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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Comedy team breaches security at Bush hotel


This image taken from television shows Chas Licciardello, a member of an Australian TV comedy show dressed in a white tunic and wearing a long fake Osama bin Laden-style beard, being arrested by police in Sydney, Australia, Thursday. Associated Press
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Maura Reynolds Los Angeles Times

SYDNEY, Australia – A comedy team impersonating a Canadian government delegation – with one member wearing an Osama bin Laden costume – breached security cordons around the hotel where President Bush is staying, embarrassing Australian authorities.

Security in Sydney has been excruciatingly tight in advance of this weekend’s summit of Asian Pacific leaders, with most of the downtown area swathed in riot fencing.

The measures have irritated residents, and complaints about security were at the top of news broadcasts before Bush arrived.

The stunt, by an Australian state television program called “The Chaser’s War on Everything,” succeeded in needling authorities, who vowed even stronger security measures.

“We have 21 world leaders here, and while I enjoy, like everyone else, a good laugh, this wasn’t funny,” New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Dave Owens told the newspaper the Australian.

The comedy team hired three black sport utility vehicles and decorated them with the Canadian and Australian flags, and decals resembling those of a Canadian government delegation. They also hired a motorcycle escort. They were ushered through two security checkpoints before they were asked to turn around about one block from Bush’s hotel.

As the cars were maneuvering, a producer dressed as bin Laden emerged from one of the vehicles, and the team was arrested.

White House officials expressed no alarm.

“That sounds absolutely hilarious,” press secretary Dana Perino said dryly.