Burj Dubai to open with hype and security

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- The Mideast's Burj Dubai officially opens Monday with a mix of pop culture pizazz and security appropriate to 21st century twin realities of glamour and threat.

There likely will be thousands of curbside gawkers in addition to the 6,000 officially invited guests at the opening of Dubai Tower, Earth's tallest structure, which coincides with the fourth anniversary date of Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum's accession as ruler of Dubai, one of the seven United Arab Emirates city-states. Al-Maktoum is expected to attend.

The area around Burj Dubai, adjacent to popular Dubai Mall, will be closed to traffic and secured by 1,000 police, including members of the bomb squad, specially trained commandos, state security personnel and teams of sharpshooters. All construction in the area is to be temporarily halted as this is a security threat, Dubai police said.

Mohammad Eid al-Mansouri, director of protective security and emergency services at Dubai Police, said in The National most of the assigned police officers will be wearing civilian clothing "so people will not feel they are in a military camp." He added no special security problems are expected.