Tokyo has staged its biggest ever anti-terrorism exercise, in an attempt to prove its credentials for staging the 2016 Olympic Games, Reuters reports.
Over a thousand personnel drawn from the army, navy and coastguard, as well as police and rescue services, gave a carefully orchestrated demonstration of how they would deal with a nuclear "dirty" bomb explosion at a conference centre.
"We wanted to prove that we are capable of dealing with whatever disaster should occur," said Rikiya Kondo, an army officer seconded to the Tokyo city government as director for crisis management, adding that he hoped the message would be heard around the world.
The dirty bomb scenario was chosen because it is considered to be relatively likely, given that radioactive material has been stolen from various countries, Kondo said.
"When comparing the attractions of Tokyo with those of other major cities of the world, we can proudly say that a striking feature of Tokyo is its high level of security," he said in a statement to the press. "Tokyo will become the safest city in the world," he added.
The move comes just days after Barack Obama's US election victory boosted rival Chicago's hopes. The election of the host city for 2016 will take place in October next year at an International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Copenhagen.
