PRAGUE 29 Apr (ANA) - The mayor of Prague has confirmed he is under police protection, days after a news report suggested he was the target of an assassination plot.

Czech newspaper Respekt alleges a Russian agent carrying the poison ricin arrived in the country three weeks ago.

Mayor Zdenek Hrib refused to say why he was under protection but said he had told police he was being followed.

The Russian embassy said the report had "absolutely no basis" and that it "categorically rejects" the allegation.

And Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, dismissed the news report as fake. 

Czech law enforcement and politicians have not confirmed there was a plot. The article cites unnamed intelligence sources and has not been verified.

What did the Prague mayor say?

Speaking to BBC Russian, Mr Hrib said he could not say why he was under police protection. 

He did say he had filed a report to the authorities after noticing he was being followed close to his home, and had seen the same person "multiple times", but he added that he could not confirm if the protection was related to this report.

Mr Hrib also said if he had been killed, "this would mean that Russian agencies had crossed a red line", but refused to say whether such a plot existed or was connected to Russia. 

The mayor of Prague recently backed a decision to change the name of the square outside the Russian embassy to that of a murdered Russian opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov. 

The Czech capital also removed the statue of Russian World War Two military hero Marshal Ivan Konev this month, angering Moscow. (ANA)

FA/ANA/29 April 2020----