NEW DELHI, India: Commandos will be on duty and spectators searched before being allowed to watch a controversial India Israel Davis Cup Tennis match starting in Delhi on July 24, police said today.
A police spokesman said spectators would have to enter through metal detectors and checked thoroughly before being allowed to watch the match.
“There will be commandos on duty. Every necessary precaution’ will be taken because many people here and around the world are against the Israelis”, the spokesman said.
Supporters of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) plan protests in Delhi against the Davis Cup quarterfinal tie which was given unexpected approval by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s government.
Indian Moslem groups are also likely to hold demonstrations against the match that the government is allowing despite its stern opposition to Israeli policies on the Middle East.
Ilan Akron, a Vice-consul in Israel’s Bombay Consulate, told Reuters he had come to Delhi ahead of his team to check out the security arrangements in the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association DLTA courts for the three-day tie.
“We are satisfied with the arrangements”, said Akron, who described himself as a security expert.
The arrangements include three meter (10foot) high tin sheets enclosing the complex and armed police guards at the DLTA in a southern suburb of the Indian capital.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 24, 1987
