Segregation of nations in conflict to keep the peace at athletes village

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Games chiefs will assign friendly countries to the same apartment blocks while keeping hostile nations apart at the £1.1 billion development in Stratford.

Bitter enemies Israel and Iran will be installed at opposite ends of the village, which will house 17,000 athletes.

British and Argentinian contingents will be kept apart after escalating tensions over the Falklands and German athletes will be separated from Greeks after protests in Athens over European austerity measures forced through by Berlin.

Chris Hale, head of London 2012 at the Intercontinental Hotel Group, which will co-manage the development, also revealed that many of the 203 teams have asked to avoid Brazil's.

He said: "You don't want to be next to the Brazilians, who are the biggest party animals. As soon as they are done they all kick off and it gets a bit noisy. And equally, if you are an athlete you don't want to be next to the swimmers because they finish in week one and they are out and having a good time."

IHG will for the first time provide four-star accommodation for all 17,000 athletes at the Games.

Mr Hale said: "We are putting 100 of our best people in to run what will effectively be the world's biggest hotel. When I first saw a satellite picture of the village I thought it was a huge town. They've never had central hotel services in an athletes' village. Whether you're the Montenegrin canoeing team or the British team you are going to get good service.

"They get help with laundry, food, asking for directions, lost keys, and some concierge services. If a Chinese athlete wants a nice Chinese, West End tickets and a night out on the town we will be there to help."

The Olympic Village is the largest single project for the 2012 Games. More than 3,300 apartments stretch across 11 huge blocks and each flat has its own television, internet access and private courtyard.

Following the Games, the development will be remodelled into East Village - with its own postcode, E20 - and house 6,000 people.