Opposition leader wants medical probe into radar

Opposition leader Jiri Paroubek has called for an independent medical commission to determine whether a proposed US tracking radar on Czech soil could damage the health of the locals. The Social Democrat leader said the public had a right to know what hosting a US radar on Czech soil would entail and should be able to decide about it in a referendum. The US plan to extend its missile defense system to central Europe - with a radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in neighbouring Poland, has evoked plenty of controversy.

The mayors of towns and villages in the Brdy Hills and other areas which have been considered as potential sites for the location of a US tracking radar on Czech territory have joined forces and say they will fight the plans tooth and nail. Several villages have already rejected the US radar in local referendums and opinion polls indicate that the majority of Czechs do not want it on Czech territory. Prague and Washington have opened talks on the radar, but no commitment has yet been made.