By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israel will deploy more than 10,000 policemen to secure U.S. President George W. Bush’s visit to the country next week, local daily Jerusalem Post reported on its website.
Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco was quoted as saying that the three-day visit, which will start next Wednesday, will see a total of 10,450 police officers on the streets of Jerusalem to safeguard President Bush and his entourage.
The police will be out in their largest numbers since the landmark 2000 Jerusalem visit of Pope John Paul II, and the 1998 visit of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Franco told a news briefing.
No security threats against the U.S. president have been received by the police to date, he added.
The Jerusalem Post said Bush’s visit, which has been dubbed by police as operation “Clear Skies,” is expected to cause major traffic jams throughout the city as police close off central Jerusalem thoroughfares during the visit.
Police will completely close off King David Street, where Bush will be staying, while nearby city roads will be periodically closed when Bush leaves his hotel from Wednesday through Friday.
According to the report, Bush will meet with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres at his official residence after Bush’s arrival next Wednesday afternoon, and then head to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s residence for an evening meeting and a joint press conference.
Next Thursday, he will meet with Palestinian National Authority(PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank in a quick trip by helicopter. Bush will then return to Jerusalem in the evening.
Israeli media reported earlier on Wednesday that Olmert, Abbas and Bush are expected to hold a joint meeting during the U.S. president’s visit.
The topics of the three-way summit will focus on accelerating the Israel-PNA peace negotiations, which was revived at the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis conference on Middle East peace about one month ago.
Bush will visit Israel and the PNA next week as part of a regional tour that will cover seven states in nine days, during which the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the Iranian nuclear issue atop his agenda.