Massive security for Obama inauguration

As Barack Obama takes oath as the first black-American President of the US, an unprecedented security ring has been laid across Washington, with 20,000 law enforcement agents on the streets, snipers on rooftops and fighter jets patrolling the skies.

The 47-year-old has received numerous death threats and a number of white supremacists have been arrested on separate occasions earlier for allegedly hatching assassination plots.

More than 20,000 Secret Service agents, police officers and National Guard troops will be deployed while sharpshooters will be manning the rooftops along the parade route.

As Obama delivers his inaugural address and makes his way in a motorcade along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, the security cordon will be the most intense.

Roads and bridges leading into the city will be closed, Coast Guard boats will patrol the Potomac River and fighter jets will fly overhead.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was quoted as saying by ABC News that while there have been no credible threats, Obama's swearing-in may "excite bad acts on the part of a certain small percentage of the population who are bigoted."

Chemical and biological detectors are in place along the parade route and the airspace around the capital, other than for the fighter jets, has been declared a no-fly zone.