Some 2,000 protesters gathered on Wenceslas Square in the historical heart of Prague Saturday to protest against US plans to deploy a radar base for its missile shield on Czech soil, DPA reported. "It is time to call for this government's resignation. Leave! You have already caused enough harm," protest organizer Jan Tamas hollered before the crowd, sparking protesters to chant "resignation" and blow whistles at earsplitting levels. "We are disappointed that our government is inclined to this and does not want a referendum," said Libuse Pazderova, a 66-year-old retired economist from Prague, wearing delicate blue-rimmed glasses and a floral blouse. She was accompanied to the protest by her 75- year-old husband, Jiri. Mayors of villages near the Brdy military zone, one hour south- west of Prague, where the facility would be placed, took turns to greet the protesters. "After the Velvet Revolution the word was that no foreign soldier, no base will be here. Let's follow that please," said Vaclav Hudec, a mayor of a village of Stitov. According to the US officials, the European facilities are to be a part of a defence system the United States has been developing against long-range missiles from the so-called rogue states. However, polls have indicated that most Czechs do not want their country to host the US military installation. Villages near the Brdy military zone plan to hold more local referenda and polls to voice their opposition just two days before Bush's arrival. Despite the adverse public opinion, the Czech centre-right coalition government, which says the plan would enhance country's security, began official bilateral talks with the US administration in May. The US hopes to complete the talks before the year's end. The deployment of the facility on the Czech territory will be likely decided by the Czech parliament later this, or early next, year. The outcome of the vote in a closely divided lower chamber remains unpredictable.
