News of Radio Prague

Salji Chalaf arrives in Prague

Salji Chalaf, an Iraqi woman who was refused entry to the Czech Republic some days ago, is now in Prague with her husband and child. Mrs. Chalaf, whose plight evoked a wave of sympathy among Czechs, was greeted by her family and surrounded by reporters as she emerged at the arrivals-gate of Prague's Ruzyne Airport accompanied by her husband and two year old son. Her son's illness was Mrs. Chalaf's main reason for coming to the Czech Republic and representatives of a Pediatric Hospital Ward were there to greet her and arrange treatment for the two year old. The fact that Mrs. Chalaf was refused entry to the country some time ago -allegedly for "security reasons", despite the fact that she had a valid visa, sparked angry protests from human rights activists and resulted in widespread criticism of the foreign police.

Chechen refugees ask for asylum

An increasing number of Chechen refugees are leaving refugee camps in neighbouring Poland and asking Czech border police for asylum in the Czech Republic. The latest group of 18 Chechen refugees arrived at the Cesky Tesin border check point on Saturday morning, bringing the number of dissatisfied asylum seekers from Poland up to 200 -in the last few days alone. "They think that their chances of getting asylum in the Czech Republic are higher and they claim that living conditions in Polish refugee camps are poor " border police chief Petr Navratil told the CTK press agency. The biggest group arrived on Friday - 83 Chechen refugees, among them many women and children. They have been housed in a refugee camp near Frydek Mistek.

Czech-US talks on defense of Czech air-space

The Czech Defense Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik has met with the US ambassador to Prague Craig Stapleton to discuss possible ways of securing the Czech Republic's air space. The US has reportedly offered the Czech Republic assistance in solving this problem within its restricted financial means. Czech deputy defense minister Jan Vana is to fly to Washington at the beginning of May for further negotiations, Saturday's Lidove Noviny reported.

Weather:

Sunday should bring partly cloudy skies with intervals of rain and shine and day temperatures between 15 and 19 degrees Celsius.