After the unrest in Northern Ireland, US President Joe Biden is now landing in Belfast for his four-day visit to the country. According to information, several acts of violence have been planned ahead of the president’s visit, and the security effort is very high. The US president’s visit comes just two weeks after Britain’s MI5 intelligence agency raised its terror alert to “severe”, meaning a terror attack is considered “highly likely”. Even before the Easter weekend, there were warnings that armed republicans were planning acts of terror against the police, and on Monday the police in Creggen were attacked with petrol bombs by masked protesters. To draw attention to the Good Friday Agreement The purpose of Biden’s visit is to draw attention to the fact that it is 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement was signed – an agreement that created some stability in the then troubled Northern Ireland. But despite the heightened level of terror, the president’s press spokesperson states that Joe Biden is “more than comfortable making the trip”. Prior to the visit, Biden himself has also said that he is looking forward to the trip and that he “underlines America’s commitment to preserving peace and encouraging prosperity” in the country, writes the BBC. During the visit, he will also discuss his Irish roots and meet Irish relatives. The biggest security effort in a long time According to Deputy Chief of Police, Chris Todd, Joe Biden’s visit to the country requires a security arrangement that has not been seen since the G8 summit ten years ago. Just hours before the president landed in Belfast, police found four suspected pipe bombs in a cemetery in Creggan outside the town of Omagh where Biden will go, British media reports. – These are disgusting acts and those responsible show total contempt for the whole community, says Bobby Singleton, deputy chief of police in Derry, to Sky News. Like Joe Biden, several other world leaders will visit Belfast in the coming days. See footage from when Biden arrives in Belfast in the player above.
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