Mainz residents told not to take a peek at president [View All]

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ca1d3720-8457-11d9-ad81-00000e2511c8.html



By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin, George Parker in Brussels and Robert Anderson in Prague
Published: February 21 2005 22:28 | Last updated: February 21 2005 22:28

For residents of Mainz, George W. Bush's seven-hour visit to Germany on Wednesday and his short meeting with Gerhard Schröder, chancellor, will mean one of two things: a headache or a holiday.

Between the US president's 9.45am landing at Frankfurt airport and his afternoon departure, the sleepy Rhineland town and birthplace of Gutenberg will turn into a steel fortress.

In a contemporary echo of the Lady Godiva legend, anyone living on the route of the presidential motorcade is being discouraged from taking a peek at the 60- to 80-strong column of vehicles conveying the US president. In police leaflets, residents have been asked to keep their windows shut and stay clear of balconies “to avoid misunderstandings”.

Stores and restaurants in the “red zone”, the high-security area centred on Mainz's electoral palace, have been advised to close for the day as part of the biggest security operation in the country's postwar history. “They told us we could stay open if we liked but that nobody would be allowed in the area. It did not seem to make much business sense,” said Bozo Vukoja, owner of the Am-Fischtor Croatian restaurant in the red zone.

Neither driving nor parking will be allowed in the zone, where garages have been emptied, mailboxes unbolted and 1,300 manhole covers sealed.