PRAGUE — Czech police found a small bomb on a rail track in Prague Tuesday, just hours before President Bush was to arrive for a NATO summit, reports Reuters.
Workers checking tracks found a bottle placed underneath a rail, which had been partially sawed through, on the outskirts of the Czech capital at around 9 a.m. (3 a.m. EST).
“It was an explosive device,” police spokeswoman Eva Miklikova told Reuters. “Bomb disposal experts defused it and took it away for examination.”
She gave no further details of the incident, which will heighten security fears ahead of the arrival of the leaders of 45 countries for the summit Thursday and Friday.
Bush arrives late Tuesday evening at the start of a five-day, four-nation tour to drum up support for the war on terrorism, endorse NATO’s expansion and reinforce his drive to disarm Iraq.
Czech President Vaclav Havel warned risks would remain throughout the summit.
“Terrorist attacks can happen wherever and whenever. Our security forces have prepared as best as they can,” he told reporters. “But 100 percent certainty cannot be found in the world today in this respect.”
The Czech authorities have deployed 12,000 police in the streets of Prague in the largest security operation in the country’s history in case anti-war or anti-U.S. protesters attempt to disrupt the NATO summit.
Thousands of anti-NATO demonstrators are due in Prague to protest against Alliance policies.
The rail track was not in the neighborhood of any of the venues of the NATO meeting and authorities have not made an explicit link between the bomb and the summit.
Last Thursday, police arrested five people for allegedly plotting to cut power supply to the summit venues. Dozens of people have been refused entry to the Czech Republic on the grounds of being potential security threats.