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Police say they have arrested a Slovak national on Saturday morning who is believed to be a powerful boss of the Slovak underworld. After having served part of an eight and a half year prison sentence in Slovakia, Mikulas Cernak was released on probation in November. The 36-year old former owner of a private security agency was found guilty of having blackmailed and demanded "protection fees" from entrepreneurs in central Slovakia. Czech police say they have arrested Mr Cernak after finding evidence linking him to Russian-speaking organised crime groups in the Czech Republic. The arrest was confirmed by Slovak Interior Minister Vladimir Palko, who hopes to have Mr Cernak extradited back to Slovakia soon, to face legal proceedings.

The Czech Defence Ministry is to forward a proposal to the government on Monday, to offer Turkey protective gear and devices worth three million Czech crowns. With the US and British led war on Iraq, Turkey's security has been under threat as the NATO partner shares its borders with the middle eastern state. According to Andrej Cirtka from the Czech defence ministry's press department, the protective material, including numerous smaller anti-chemical packages and protective coats, is to help the citizens of Turkey defend themselves, should Saddam Hussein's regime decide to use weapons of mass destruction. The Czech gesture is to be part of current NATO security measures.

The Czech anti-chemical unit based in Kuwait as part of operation 'Enduring Freedom' will see a rotation of military personnel at the end of June at the latest, an army representative told journalists on Friday. The current contingent, which is 400 members strong, has a number of members who have been stationed in Kuwait since last September, some of whom had already been expected to return home. Deputy Defence Minister Jan Vana revealed on Friday that the manner of rotating personnel, however, would not be up to Czech officials alone, but also up to the US, aware the Czech contingent has a mandate to serve in the Gulf until the end of 2003. Besides being able to provide decontamination expertise, the Czech Republic has also indicated it could provide additional experts to help locate possible weapons of mass destruction.

The Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, who is on a two-day state visit to Poland, his second foreign trip as Czech President, has met his Polish counterpart Aleksander Kwasniewski and parliament leaders in Warsaw. Mr Klaus and Mr Kwasniewski agreed that the war in Iraq should end as soon as possible and with the lowest possible number of casualties. The two presidents also talked about their countries' future membership of the European Union and the forthcoming referendums on joining the EU.