Prague - The signing of the main Czech-US treaty on placing a planned US missile-defence base in a former Soviet satellite will be delayed, the Czech Foreign Ministry said Monday. Officials initially said that the foreign ministers of both countries could sign the deal, announced on April 3, in early May, possibly as soon as May 6.
But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg have so far failed to coordinate their schedules, ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova said.
"We are looking for other dates," she said.
Czech and US negotiators have yet to complete the so-called Status of Forces Agreement that defines conditions for the stationing of US troops at the planned radar site south-west of Prague.
Both treaties require approval in the Czech parliament where the centre-right government lacks clear support for the project.
