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A newspaper has said Mr Klaus is among the politicians invited to a farewell party being held by President Havel on Thursday. The party, to be held at the Lany presidential chateau outside Prague, will be attended by politicians, senior officials and military commanders. Also among the guests will be another former prime minister, Milos Zeman. Both he and Mr Klaus are regarded as longstanding rivals of Mr Havel, and have often criticised him in public.

A newspaper has said President Havel is to hold a goodbye party at the Lany presidential chateau outside Prague on Thursday, and has invited politicians, senior officials and military commanders to attend. Among the guests will be two former prime ministers - Vaclav Klaus, former leader of the opposition Civic Democrats, and Milos Zeman, former leader of the ruling Social Democrats. Both men are regarded as longstanding rivals of Mr Havel, and have often criticised him in public.

President Vaclav Havel made his last ever New Year's speech on Tuesday, exactly one month before he steps down after 13 years in the post. Looking relaxed and in good health, the 66-year-old president urged his fellow citizens to defend the democracy that he helped bring about following the collapse of communism in 1989.

With President Vaclav Havel's final term in office now drawing quickly to a close, political parties in the Czech Republic have begun preparing themselves for the first round of new presidential elections in January, and one thing has already become very clear: choosing the country's next leader will not be an easy task.

At a ceremony on Wednesday held at Prague Castle prior to the opening of the NATO summit in Prague, Czech president Vaclav Havel was honoured by 19 heads of state for his contribution as a dissident in Communist Czechoslovakia. The statesmen also praised his commitment to peace and democracy following the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

On November 17, Czech politicians remembered the 13th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which brought down the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. On Sunday afternoon President Vaclav Havel laid flowers on the student revolution memorial and met former student leaders from 1989, but also those who took part in protests against the Nazi occupation in 1939, the communist takeover in 1948 and the Soviet occupation in 1968. President Havel also used November 17, now a public holiday in the Czech Republic, to launch a book of selected speeches,

President Havel has flown to his summer house in Portugal, where he will continue to recuperate from a recent worsening of his chronic bronchitis. Breathing difficulties forced Mr Havel to cut short a visit to France, and he was released after a week in hospital on Tuesday. The 65-year-old president, who is a former chain smoker, has been hospitalised 16 times since taking office. Mr Havel's term as president ends next February.