Prague, Aug 17 (CTK) - A Czech delegation from the defence and foreign ministries left for the US at the beginning of this week to discuss issues connected with the possible stationing of a US missile base on Czech territory, the Czech dailies reported Thursday.

The Czech delegation is headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar, reported Lidove noviny (LN), Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) and Hospodarske noviny (HN).

On Wednesday, Czechs and Americans debated primarily technical issues, while Thursday the talks focused on legal aspects, such as whether the base would be subject to Czech laws, MfD writes.

"The aim of the meeting is to find out information on possible military equipment on our territory," Foreign Ministry spokesman Richard Krpac told LN.

Missile Defence Agency head Henry Obering said on Tuesday that in the coming months he would recommend a place in Europe where Washington could station its missiles and radars as part of the US missile defence system.

The AFP news agency reported that it would be the first case of such system placed outside US territory, while the Czech Republic and Poland are taken into consideration at first place.

Obering also told reporters in Alabama that all information concerning possible locations is being gathered now and should be available in a few months to come.

He noted that US expert teams had lately visited the Czech Republic and Poland for this purpose.

Washington plans to station radars and 10 defence missiles in Europe by 2011 to destroy missiles fired from potentially risk countries such as North Korea and Iran. It cannot be ruled out that Pentagon would like to place part of the system in the Czech Republic and the other in Poland.

However, the British daily The Times reported on Wednesday that Britain is also in the running. The daily said that, in light of opposition by the Czech and Polish public, the US Department of Defence had turned to Britain asking whether the UK would accept a possible request for building a base on its territory.

According to polls, most Czechs and Poles oppose the construction of a US base in their countries. A recent STEM poll shows that most Czechs demand that the issue be decided in a referendum.

Out of the five parties in parliament, only the Civic Democrats (ODS) clearly support the idea of a US base in the Czech Republic. However, the ODS has no united stance on the possibility of holding a referendum on the US base. While ODS deputies´ group head Vlastimil Tlusty admits this idea, the party´s first deputy chairman Petr Necas is categorically against it.

The Social Democrat (CSSD) leadership has decided to call on its members to discuss this issue. The CSSD local and district branches are to express their views until August 31. According to poll results, the Social Democrats are rather against the missile base on Czech territory.