(adds Lithuania president reaction)
WARSAW/VILNIUS, July 11 (Reuters) - Poland is insisting on
the permanent stationing of a U.S. Patriot battery on its soil
as a condition for hosting part of a anti-missile defence
shield, its defence minister was quoted as saying on Friday.
Washington wants to install 10 interceptor missiles in
Poland, a NATO ally, as part of the shield project, which aims
to protect the United States and its allies from attack by
so-called "rogue states" and terrorist groups.
In return, Warsaw wants hefty U.S. investments to upgrade
its air defences. Last week, Prime Minister Donald Tusk rejected
as insufficient a U.S. offer to base a Patriot battery on Polish
soil for just one year, but the negotiations are continuing.
The Patriot is a long-range, high-altitude, all-weather
system designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise
missiles and advanced aircraft.
"We want this (Patriot) battery to be placed on our
territory permanently," Defence Minister Bogdan Klich told the
Dziennik daily in an interview.
"Patriots are the main condition (for an agreement on the
shield). We are still waiting for the results of talks (with the
United States) on modernisation of our armed forces."
Klich repeated the Polish view that hosting the interceptors
would increase the security risks for his country, hence the
need for increased U.S. security guarantees.
"Just having the installations on our soil does not
strengthen our security ... Poland can become a target for
attack," he said.
Klich's comments came after Iran held a series of missile
tests in the Gulf, sparking a pledge from the United States that
it stood ready to defend its allies. Washington accuses Tehran
of trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies this.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday
the shield would dampen any threat of an attack from Iran.
This week, Rice signed an accord with the Czech Republic on
installing a tracking radar there as part of the shield project.
Russia says the project poses a direct threat to its own
security and has said it would point missiles at Poland and the
Czech Republic -- its former Soviet-era satellites -- if the
deployment goes ahead.
The president of Lithuania, which has been mentioned as a
possible alternative to host missile interceptors if talks with
Poland fail, said he saw no need to base missile shield elements
in the ex-Soviet republic, now a NATO member.
"Personally, I see no need for Lithuania to take
responsibility on this matter," Valdas Adamkus said when asked
if he would like to see elements of the missile shield in his
country, although the government has said it is ready to
consider the issue.
"If my decision was needed, I would probably be against the
installation of such a system in Lithuania," he told his annual
news conference in the capital Vilnius.
The president's office said later in a statement Lithuania
would "seriously consider" hosting part of the missile shield if
negotiations with Poland failed.
The start of any talks on a shield would need the approval
of the State Defence Council chaired by the president, defence
sources told Reuters.
(Reporting by Gareth Jones in Warsaw and Nerijus Adomaitis in
Vilnius)
