The newspaper, citing a Secret Service planning
document, said the excursion scheduled during a tour of Africa that
Obama will undertake later this month would have required agents
protecting him to take extraordinary precautions.
The safari "would have required the president's
special counterassault team to carry sniper rifles with high-calibre
rounds that could neutralise cheetahs, lions or other animals if they
became a threat," the paper reported.
Outlining the vast security preparations made for
Obama's trip to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa, the document was
provided to the Post by a person "concerned about the amount of
resources necessary for the trip."
It did not provide cost information.
The Post said the WhiteHouse
cancelled the safari Wednesday after the paper inquired about the
"purpose and expense." The Obamas had been expected to spend more than
two hours at Tanzania's Mikumi National Park.
The WhiteHouse
was not immediately available for comment, but a spokesman told the
Post that a trip to South Africa's Robben Island, the site of the prison
where anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was held, had taken
precedence.
"We do not have a limitless supply of assets to
support presidential missions, and we prioritised a visit to Robben
Island over a two-hour safari in Tanzania," said the spokesman, Josh
Earnest.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't do both."
The Post said Obama's Africa tour, his first since
taking office in January 2009, could cost the government between $60
million and $100 million, based on cost of similar trips in recent
years.
The report comes as many government agencies
struggle with mandatory budget cuts that took effect in March because US
lawmakers failed to strike a wider budget deal.
Hundreds of Secret Service agents will be
dispatched for the president's visit, along with a Navy aircraft carrier
or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma centre
stationed offshore, the report said.
Dozens of vehicles will also be brought to the
three countries by military transport planes, along with sheets of
bulletproof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the Obamas
stay.
"Fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour
coverage over the president's airspace," the report said, citing the
Secret Service document.
CHANZO : DAILYNATION KENYA
CHANZO : DAILYNATION KENYA
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