to prepare for all potentialities and eventualities." Professor Hoffman said his main advice to Australia on managing its security was that no country could afford to go it alone in the war on terrorism. International and inter-agency cooperation was crucial to tackling the threat of terrorism and Australia would have to be well prepared for the APEC summit in Sydney in September. Prof Hoffman's comments came as APEC 2007 Taskforce deputy secretary Alan Henderson told a Senate estimates committee that the cost of hosting the summit had blown out to $331.5 million. An extra $15.5 million was added to the budget for the APEC leaders' week after two-and-a-half-year-old estimates were updated. Mr Henderson said the increase was due to two things; that more detailed costings were now available, and responsibility for meetings in other cities, such as the finance ministers' meeting in Coolum, had been transferred from other departments. "Those estimates were pretty rough at that stage as well," Mr Henderson said. "It turned out that the funds transferred to the prime minister's department for some of those meetings ... were not sufficient." The $331.5 million figure took in all commonwealth agencies, including $78.9 million to supplement the NSW government's security provision, he said. But Mr Henderson refused to shed any light on one of the most pressing APEC preparation issues - the national costume that the leaders of the 21 member countries will wear on the last day of the summit. Mr Henderson confirmed that a company had been engaged to produce the outfit but declined to name it, saying that would give away the surprise. Sample designs have been sent to Prime Minister John Howard and his wife Janette for final approval, he said. He also refused to say how much the outfit would cost. "The items of national dress for the 21 leaders will be a very modest budget," Mr Henderson said. "It will be quality, distinctively Australian clothing." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
