The Metropolitan Police Department will mobilize about 3,000 officers to guard this week's international conference on reconstruction assistance for Afghanistan in Tokyo, MPD officials said.
Due to fears of possible terrorist attacks, the police presence will be the largest ever for a ministerial-level international conference in Japan.
Equipment for media, including TV cameras, will be X-rayed for explosives. Afghan opposition commander Ahmed Shah Massoud died after he was critically injured by a bomb concealed in a video camera on Sept. 9 last year.
About 600 police will be deployed at the Tokyo hotel where the forum will be held on Monday and Tuesday. Three police sniffer dogs will check the conference room and guests' rooms for explosives.
A special terrorism investigation team will also be put on alert to deal with possible attacks using nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
Wedding parties are scheduled at the hotel, but the MPD will ask guests to submit to body checks, the police said. It will also ask media organizations to refrain from flying helicopters within 1 km of the venue.
The police are wary of Japanese extremist groups as some are planning to demonstrate in protest at the conference, claiming the forum is being held by powers looking for concessions in Afghanistan and neglects its oppressed people.
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