Sebastian Coe dismisses concerns over security of London 2012

Sebastian Coe, president of the organising committee of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games, said here Saturday that the Games will be safe and smooth though many security concerns have been raised recently.

Complex security issues for the Olympics have been altered after the London riots in August, which shocked Britain and damaged London's image abroad, but Coe expressed no worries about that, Xinhua reported.

"Security in big global cities is, of course, always a challenge. It is something you have to get right. You want people coming to the city feeling they are coming for a celebration, not a security event, so getting the balance is important," said Coe, who was in Beijing to attend the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) General Assembly.

Coe said the riots didn't impact the Games' preparation.

"We had test events going on at that time, and most of them were unaffected, police controlled the situation very quickly," said Coe.

"We also had chef de mission meetings, 205 Olympic committees were with us, and those meetings have not been affected. So in a way, it was a good test, a year before the Olympics."