Czech govt may answer U.S. radar request Wednesday

...shield in the central European country, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

The United States asked to build a radar in the Czech Republic and a missile battery in Poland as part of a plan to widen the coverage of its ballistic missile shield to include most of Europe.

The Czechs have said they were likely to agree to open talks, which may be concluded in the autumn.

The plan has, however, sparked fierce opposition from Russia, which sees it as an encroachment of its former sphere of influence in former communist Europe.

The United States says the system would counter threats from so-called "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea, and that it is not aimed against Russia's vast nuclear arsenal.

The project has also drawn criticism from some western European countries that oppose the fact that the shield is not, at least for the time being, part of a NATO-wide missile defence system.

Most Czechs also oppose the plan, and the government will struggle to push it through parliament where it does not have a majority. Some government deputies have also voiced their doubts about the project.

The United States wants to deploy the radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland by 2011-12.