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Meanwhile the opposition Civic Democrats have said the governing Social Democrats are responsible for the scandal, which they say is without precedent in the history of the Czech Republic. Ex-foreign minister Jan Kavan, Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik and Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla all bear personal responsibility in the matter, Civic Democrats deputy chairman Vladimir Tlusty said on Friday. Mr Kavan gave Karel Srba a job at the Foreign Ministry, Mr Tvrdik is responsible for military intelligence, for whom Mr Srba was an agent, and Mr Spidla was responsible for the intelligence services in the last cabinet.

Czech Roma asylum seekers who have been rejected political asylum abroad should not be entitled to social benefits after they return to the Czech Republic, the Government Council for Roma Affairs decided on Thursday. The council also agreed that a special police body should be established in order to deal with the widespread problem of illegal money-lending among the Czech Roma community. The number of Romanies seeking asylum in Great Britain has grown dramatically in the last few months. According to the government's human rights commissioner, Jan Jarab, excessive debt is among the reasons why Czech Roma are leaving the country.

The new Czech minister for the environment has said he wants the controversial Temelin nuclear power plant to be the country's last. Environment Minister Libor Ambrozek said in a newspaper interview published on Wednesday that he would ask the government to adopt an energy policy that includes the complete phasing-out of nuclear power. Mr Ambrozek said he wanted to focus on renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric and wind power. However the minister said Temelin would remain operational, despite protests from anti-nuclear groups in neighbouring Austria and Bavaria, who claim the plant is unsafe. The Czech Republic has two nuclear power stations, Temelin, launched last year, and Dukovany which has been operating since 1985.

The final wording of the government's programme for the next four years will not be ready until Monday, just one day before it is submitted to the lower house of parliament for approval. A member of the government's press department said the cabinet had not approved the programme at its meeting on Wednesday, explaining that the document still had to be completed. The new centre-left government enjoys a majority of just one seat in the lower house.