Czech towns vote against base before Bush visit

...the weekend on the eve of a visit by U.S. President George W. Bush.

The non-binding ballots were unlikely to sway the centre-right government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek in its push to host the radar base, but show growing opposition to the proposal among Czechs.

The United States wants to station elements of its shield in Poland and the Czech Republic as protection from potential missile attacks by countries such as Iran. Russia, however, says the project threatens its national security and has voiced strong opposition to it.

At least 95 percent of voters opposed hosting the radar base to be located at a military training site in the Brdy hills southwest of Prague.

In total five towns in the area have now held votes on the site, and all have overwhelming rejected the base.

"I feared that interest would be far less," said Stanislav Kramosila, mayor of Hvozdany, which lies 5 km (3 miles) from the proposed base site.

The United States wants to station 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and radar equipment in the Czech Republic, at a cost of $3.5 billion.

Bush arrives late on Monday and on Tuesday meets rightist President Vaclav Klaus and Topolanek and also plans to meet leftist opposition leader Jiri Paroubek.

The Czech government has rejected calls for a nationwide referendum on the radar base, but it faces a tough task pushing the plan through parliament where it controls just 100 of the 200 seats.

Some deputies from ruling parties have said they were uneasy about building the radar unless it is a part of a NATO-wide defence scheme, while most opposition deputies have voiced either opposition or only cautious support for the plan.