NEW YORK TIMES: Pushed by U.S., Greece to Allow Troops at Olympics

Under intense pressure from the United States, Greece will allow 400 American Special Forces soldiers to be present at the Olympic Games next month under NATO auspices and will also permit American, Israeli and possibly British security officers to carry weapons, Greek and American officials said.

The delicate arrangements, which the officials say will not be formally acknowledged for fear of roiling anti-American sentiment, represent a significant departure from Olympic tradition, as well as from Greek law, which prohibits foreign personnel from carrying weapons within the country. Until now, the only nation known to have armed its security forces at the Olympics is Israel, whose agents have been carrying arms largely without prior approval from host countries since 1972, when Black September, a Palestinian group, killed Israeli athletes and officials in the Olympic Village in Munich.

In addition to the Special Forces, the agreements call for 100 armed American agents to be used largely as bodyguards for American athletes and dignitaries. The F.B.I. is also sending a hostage rescue team, as well as evidence-gathering and analysis personnel who will be pressed into service in the event of an attack. They, too, will be armed, said an American law enforcement official.

Despite the agreements, Greece and the United States are still in prickly negotiations over the rules that will govern the American security agents - how many there will be, what kind of weapons they can carry and when they can use them, and where they can operate, American and Greek officials said.

"I am certain we are going to be able to carry our guns," an American official said. "I'm not sure what we're going to own up to." The Greeks had made a number of other concessions on security matters that the Americans will not admit to, he said. "We must do this in a way that gives the Greeks their national pride."

Recent statements from the Greek government have denied these reports.