Defence Minister Stropnicky to remain in office

Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky, who is under fire for speaking freely to the media about the case of the five Czechs kidnapped in Lebanon, will remain in office. Following a meeting of coalition leaders on Friday, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said the minister had erred, but not to such an extent that he should be sacked. Stropnický told the daily Hospodarské noviny last week that the release of five Czechs kidnapped in Lebanon was conditional on Prague's decision not to extradite terrorist suspect Ali Fayad to the US. Deputy PM Pavel Bělobrádek on Thursday called on Defence Minister Martin Stropnický to consider resigning from his post. Similar calls have come from the opposition on the grounds that the defence minister had committed a grave breach of security.