US presidential candidate Senator Barack
Obama is seen speaking at the California Democratic Party
convention in San Diego in this April 28, 2007 file
photo.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was put under the
protection of the US Secret Service on Thursday.
Obama, senator from Illinois, is one of the leading Democratic
candidates vying for the party's presidential nomination in the
2008 presidential elections.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, "after
consultation with the congressional advisory committee, authorized
the United States Secret Service to protect presidential candidate
Senator Barack Obama," according to a statement issued by the
Secret Service.
The organization did not divulge the reason for the
protection.
Another Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Hillary
Clinton from New York, already has Secret Service protection
because of her husband's former presidency.
The Secret Service, established in 1965, is a federal law
enforcement agency mandated by the Congress to protect national and
visiting foreign leaders and conduct criminal investigations.
(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2007)
