THE SECURITY guard who alerted police to the bomb which exploded in the Olympic Centennial Park is now regarded as a suspect, an Atlanta newspaper and CNN have reported.
According to the Atlanta Journal the guard, Mr Richard Jewell, is one of the persons on the FBI suspect list after being hailed as a hero for his role in helping to evacuate the crowds. The bomb, which exploded early on Saturday morning during a rock concert, killed two people and injured 110.
Mr Jewell denied the allegation after the story appeared. He later drove himself to FBI headquarters, but said his conversations with officers were only routine. Asked by journalists if he carried out the attack, Mr Jewell, wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses, said defiantly: "No sir, I didn't do this."
"They are investigating lots of people. I am sure even some newspaper reporters are being investigated. I will help them whatever way I can.
The FBI last night was refusing to confirm that Mr Jewell (33) is a suspect but CNN reported that their "security sources" did confirm it. No one has so far been arrested or charged over the blast.
Mr Jewell was interviewed on NBC's Today Show yesterday. He has also been featured in numerous newspaper articles praising his actions at the Olympic park.
A former policeman, he is employed by a private security company. Mr Jewell tipped off police in the park to a knapsack containing the crude pipe bomb. The Atlanta Journal brought out a special edition to break the story.
Renter adds: Atlanta claimed triumph from tragedy yesterday as it remembered the victims of the bombing that scarred the Olympics, and re opened the Centennial Park.
Thousands of people joined the memorial ceremony at the site of the blast and vowed they would never bow to the threat of violence.
"We're here not to wallow in tragedy but to enjoy a triumph of the human spirit," said civil rights leader and former Atlanta mayor, Mr Andrew Young.
"It's unfortunate that our lives are too often defined by the tragedies and suffering we experience, he said. "And yet it's because those sufferings and those tragedies have often been the incidents which bring us to our senses." Mr Young was speaking from the stage in an Olympic sponsor's pavilion where rock group Jack Mack And The Heart Attack played in the early hours of Saturday.
Not far away, bunches of flowers marked the spot where the bomb exploded.
The park, criticised before the blast as over commercialised, attracted more than a million visitors in its first 10 days.
Among those in Saturday's crowd was Ms Kirsten Cents from Michigan, who came with her husband and two young sons.
"We want to let the terrorist people know that they're not going . . . to stop us enjoying life and enjoying the Games," she said.
Ms Joyce Dougherty (65), a volunteer telephonist at Olympic headquarters across the street, added: "It's my only day off in 14 days but I had to come down and see it. I cried, it's so good to see people are still together."
Dozens of young Christians from around the world joined the celebration. A group from South Korea sat in a circle praying. Young women from Brazil wailed in mourning.
Security measures were tighter than before. Visitors had to open their bags at checkpoints and police and security officers patrolled the area.
American swimming star Janet Evans, a four time gold medallist, represented the Olympic athletes.