Italy will employ heavy security measures during a visit by US President George W. Bush next weekend, including partially closing its airspace, the Ansa news agency reported Friday.
The number of police involved in security for the visit is likely to be between 3,000 and 6,000 officers deployed throughout Rome, the agency said, citing sources who attended a meeting on the issue Friday.
Bush is to meet with Prime Minister Romano Prodi and President Giorgio Napolitano during the visit, as well as Pope Benedict XVI. Limits on air traffic will be in place when Bush arrives on June 8, as well as for his departure on June 10, Ansa said.
A visit to the Catholic community of Sant'Egidio has also been discussed, but security may be difficult for it because it would require travelling through narrow roads, according to sources cited by Ansa.
Sant'Egidio was created in Rome in 1968 following the Second Vatican Council as a lay organisation devoted to charity work. Two protests are planned for the Saturday of Bush's visit by leftist parties, Ansa said. Bush will arrive in Rome from Germany, where he is to attend the G8 summit. He is then to visit Albania and Bulgaria.