Spokesman Ladislav Sticha told AFP that around 60 Greek soldiers would receive one week's specialist training, if a contract between the two countries' armies is agreed.

The training would probably take place at the Czech army's "Stone Cottage" training facility in the south of the country, where soldiers work directly with toxic materials, such as sarin, soman, VX, or mustard gas.

Another option still under consideration is that the Olympic Games in Athens be protected from terrorist attack by the NATO battalion for biochemical warfare, the bulk of which are Czech anti-chemical experts.

"Nothing is definitively agreed but training Greek specialists in the Czech Republic would certainly be cheaper for the Greek state than paying for our experts to come to the Games, " Sticha told AFP.

Sticha said the option of training Greek soldiers in the Czech Republic had been suggested by NATO. Discussions were ongoing, he added, and it was not yet known when a final decision would be made.

Greece is spending one billion euros (1.2 billion dollars) on security for the Games August 13-29, with 70,000 officers protecting 16,000 athletes and officials and thousands of volunteers, journalists and spectators.

That is more than three times what Sydney spent for the 2000 Games.

Athens has also called on the NATO military alliance to boost security after the March 11 bombings in Madrid that killed nearly 200 people.

NATO's assistance will include AWACS surveillance planes, its Mediterranean fleet and the alliance's battalion for biochemical warfare.

WAR.WIRE