Prague- The Czech Republic is negotiating to buy a share in the Transalpine Pipeline (TAL), which pumps Azeri oil from the Italian port of Trieste to Germany, in a bid to lower energy dependence on Russia, a Czech official said Tuesday.

"We are interested in it. It's a long-term project," said Vaclav Bartuska, a Czech ambassador-at-large for energy security.

According to earlier reports, the Czech Republic has been negotiating with pipeline's eight shareholders to buy a 2-per-cent stake. Bartuska declined to elaborate.

Prague- Former Czech president Vaclav Havel Tuesday urged the West to speak up to Russia despite its economic interests.

Speaking at a conference on Asia-Pacific Security Challenges in Prague, Havel said economic interests should not make the West "shy away from speaking about what it does not like about Russia's politics".

Havel has earlier criticized "Russian aggression" in Georgia, backing Tbilisi in a brief war with Moscow last month over breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Prague - Philippine Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo said Monday that he hopes for a peace deal between the Philippine government and Muslim rebels in the country's south by the end of the year.

"I am an optimist," he said after meeting his Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg in Prague. "After we overcome administrative difficulties, we'll have peace."

Romulo said that the rebels were also tired of fighting and there was "a mutual desire" for a solution to the conflict lasting for decades.

The Czech Republic's inflation slowed down and unemployment remained steady in August, according to government data released Monday.

The inflation rate year-on-year dropped to 6.5 per cent in August, from 6.9 per cent recorded in July, mainly due to falling food, fuel, alcohol and tobacco prices, the Czech Statistical Office said.

Consumer prices in August fell 0.1 per cent compared to July, the statisticians said.

Prague  - Czech and US negotiators completed talks Friday on a second missile shield pact defining conditions for stationing US troops at the system's planned base on Czech soil, the Czech Defence Ministry said.

The center-right government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek is to take up the so-called Status of Forces Agreement within two weeks, said ministry spokesman Jan Pejsek.

Signing in Prague by Czech Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova and a US representative should follow within days after the cabinet gives its approval, he said.

Prague  - State-owned national carrier Czech Airlines (CSA), which is earmarked for privatization next year, slightly expanded its first-half loss year-on-year amid soaring fuel prices, the company said Thursday.

The airline said it lost 178 million koruny (10.4 million dollars) in the first six months of 2008, compared to 175 million koruny in the same period the previous year.

The revenues grew 3.5 per cent to 11.17 billion koruny January- June, compared to the first half last year, the firm said.