The Hindu : International / Globescan : Raid by robbers at G-8 airport

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 08, 2005

International

International - Globescan

Raid by robbers at G-8 airport

LONDON: The British police are investigating a raid by robbers at the airport where world leaders will arrive for the G-8 summit. A leading security expert has expressed concern that three masked men were able to walk into the cargo unit at Prestwick airport, threaten a member of staff with a knife and escape with computer equipment worth over £100,000, just weeks before U.S. President George Bush and other leaders fly in. The raid happened on Sunday when the robbers held up a 36-year-old security guard at the freight facility and then made off in a van with the computer components. Strathclyde police said the member of staff was uninjured. No description of the suspects is available. Prestwick airport in Ayrshire was chosen as the G-8 airport because it was considered easier to police than Edinburgh or Glasgow airports. Up to 3,000 police officers will guard the facility's 22-km perimeter when the world leaders arrive for the Gleneagles summit, which starts on July 6. Airport officials said the raid happened in the freight depot which is a public area and open 24 hours a day. Prestwick is Scotland's busiest freight airport handling some 35,000 tonnes of freight a year. ``This was an ugly robbery totally unconnected to our G-8 security arrangements,'' said airport manager Steven Fitzgerald. —

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