Rice signals there is much still to play for

By Jan Lopatka

PRAGUE (Reuters) - When Prague bar owner Martin Kotas tried to persuade U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to play the piano she politely declined, saying: "I'll play when the radar is here."

Rice, widely known to be an accomplished pianist, signaled with those few words that she knows much hard bargaining remains despite signing a pact in Prague on Tuesday to build part of a U.S. missile defense shield in the Czech Republic.

Problems with Russia and Poland were clearly on her mind when Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg took Rice to the Mlejn (Mill) bar, situated in a riverside former mediaeval grain mill, to meet about 20 supporters of the shield plan.

Members of her entourage, including Missile Defense Agency head Lieutenant General Henry Obering, took off their jackets when they were given bright orange T-shirts to wear with a "V" sign and the slogan "In Favor of Radars and Rockets".

"She thanked us for what we were doing and said she'll come back," said David Gaydecka, one of the shield supporters.

Earlier on Tuesday, several hundred people marched through Prague to oppose the shield plan.

Russia, in a statement reminiscent of Cold War rhetoric, warned the United States against deploying the shield close to its borders.

The Pentagon says the defense system Washington wants to base in the Czech Republic and Poland is designed to counter missile threats from the Middle East, not Russia.

The deal is opposed by many in the Czech Republic, where it requires parliamentary approval. Many Czechs are wary of any foreign military presence after the Soviet era. An opinion poll last month showed 68 percent of Czechs were against the shield.

Washington also wants to put 10 interceptor rockets in neighboring Poland, although talks on that have stalled due to Polish demands for billions of dollars to modernize its army and air defenses in return for hosting the missile base.

The shield is a priority for U.S. President George W. Bush, who hopes to finalize an accord on the interceptors with Poland before he leaves office in January. After that, the system's fate will be decided by his successor.

(Editing by Ralph Gowling)