"I have always acted within the law and with the aim of protecting the health of the people and environment," said Dusik, a member of the Green party.

"For this reason I no longer feel I can be in the government," he said, referring to plans to refurbish the Prunerov II plant, listed by Greenpeace as the 18th biggest source of carbon dioxide pollution in Europe.

Dusik said Prime Minister Jan Fischer "has not accepted my demand" to go in for the best technology available which would slash CO2 emissions by 200,000 tonnes a year.

The plant is run by Czech state-run power giant CEZ.

Dusik's resignation comes two months ahead of legislative elections.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.