* U.S., Czechs sign missile defence shield deal
* Russia says will use military means if deployed
* Pentagon says shield not designed to counter Russia
By Arshad Mohammed and Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE, July 8 (Reuters) - The United States signed a pact
on Tuesday to build part of a U.S. missile defence shield in the
Czech Republic, prompting neighbouring Russia to warn it will
react with military means if the shield is deployed.
The U.S. and Czech foreign ministers toasted with champagne
after signing the accord to place a tracking radar southwest of
Prague as part of a system to protect against the perceived
threat of missile attack from countries such as Iran.
But Russia, in a statement reminiscent of Cold War rhetoric,
warned the United States against deploying the shield close to
its borders.
"If the real deployment of an American strategic missile
defence shield begins close to our borders, then we will be
forced to react not with diplomatic methods, but with
military-technical methods," the Foreign Ministry said in a
statement on its www.mid.ru website.
It did not give specifics but analysts said the threat
appeared aimed at stoking European opposition to the shield.
In 2007, former President Vladimir Putin, who is now prime
minister, said that Russia could aim missiles at European
countries if the U.S. missile shield, which Moscow considers a
threat to national security, goes ahead.
The Pentagon said the U.S. missile defence system Washington
wants to base in the Czech Republic and Poland is designed to
counter missile threats from the Middle East, not Russia.
"We've made several very robust offers to the Russians in
terms of how we could collaborate and how we are willing to have
as much transparency as possible with respect to this missile
defence system, what its design is and what its intent is,
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told Reuters on Tuesday.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in the statement Moscow's
proposals to the United States on the shield had been ignored.
Washington also wants to put 10 interceptor rockets in
neighbouring Poland, although talks on that have stalled due to
Polish demands for billions of dollars to modernise its army and
air defences in return for hosting the missile base.
"ROGUE STATES"
The United States says the shield would defend itself and
its allies against missile attacks from so-called "rogue states"
and points to intelligence suggesting Iran could develop a
long-range missile capable of striking European by 2015.
"We face, with the Iranians, and so do our allies and
friends, a growing missile threat that is getting ever longer
and ever deeper, and where the Iranian appetite for nuclear
technology, to this point, is still unchecked," U.S. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice said after signing the deal.
Under the proposed $3.5 billion system, sensors and radar
would detect an enemy missile in flight and guide a ground-based
interceptor to destroy it without explosives.
The deal is opposed by many in the Czech Republic, where it
requires parliamentary approval. Many Czechs are wary of any
foreign military presence after the Soviet invasion in 1968 and
the ensuing two decades of occupation. An opinion poll last
month showed 68 percent of Czechs were against the shield.
"We believe that this could start another arms race," said
Frantisek Smrcka, who with other protesters in the Czech capital
unfurled a huge banner shaped like a bull's-eye.
Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said Moscow was
using Cold War rhetoric to discourage the Czech parliament from
ratifying the shield agreement.
"That is why it is very unspecific but sounds threatening,"
he said. "It is psychological pressure, the same sort that was
used in the 1980s by the Soviet Union, when the United States
deployed cruise missiles in Europe, in an attempt to boost the
anti-missile, anti-U.S. protests."
Prague said it was surprised by Moscow's reaction.
"This is not an appropriate way to react, we would expect a
different way, given negotiations that we but also our partners
are leading with Russia," said Czech Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova.
Russia, which has opposed the march of the Western security
alliance toward its borders, earlier suggested the deal called
into question U.S.-Russian talks on missile defence cooperation.
Moscow and Washington had agreed to explore ways of easing
the Kremlin's concerns the shield would be used to spy on and
target Russia's own missile systems. Proposals under discussion
had included stationing Russian military officers at the shield
sites and providing real-time video of activity there.
The shield is a priority for U.S. President George W. Bush,
who hopes to finalise an accord on the interceptors with Poland
before he leaves office in January. After that, the system's
fate will be decided by his successor.
