By Xinhua
Jerusalem : A bunker is being built at Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s residence to protect it from possible damage in the event of a nuclear or chemical attack, local media reported Thursday.
Walls of high thickness to withstand impact of a nuclear explosion with air purification equipment to cleanse chemical effect are being built at Olmert’s official residence in Jerusalem, Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported.
However, the prime minister’s office immediately issued a statement denying the report as “unfounded and misleading.”
“No atomic bunker is being constructed at the prime minister’s official residence, or a bunker equipped with special filters or any special equipment,” the statement said.
It explained that workers are merely adding a “safe room,” a room with thick concrete walls and metal-shuttered windows that is a feature of many Israeli buildings. Israeli construction codes require such rooms to protect residents in case of rocket attacks.
The paper also said that renovation work had also been done for the bunker underneath Olmert’s office, where cabinet ministers are supposed to convene in case of an attack on Israel’s government centre in Jerusalem.
Moreover, a giant nuclear bunker is being built in the hills several kilometers outside Jerusalem as part of the protection from a non-conventional attack for Israeli military’s headquarters and top government officials.
Work on the bunker began several years ago and is expected to be completed in 2011, the report said.
Israel has been greatly concerned over the nuclear threat from Iran, which insists that it is pursuing a nuclear programme for civilian purposes. Earlier. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had said Israel should be “wiped off the map.”