Missile shield talks start

Poland and the United States opened talks yesterday about a plan to build a US missile shield, with Polish officials saying they would seek favorable terms for hosting part of the project.

US Assistant Secretary of State John Rood arrived for talks in Warsaw to discuss placing 10 interceptor rockets in Poland aimed at protecting against missile attacks from what Washington calls rogue states such as Iran or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The plan has drawn strong criticism from Russia, which sees it as a threat to its national security. Russia has rejected offers to cooperate with the US on the project and threatened to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by the United States and the Soviet Union.