ATHENS, Aug 21 (AFP) - Former US president George Bush, head of the US delegation to the Athens Olympics, left Greece on Saturday, saying that the Greeks had allayed the security fears his team initially had before the Games.
"Security has been excellent. I will confess that we had some concerns about it before coming here, but the Greek security people, from the top right on down to the guys that I hiked with were wonderful," Bush told reporters upon his departure from Athens.
Bush, father of US President George W. Bush, arrived in Greece on August 10, accompagnied by his wife Barbara, his twin granddaughters Barbara and Jenna as well as 20 security agents.
After a brief cruise to the Greek islands on board a yacht owned by Greek business magnate Spyros Latsis, Bush attended the Games' August 13 opening ceremony.
Bush's relatives were not seen departing the country and US embassy sources could not say whether they had left. Neither was it clear who would serve as head of the US team following Bush's departure.
Some 100,000 security personnel drawn from the Greek police, air force, coastguard and army have been mobilised to ensure the safety of athletes, officials and the public at the Athens Games, the first summer Olympics since the September 11 attacks against the United States in 2001.