Just hours before US President George W Bush was to arrive at Prague airport, several hundred demonstrators rallied near Prague Castle to protest his arrival and at a radar base, which the United States hopes to deploy on Czech territory, according to dpa. Fewer protesters than expected came to voice their opposition to US plans. Demonstrators chanted "Bush go home" and "referendum" or sang "Shut up Mr. Bush" and held aloft banners and placards denouncing Bush and threw balls symbolising the controversial facility. "When the radar is here, we will become more visible and an attack would loom over us," said 17-year-old dance student Marketa Duskova, wearing a green peace sign on her left cheek. "Why otherwise would anyone want to throw bombs here?" Police said they had sealed off Prague Castle where Bush is to meet with Czech leaders on Tuesday at the request of US officials and just hours before his arrival. Organizers said they had had to move the planned demonstrations further away. The protestors were later joined by some 100 young communists and their followers, who had earlier demonstrated outside the US embassy.
