The medicines will get to China aboard a military plane taking a Czech parliamentary delegation to the country on Sunday.

Lower house deputy head Jan Kasal who will lead the delegation said the MPs are to meet China's agriculture and environment ministers. They will also hand the humanitarian aid to the country

The Czech Republic had offered the immediate

The disaster in Burma claimed the lives of 22,500 and left about a million people homeless.

Aid to Burma will also be provided by Czech humanitarian organisations such as Charita Czech Republic or People in Need.

The ministry said that only a very limited number of NGOs and humanitarian organisations can operate in Burma due to the local political regime.

If the government and parliament approve the hospital's mission, it could leave for Afghanistan in March. The hospital is to be stationed near the Kabul airport, Cirtek said.

The mission should involve about 70 soldiers and it should last one year.

Of the total 15 million crowns are destined for the reconstruction of destroyed or damaged buildings and equipment.

The state will launch tenders for projects that NGO's will look after.

Another 5 million crowns will be earmarked for mine disposal with focus on regions where Czech military units are deployed.

The rest will be handed to the local U.N. representation.

The costs are covered by the USA. The Czech Republic is discussing the payment of the first flights from the Czech Republic to Kuwait, which were secured by the Russian-Ukrainian company Volga-Dniepr by its An-124 Ruslan aircraft, Tvrdik said.

Yesterday there was the first flight, today three are to follow. Starting tomorrow the Galaxy planes are to be

Impure drinking water is one of the most severe problems facing Basra at present. Today, six Tatra lorries with water tanks left the joint Czech-Slovak base in Kuwait for the city in southern Iraq, heading for two distribution points.

Though the exact amount of the American contribution still remains to be agreed, the Czech Republic has calculated 10 million dollars in its proposal, around three-fifths of the total costs of the hospital's operation for half a year. The hospital's deployment is today being debated in Parliament.

Each affected region will thus get the same percentage of the value of damage it has suffered.

The EUR129m (Kc4.087bn) will be distributed as follows: Kc1.095bn for covering the costs of rescue work and liquidation of damage and Kc2.286bn for rebuilding flood-hit areas, with each region

He said he was aware of the tension which had recently been growing in the country in connection with the raising levels of Czech rivers, especially in the south and northwest of Bohemia. "However, the situation is being coped with and is under control," Spidla said.

Although less than six months have passed