CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - When the world's most powerful leaders gather at a cozy Rocky Mountain retreat later this month, they can rest easy knowing their Canadian hosts have assembled their biggest-ever security detail to protect them against everything from bombs to bears.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien chose Kananaskis, Alberta, an alpine mecca for backpackers, skiers and golfers, to host the Group of Eight summit partly to avoid violent clashes between police and protesters that have marked many top-level meetings, such as last year's summit in Genoa, Italy.
After the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, fears of terrorism at the June 26-27 summit put new emphasis on security at Kananaskis and in the nearby oil-industry city of Calgary, where many delegates, most of the media and any protesters will be based.
Police now consider the security risk to be low for the first meeting of the G8 leaders since Sept. 11, but that hasn't eased the security planning or the angst among locals.
"Post Sept. 11, it wasn't only the large crowds people were concerned with or the disruptions, but they were concerned also with the potential for terrorist threats," Calgary Police Insp. Al Redford said.
"As of today, the level of threat for terrorist activity is low. We've also said, as a caveat, that intelligence is fluid, it changes very rapidly and those things could change."
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Calgary Police are sharing the summit security duties with Canada's military. Authorities have declined to divulge how many personnel will be involved, saying only the measures are gargantuan.
Only one major paved road snakes its way around snow-capped peaks to Kananaskis Village, a quaint resort with fewer than 450 rooms more than one hour's drive west of Calgary.
There, U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the other leaders will discuss ways to combat terrorism, improve the world economy and help Africa.
The terrain has presented its own problems for forces protecting the leaders of the Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Not least is setting up and patrolling a 6.5 km (4 mile) security buffer zone surrounding the resort, nestled in the rugged, 4,000 square km (1,545 square mile) Kananaskis region, which is home to bears, cougars and bighorn sheep.
The six or so grizzly bears that frequent the area are being fitted with radio collars so their movements can be tracked by wildlife officials -- to protect the bears as well as the delegates -- while security forces are on patrol.
The airspace above Kananaskis will be closed and patrolled by jet fighters, and any vehicles entering the security zone will be searched.
PROTESTERS FRUSTRATED
Protest groups have been frustrated in their attempts to set up a "solidarity village" as a way to get their human rights, environmental and antiglobalization messages across. They were denied use of lands near Kananaskis and in Calgary.
"I think its part of a bigger strategy to marginalize us and our message," said activist Sarah Kerr, one of the organizers. Her group now plans to feature speakers and musicians at several Calgary venues during the summit.
"By representing us as violent dangerous and irrational, it discourages people from actually listening to the important message that we have," she added.
Some activists, realizing chances of disrupting the summit are slim, are planning a "take the capital" protest more than half a continent away in Ottawa.
Still, during the two days of the G8 summit, office towers in Calgary's downtown core have tightened security, and many workers have said they may stay home during the two days, if only to avoid the disruption.
Police have advised many of the 1,600 businesses downtown to make sure their storefronts are well lit and to report any anti-G8 graffiti. They have also provided tips on what to do if hit by pepper spray or overcome by tear gas.
In a huge break from tradition, businesses have been asked to hold off putting out hay bales and rough-hewn pine boards in celebration of July's famous Calgary Stampede rodeo and western fair until after the summit.
Police said the cowboy festival items could be used as weapons should any protests turn ugly.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.