Prague: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed Today what she called a landmark missile defence deal with the Czech Republic that drew immediate threats of a military response from Russia.

The accord permits the siting of a tracking radar station on Czech soil as part of an extended US missile shield that Washington says is necessary to ward off potential attacks by so-called "rogue" states such as Iran.

But Moscow immediately threatened to respond with "military resources" to what it sees as a threat on its doorstep from the proposed system.

"If a US strategic anti-missile shield is deployed near our borders, we will be forced to react not in a diplomatic fashion but with military resources," a statement from the foreign ministry said.

"It s truly a landmark agreement," Rice said after signing the accord with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. "It is an agreement that is befitting for friends and allies who face a common threat in the 21st century."

During her talks in Prague, Rice charged that Iran s work to build longer-range missiles was proceeding "apace" while at the same time it was defying international calls to halt sensitive nuclear technology.

"Ballistic missile proliferation is not an imaginary threat," the top US diplomat warned.

Rice also reiterated Washington s position that the radar station was not aimed at Russia and instead served as a "building block" for not just Czech and US security but for the "international community as a whole."

Source : PTI