Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PRAGUE (AP) - An official says an area of the Czech Republic where the military once planned to install advanced radar as part of a U.S. missile defense system will now become a nature reserve.
The Bush administration had proposed stationing 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and the advanced radar in the Czech Republic, saying the system was aimed at blunting future missile threats from Iran. But Russia angrily objected and warned that it would station its own missiles close to Poland if the plan went through.
In September 2009, the Obama administration shelved that plan.
Czech Defense Minister said Wednesday that since the military now only uses the scenic Brdy area southwest of Prague for artillery training four days a year, it will become a protected nature reserve in 2016.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
