Posted on 09/27/2001 7:28:53 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
PRAGUE, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Czech security forces will deploy armoured cars at the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) building in Prague following the devastating attacks in the United States, interior ministry officials said on Thursday.
The radio station, which is based in the former Czech parliament building, broadcasts news programmes in a number of languages, including Arabic, to audiences from Albania to Iraq and Tajikistan.
Some officials have said that the building, a communist-era relic perched on steel stilts and covered with huge plate-glass windows, would be particularly vulnerable because of its design and location.
"We must not underestimate the risk of a potential terrorist attack on the Radio Free Europe building in Prague," Interior Minister Stanislav Gross said on Czech state radio.
"Therefore there will be special transport measures in this area, and security measures will also be significantly strengthened, including participation of Czech army personnel and military equipment," he said.
The government has already stepped up security at the U.S. embassy and other buildings after suicide hijackers flew two commercial planes into the World Trade Center in New York and another into the Pentagon in Washington, leaving nearly 7,000 dead or missing.
The U.S. government suspects Saudi-born Islamic militant Osama bin Laden masterminded the attacks on September 11.
A ministry spokesman told Reuters there would be four armoured vehicles deployed outside the RFE/RL building which is surrounded by the main north-south artery through the city.
The armoured vehicles will help prevent potential attackers from driving a car or truck too close to the station.
The spokesman refused to say if the decision was based on any specific threat.
RFE/RL was originally set up by the U.S. government to broadcast alternative news to countries under communist governments. It later expanded its service to other nations with restricted media freedoms.
The station moved its headquarters to Prague in 1995 from Germany's Munich, six years after the communist rule in the country collapsed.
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