Poland silent on U.S. anti-missile shield deal

WARSAW, Jan 21 (Reuters) Poland said today it was still in talks with the United States about the possibility of allowing it to base an anti-missile system on its soil, and had no comment on a report that a final deal had been agreed.

Washington is investing billion a year in developing the system, which would use rockets to shoot down hostile missiles.

Diplomats say Poland is considered one of the best potential locations for rocket batteries. The Czech government said yesterday the United States had asked permission to build a radar base on its territory which would form part of the defence system.

Plans to deploy the anti-missile shield on Polish soil have met with strong criticism from Russia, which sees the move as an attempt by the United States to destabilise the balance of power in central Europe.

Moscow has warned it will take unspecified measures against Poland, a member of the Russian-dominated ''Warsaw Pact'' military alliance until the fall of communism in the early 1990s, if it accepts the defence system.

Polish news agency PAP reported yesterday that Washington had informed both Warsaw and Prague that a definite decision on the placing of the missile system on Polish and Czech soil had been made.

The PAP report quoted the Slovak Foreign Ministry as saying Washington's decision had been communicated to Poland and the Czech Republic.

A spokesman for the Polish foreign ministry today declined to confirm this. ''Consultations concerning that issue have been going on for months,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrzej Sados said.

''The Polish government doesn't have an official position on that issue. We need more consultations, which we are conducting with our American friends through diplomatic channels,'' he added.

Reuters LL DB2032