Citing security concerns, officials refused toelaborate on more specific measures being takenthis week.
Security Blanket
To prepare for the three-day visit byFoundation Day speaker Prince Charles, plannersenlisted the advice of Scotland Yard and themanpower of the State Department's DiplomaticSecurity Service, said John F. Ford, head of theservice's Boston office. The law enforcementagency will also safeguard Secretary of StateGeorge P. Shultz, who will be leaving shortlyafter delivering his convocation address tomorrow.
The presence of the Prince of Wales in theBoston area, which has a high Irish-Americanpopulation and is thought to be a major source offunding for the Irish Republican Army, brings upthe possibility of terrorist attacks, according toFord.
"Although we haven't received any intelligencereports yet of possible overt terrorist acts, wealways have to keep it in the back of our minds,"said Johnson.
"We are going to have officers crawling allover Harvard, Boston, and the airports," Fordsaid. Additional reinforcements are being calledup from the service's larger New York City office,he said.
"You have got to put together a package whereyou hope you can get your man in and out of therewithout any problems," the agent said.
However, Ford said he doesn't forsee anytrouble with Shultz's visit. "He's pretty easy, inand out in one day," said Ford.
Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger '38will be traveling with his own security detail,Ford said.
The visit of Saudi Arabian oil minister AhmedZaki Yamani will not fall under the jurisdictionof either State Department security or the SecretService, both agencies said. The Law Schoolalumnus, considered one of the most influentialactors in the international petroleum industry,will be accompanied by his family and a personalguard detail, said Ford.
Yamani will speak on the future of the oilindustry today at an Energy and EnvironmentalPolicy Center-sponsored event, one of a series ofKennedy School of Government festivities slated tocoincide with the 350th celebration. Directors atthe center refused to comment on Yamani's scheduleor security arrangements.
Birthday planners also orginally called on theSecret Service in anticipation of a possibleappearance by President Reagan. If the Presidenthad attended, security would have been eventighter. Spectators would have had to enter theYard through metal detectors like those found inairports, said Francis H. Burr '35, chairman ofthe 350th Anniversary Celebration Commission.
However, the Secret Service will travel withJamaican Prime Minister Edward P.G. Seaga '52.
Ready for Anything
To complicate matters, the 350th Coalition forDivestiture, composed of the Harvard SouthernAfrican Solidarity Committee and Cambridgeactivist groups, has declared in press conferencesand leaflets that it will demonstrate outsideShultz's convocation address. Spokesmen for thecoalition have said these demonstrations would benon-violent.
The anti-apartheid activists assured policethat the protests would be "orderly and peaceful,"according to Johnson. "In this case we will followour orders and allow them to express themselvespeacefully.
"However, if it becomes a security problem, wewill have to take action," said Johnson. "We arenot looking for disruptive incidents, but we areprepared for them."
Says Ford, "We have planned and planned, butyou've got to stay alert--that's the name of thegame.