“We have to go for a maximum security and we will continue to go for a maximum security,” Rogge said. “I believe everyone agrees that we could not lower our guard.” Rogge reiterated that security has been the International Olympic Committee’s “No. 1 priority” since the slaying of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Games.
He declined to comment on the killing of the Al-Qaida leader by US forces in Pakistan. In Qatar on Monday, Rogge described Bin Laden’s death as a “political issue.” Rogge spoke while attending the inauguration of a research institute and headquarters of Generations for Peace. The non-governmental organization uses sports to foster peace among youth in troubled areas such as Zimbabwe, Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan.
Jordan’s Prince Faisal, the group’s founder and chairman and younger brother of King Abudullah II, announced a partnership between the institute and Britain’s Oxford University. The Jordanian group already has links with Georgetown University’s Conflict Resolution Program in Washington.
