Military team to depart for mission in Jordan

A team of Czech military specialists is readying to depart on a mine-sweeping mission in the Middle Eastern country of Jordan. Nine people are to take part in the mission over the next three months - and possibly longer - clearing landmines in the Jordan River valley. They will be making use of new Czech technology, known as Božena 5, for which the specialists (who come from engineering battalions in Olomouc and Rakovník) trained for one year. It will be a first opportunity to test the remote-controlled equipment in real conditions. A Jordanian bomb disposal team will also be available to assist. Jordan has some 200,000 landmines over a 6,000 hectare area left from previous Arab-Israeli conflicts; it is there that the Czech team will focus its activities.