Hospodarske Noviny: Langer nixes idea of new anti-terrorism centre

The Czech financial daily Hospodarske Noviny has reported that new Interior Minister Ivan Langer has halted plans on establishing a new anti-terrorism centre in the Czech Republic. The new minister told the latest edition of the daily that the government was not satisfied with the coordination of anti-terrorism activities at present, saying he had asked the police president to halt plans on the special unit, at least for the time being.

The proposed squad of up to 50 members - both from the financial police and intelligence services - was supposed to gain and gather all information concerning terrorism, and share data with partners. That role is currently met by the Czech counter-intelligence service, the BIS. Meanwhile, the former Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan, told the same daily that the scrapping of the anti-terrorism centre was "a mistake".