US president Barack Obama’s visit to Kuala Lumpur this weekend is going to result in the entire city being put under a total “security lockdown”.
Apart from the heightened police presence in the city as is the custom when heads of state come to visit, KL will also become a “no-fly zone” ahead of Obama’s arrival on Air Force One at the RMAF base in Subang on Saturday afternoon. Major roads that will make up the US president’s routes around the city will also be closed.
Not much in the way of details is forthcoming on Obama’s actual itinerary and travel plans here. When asked by The Star Online, a US embassy official only offered up a sarcastic, “To tell you, I’d have to kill you.”
The US Secret Service has been in Malaysia for the past month, surveying and securing the president’s routes, hotels and venues he will be interacting with throughout his trip here.
US military cargo planes have begun delivering logistical assets for Obama’s visit, including support vehicles – no local cars will be used for Obama’s motorcade – and trucks loaded with bullet-proof glass to be installed in the hotel rooms the president will be staying in.
Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman confirmed that security in the skies would be “airtight”, saying the department was well prepared.
“I cannot tell you any more as that will be a breach,” he said.
Japan is already experiencing a similar security environment, as Obama tours Tokyo before heading off to South Korea and later Malaysia. 16,000 police officers, fully a third of Tokyo’s police force, has been scrambled to secure the Japanese capital against potential threats to Obama’s safety. Left luggage lockers and rubbish bins have been sealed in some stations and thousands of security cameras have been put into operation.
Obama’s visit to KL will be the first by a sitting US president to Malaysia in 48 years. The last US president to have been in Malaysia while still in office was Lyndon B Johnson, in 1966.
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Photo: Slate
