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 Russian security forces are hunting a woman suspected of planning
a suicide bombing and of being in Sochi already and U.S. officials
acknowledged on Friday an increase in reported threats ahead of the
Games.
The U.S. military has said two ships will be deployed to the Black
Sea during the Winter Olympics and the Pentagon has also made clear
it is willing to assist Russia, if needed.
Still, it is far from clear that Russia would allow U.S. military
assets into its territory following a security incident, and Moscow
has made no request for U.S. security assistance so far.
Asked about the matter at a Pentagon news conference, Hagel said
only that proper arrangements would be in place, without saying
specifically who might do the evacuating.
"If we need to extract our citizens, we will have appropriate
arrangements with the Russians to do this," Hagel said.
Senior Obama administration officials later clarified that although
the U.S. military can be an option for evacuations, U.S. citizens
can be evacuated on commercial or even charter flights and that
Russia had primary responsibility to respond to and cope with any
incident during the Games.
The officials, speaking in a conference call with reporters, also
said the United States did not yet have a firm evacuation plan for
Americans, although it could put one together quickly if needed.
"There's no Sochi Olympics evacuation plan on the shelf that we're
just ready to pull off," one official said.
After two suicide bombings killed 34 people in the southern city of
Volgograd last month, Russia has been keen to assure athletes and
spectators that the Olympics in Sochi, in the turbulent North
Caucasus region, will be safe.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has staked his political
reputation on organizing a successful Olympics and has tightened
security nationwide. Security at the Olympics came up in a call
between Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama this week.
Some 230 American athletes are expected at the Games, along with
270 coaches and support staff for the American team. A five
person U.S. delegation led by Janet Napolitano, a former
secretary of Homeland Security, will head to Sochi and as many
as 10,000 American spectators are expected to attend the Games.
Although the U.S. officials said there had been an increase in
the number of threats being reported in the run-up to the Games,
one official noted that was not "entirely unusual" ahead of a
major international event.
The officials said there will be American diplomatic security
agents accompanying U.S. athletes at all the venues.
Athletes have been advised not to wear American Olympic uniforms
outside of the event site.
"It's just good common sense," one official said.
(Additional reporting by David Alexander;
editing by Ken Wills)
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