Czech military monitored Iranian plane (radioactive material aboard)
ceskenoviny ^ | Nov. 13, 2007


http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=281526
Czech military monitored Iranian plane - press

Prague- The Czech military, including the Gripen fighters, on Thursday monitored an Iranian transport plane crossing Czech territory as it was to have radioactive material aboard, according to U.S. sources, the daily Pravo reported.

Czech Defence Ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek said it was not a traditional escort when soldiers establish a contact with the plane, but only "shadowing."

Pravo writes that the Czech military was on top alert.

U.S. colleagues informed the Czech military intelligence service that there was radioactive material aboard the Iranian plane, Pravo says.

Consequently, the aircraft was constantly watching the plane in Czech airspace.

Czech military intelligence officers also monitored the radio communication of the plane's crew, the paper adds.

Soldiers confirmed to Pravo that they monitored an Iranian plane on Thursday morning, but they had no idea why.

Czech air force commander Ladislav Minarik told the paper that the soldiers knew nothing about the reasons as the whole operation was controlled by the NATO regional command seated in Germany.