Official says 2012 security blowout necessary

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The chairman of the British Olympic Association said Monday that any increase in the security budget for the 2012 London Games "is a price you absolutely have to pay" to make sure the Olympics are secure. "The safety of the athletes and everybody (is) paramount," Lord Colin Moynihan said. "Whatever it takes must be spent in order to secure their safety. That is critical." British media reports say the security budget is likely to blow out to 1.5 billion pounds (US$2.74 billion), three times the original estimate. Moynihan, who met Monday with Australian Olympic Committee chief John Coates, said the security budget "has yet to be finalized."