Press Review

The diplomatic spat between Prague and Minsk rages on today - "Belarus threatens to expel Czech diplomats" is the headline in MLADA FRONTA DNES. The two countries are locked in a dispute over Prague's refusal to grant a visa to Belarus's authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, preventing him and his entourage from attending next week's NATO summit in the Czech capital.

MLADA FRONTA DNES features a rather curious photo of a man wearing a mask of Civic Democrat leader Vaclav Klaus. The mystery man is the spokesman of an organisation called "Anti-NATO" - the umbrella group co-ordinating next week's anarchist demonstrations against the summit. He calls himself Jiri W. Krovinek - not his real name, but a literal translation of George W. Bush.

There's a serious reason behind the Klaus mask and the made-up name, says the paper. The anarchist movement wants to prevent itself being portrayed as led by one individual. And a second, rather more prosaic reason, is that during previous demonstrations anarchist spokesmen received anonymous death threats, Jiri W. Krovinek tells MLADA FRONTA DNES.

Back on page one, and there's some intriguing details about the group of anarchists from north Moravia, who were arrested on Thursday after being accused of plotting to cut off power to the summit's venue. The group - who call themselves "darkers" - had devised a way to disconnect high-voltage power cables, leading to severe power cuts. The group's previous attempts at sabotage had succeeded in shutting down a local TV transmitter, and more seriously, says MLADA FRONTA DNES, left a local hospital with no electricity.

Meanwhile LIDOVE NOVINY reports today that police have prevented several hundred radical protestors from entering the country. Many of those turned away, says the paper, were registered on an international database of known troublemakers, containing some 2,000 names. Others were turned away because they were carrying what police describe as "anti-NATO material." But not everyone is happy with the procedure - one organisation said turning people away at the borders violated international human rights legislation.

But LIDOVE NOVINY's lead story is the two Cuban Embassy employees who've applied for asylum with the Czech authorities. The pair - the charge d'affaires' driver and his wife - walked out of the embassy two weeks ago and asked for political asylum. They are now in a refugee camp in north Moravia, awaiting a decision.

The two were helped by Freedom Union interim leader Ivan Pilip, who sprung to fame last year after being detained by the Cuban authorities in Havana. It was Pilip - well-known for his support of Cuban dissidents - who managed to get them to the refugee camp. The pair originally intended to seek asylum in Spain, but were afraid of being kidnapped by the Cuban secret police and put on the next plane to Havana.

And we end on a sad note: PRAVO reports on Thursday's funeral of a 35-year-old primary school teacher and her nine-year-old daughter, the latest statistics to be added to the country's appalling road death record. The two were killed on a pedestrian crossing just a few metres from their home, in an accident involving two vehicles. The police tell PRAVO they know the identity of both drivers, but it's not clear who caused the accident and so far neither has been charged.