Greece insisted on Wednesday it will not let foreign guards carry weapons to protect athletes at next month's Olympics after the New York Times reported Athens would turn a blind eye to their presence.

United States Ambassador Thomas Miller also dismissed the report saying there had been no change to Greece having sole responsibility for security.

Public Order Minister George Voulgarakis said guards accompanying national leaders to the Games will be allowed to carry guns, but this was not related to the Olympics and was already covered by existing international protocols.

"The leaders of countries have specific protocols, that are separate and unrelated with the Olympics. These are bilateral agreements signed many years ago," Voulgarakis said in a statement.

"Leaders, presidents, kings, etc are one thing and athletes are another. Greece is exclusively responsible for the protection and guarding of the athletes."

On Wednesday the New York Times reported that American, Israeli and possibly British security officers would be allowed to carry weapons at the Aug. 13 to 29 event.

Greece has refused to allow national Olympic squads to use their own armed security forces to protect athletes, saying its constitution prohibits foreigners bearing arms on Greek soil.

It also fears a free-for-all shootout if foreign guards who do not speak Greek mistakenly interpret a situation involving Greece's own security forces.

RECORD SECURITY PLAN

"I don't have any information about armed foreign guards," Defence Minister Spilios Spiliotopoulos said when asked about the New York Times report.

U.S. ambassador Miller said security was a Greek issue and there had been no change in the ban on foreign armed guards protecting athletes.

"Security is a Greek responsibility," Miller told reporters. "We are looking to the Greek government to provide security. There is nothing new in this story."

Greece is staging the biggest ever Olympic security plan worth over 1.0 billion euros -- nearly four times the amount spent for the Sydney 2000 Games.

NATO will provide air and sea patrols and will have units on standby in Greece in case of any chemical, biological or nuclear attack.

Greece expects about 40 foreign leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac, to visit during the Games.

Israel, Australia and the United States have hinted in the past they would use their own guards to protect their athletes at the Athens Olympics.

At the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, the first games after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, some 14 countries used their own armed guards.