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The Social Democrat's central executive committee has also confirmed that it is against the building of a US radar base in the Czech Republic. The shadow minister for foreign affairs Lubomir Zaoralek told the press that the party would only change its position on the base if the base were to become part of a NATO defence system. He also said that the Social Democrats would be pushing for a national referendum on the issue.

Czech daily Mlada fronta reports that declassified files have been found showing that Czechoslovak military counter intelligence trained secret commando units in the 1970s, including around 100 special agents who were active in what was then West Germany. The paper says that these agents were deployed in Germany to detain or kill key figures such as politicians, influential economists and army officers. They were also trained to occupy crucial facilities, including US nuclear missile silos, radio transmitters, radar bases and power plants. Mlada fronta adds that experts are not sure what happened to this network of German agents after the Velvet Revolution. The agents were an extremely confidential unit and there is no data on them in the central register of the communist secret police.

A new statue dedicated to legendary Czech comic actor Vlasta Burian has been unveiled at his grave in Prague's Vysehrad cemetery. Several dozen people attended the unveiling ceremony to mark the 45th anniversary of the actor's death, including the head of the National Theatre's ballet section Vlastimil Harapes and actors Lubomir Lipsky and Marta Vancurova. The statue made by Tomas Vejdovsky consists of a hand making a dramatic gesture. It replaces a bust of Burian, which was stolen from the actor's grave five years ago.

Jiri Cunek, the leader of the Christian Democratic Party, has been charged by police in a case of alleged bribe-taking. Mr Cunek was notified by police on Friday afternoon. His lawyer has said he will put forward a complaint in the case. Earlier this week the Senate voted to lift Mr Cunek's parliamentary immunity to pave the way for legal proceedings. The opposition Social Democrats so far have criticised the prime minister for not dismissing Mr Cunek, who is deputy prime minister. By contrast, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek appealed earlier for Mr Cunek to be allowed to try and clear his name.