Guards Worried About Al Qaeda Air Attack

European GA pilots beware: If you accidentally stray into the airspace over Normandy, France, this week, you risk being shot out of the sky.

At least 16 heads of state, including President Bush and Britain's Queen Elizabeth, will be in Normandy to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, which eventually led to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. For that reason, security at the event this week will be twice that of the last major celebration in 1994. This time, French officials are worried that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network will use aircraft to attack the memorial.

The London Daily Telegraph reports this year's memorial has sparked the biggest security operation Europe has seen since the end of World War II. AWACS planes will be in the air, along with fighters and drones. A huge radar network stretches from between Deauville and Cherbourg. Anti-aircraft missile batteries have been put in place near Normandy and two squadrons of French Mirage 2000 fighters are on alert.

The French aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle and the USS George Washington will patrol the harbor at Normandy. The Telegraph says there are unconfirmed reports that subs will be silently patrolling under the carriers and that the area will be swept for mines.

"The dangers are multiple, from a hijacked airliner being crashed into the stands at the main international ceremony at Arromanches to a tiny bomb being detonated remotely. But we are stretching an impenetrable fabric of protection above Normandy," said a French security spokesman.

FMI: www.defense.gouv.fr/english/index_ang.html