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A martial arts enthusiast pulls a vehicle with a rope connected to his eye sockets during a performance in Hefei, Anhui province November 30, 2009. Picture taken November 30, 2009. REUTERS/China Daily

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    Slovak president forced off plane after warning

    BRATISLAVA
    Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:17pm EDT
    President of Slovakia, Ivan Gasparovic, greets the crowd during a ceremony at the presidential palace in Bratislava, Slovakia, June 15, 2004. REUTERS/David W Cerny

    BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovakia's president was evacuated from his official plane because of a telephone warning shortly before it was due to take off on Monday.

    Oddly Enough

    Ivan Gasparovic's aircraft was on the runway ahead of a trip to the Czech Republic when the head of Slovakia's state security service ordered an emergency check of the plane, Interior Ministry spokesman Erik Tomas said.

    "The president's office received a phone call from a man who urged the president not to board the plane and leave for the Czech Republic because he was in serious danger," Tomas said.

    Police searched the plane but found no security threat, the spokesman said. The caller has been located and detained.

    (Reporting by Peter Laca; editing by Robert Woodward)
    Oddly Enough


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