AYAZ
09-14-2008, 06:03 AM
LONDON: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s security while studying at the prestigious Oxford University could cost the country’s taxpayers a million pounds annually, Online reported.
Police chiefs are said to be concerned that the cost of providing a 24-hour armed guard for Bilawal would be a drain on already overstretched Scotland Yard resources.
A police source told the Sunday Express, “His protection will cost at least 1 million pounds a year. Talk of it being in line with Prince William’s [security] and other royals is way off the mark, the cost will be stratospheric by comparison.”
‘‘The kind of protection he will be afforded is at par with the likes of Salman Rushdie and KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky,” the source added.
According to the newspaper, a risk assessment report by a Scotland Yard inspector says that Bilawal qualifies for top-level protection, which includes a close protection team of 12 armed officers in two vehicles working eight-hour shifts. All teams are SAS-trained and carry 9mm Glock pistols.
With Scotland Yard resources already stretched, an estimated yearly wage bill of around 500,000 pounds would strain resources more.
Tory Member Parliament David Davies, a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the wealthy Bhutto family should help foot the bill for Bilawal’s protection.
Meanwhile, security was discreetly stepped up as the new term started on Monday at Oxford University, where Benazir’s son has vowed to complete his student life despite being named her political heir, AFP reported.
No threat: While the college has reassured students they have no reason to suspect a “direct threat” to Bilawal, some in Oxford have already expressed concerns that his presence could pose dangers to others in the city. “Go home, you endanger us all here in Oxford by being here,” one person wrote on the website of the local Oxford Mail newspaper, while another was hostile to the idea that British taxpayers would pay for his security.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C01%5C15%5Cstory_15-1-2008_pg1_9)
Police chiefs are said to be concerned that the cost of providing a 24-hour armed guard for Bilawal would be a drain on already overstretched Scotland Yard resources.
A police source told the Sunday Express, “His protection will cost at least 1 million pounds a year. Talk of it being in line with Prince William’s [security] and other royals is way off the mark, the cost will be stratospheric by comparison.”
‘‘The kind of protection he will be afforded is at par with the likes of Salman Rushdie and KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky,” the source added.
According to the newspaper, a risk assessment report by a Scotland Yard inspector says that Bilawal qualifies for top-level protection, which includes a close protection team of 12 armed officers in two vehicles working eight-hour shifts. All teams are SAS-trained and carry 9mm Glock pistols.
With Scotland Yard resources already stretched, an estimated yearly wage bill of around 500,000 pounds would strain resources more.
Tory Member Parliament David Davies, a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the wealthy Bhutto family should help foot the bill for Bilawal’s protection.
Meanwhile, security was discreetly stepped up as the new term started on Monday at Oxford University, where Benazir’s son has vowed to complete his student life despite being named her political heir, AFP reported.
No threat: While the college has reassured students they have no reason to suspect a “direct threat” to Bilawal, some in Oxford have already expressed concerns that his presence could pose dangers to others in the city. “Go home, you endanger us all here in Oxford by being here,” one person wrote on the website of the local Oxford Mail newspaper, while another was hostile to the idea that British taxpayers would pay for his security.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C01%5C15%5Cstory_15-1-2008_pg1_9)