Basel Fair management will "definitely have stricter security controls" at the Basel 2002 World Watch and Jewelry Show and at future shows, officials tell JCK. Concerns about tightening security were sparked by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America and the U.S. military response in early October as well as the Sept. 27 killing of 14 people and the wounding of another 18 during a local parliamentary session in Zug, Switzerland. Those were done by a man armed with an assault rifle and a grenade.
The watch and jewelry trade fair, the world's largest, is held annually in Basel, Switzerland. It attracts more than 85,000 visitors from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas (8% from North America); some 2,000 exhibitors; and thousands of exhibitors' staff members.
Messe Basel, the fair's management, which operates more than two dozen trade shows annually, met Sept. 18 to discus