Details elusive in Czech talks on US missile shield

Nov 16, 2009, 15:29 GMT

   Prague - Czech and US officials continued talks Monday on the Czech Republic's role in Washington's revamped missile shield plans but declined to give details on what that role could be.

   'We have a number of very good ideas that we are talking to the (Czech) government about,' said US Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher during talks with her Czech counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar.

   Her visit is the third to Prague by a high-ranking US official since November, when US President Barack Obama abandoned Bush-era plans to a build missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland, two former Soviet satellites.

   Obama decided to replace the plan championed by his predecessor, George W Bush, with a system that would combine mobile and stationary elements and focus on protecting Europe from short- and medium-range missiles.

   While the new Czech role remains unclear, Washington has offered Warsaw an opportunity to host SM-3 missiles that are planned to form part of the new system.