Negotiations on ammunition for Afghanistan's army near end

Defence ministry Deputy Minister Martin Belcik has revealed that negotiations on sending Czech ammunition to Afghanistan are drawing to an end. The proposal to donate ammunition to Afghanistan's army under President Hamid Karzai, must now be agreed upon by the Czech government. The Czech Army needs to get rid of thousands of tonnes of unneeded ammunition left over from the former Czechoslovak Army: some 39,000 tonnes are slated to be destroyed later this year, while a further 27, 000 tonnes can be donated, or even sold.

On Monday Mr Belcik refused to comment what type of calibre ammunition Afghanistan's army might receive.

The new Afghani army counts some 13, 000 soldiers, while the number of police officers in the country now count more than twice that number. The actual transport of the Czech ammunition, if agreed upon, would be organised by the United States.