Bush Prague venue changed for security reasons

NATO SUMMIT: The venue for President Bush's pre-NATO summit speech in Prague was changed at the last minute yesterday due to…

NATO SUMMIT: The venue for President Bush's pre-NATO summit speech in Prague was changed at the last minute yesterday due to security concerns.

Mr Bush's address to the Prague Atlantic Student Summit was moved from the headquarters of Radio Free Europe to the "more secure" Hilton Hotel because of "generalised information" about threats to the RFE site, a senior aide said.

"There was no specific threat, but we did have concerns," the official added. A number of anti-NATO and anti-US demonstrators made their feelings known at a peaceful protest in the city's Town Hall Square.

Security around the RFE offices, housed in the former Czechoslovak federal parliament, was stepped up following the September 11th, 2001, attacks.

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty broadcasts across eastern Europe, the Middle East including Iran and Iraq, and Central Asia, and has an estimated 35 million listeners. - (AFP)