Protesters in Poland block cross from being moved

Supporters of late Polish President Lech
Kaczynski scuffle with municipal guards as they try to break a barrier
in front of the Presidential palace in Warsaw, Poland Tuesday, Aug. 3,
2010. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

WARSAW, Poland — Protesters shouting "Defend the
cross!" scuffled with police Tuesday but managed to prevent Polish
officials from moving a cross erected outside the presidential palace in
memory of the late President Lech Kaczynski.

About 20 demonstrators stood in front of the wooden cross, pleading
with priests who were supposed to move it to the nearby St. Anne's
Church. They were supported by a cheering crowd of hundreds gathered
behind a police barrier across the street.

Security officials dragged away a few of the chanting, praying
protesters -- including a woman who tried to tie herself to the cross.
But officials decided not to immediately press ahead with the plan,
which is opposed by some Kaczynski supporters.

Kaczynski's supporters have turned the cross into a shrine where they
focus their grief over the late leader's tragic death in a plane crash
in Russia on April 10. It has also become a source of friction with
their political rivals, who argue that the cross should be moved away
from state to church ground, with President-elect Bronislaw Komorowski
saying the makeshift symbol should not remain in front of a top state
building.

While church and state are technically separated in the staunchly
Catholic Poland the church wields some influence in political life.

"The cross will not be moved to the church today," said Jacek
Michalowski, the head of the presidential office. "The level of
aggression is too high ... the cross should not be used for political
games."

It wasn't immediately clear whether officials would make another attempt to move it.

Amid deep national mourning, scouts groups put up the cross five days
after the plane crash that killed Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and 94
others, including top military leaders.

Some members of the main opposition party -- which is led by the late
president's twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski -- have said the cross
should remain put until a permanent monument is built at the site, a
call backed by their conservative Roman Catholic supporters.

But Komorowski and Warsaw city officials want the cross moved to the
church and worked out an agreement with church leaders to do so.

Warsaw Archbishop Tadeusz Nycz said Tuesday that a compromise should
be sought, which would guarantee that a memorial plaque would be put up
in front of the palace.

Lech Kaczynski's death was followed by an unusual period of harmony
in Poland's often-bitter politics, but that has since frayed. Komorowski
defeated Jaroslaw Kaczynski last month in an election for the vacant
presidency and is to be sworn in on Friday.

The crash also inspired an improvement in traditionally tense
Polish-Russian relations. Moscow shared in Poland's sorrow and pledged
full cooperation in investigating the crash — which happened as
Kaczynski flew to a memorial for 22,000 Polish officers murdered by
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's secret police in the 1940 Katyn
massacres.

Still, Polish officials have complained this week that Russian
officials are being slow in handing over documents needed for a Polish
investigation into the crash, focusing on whether anyone in Poland was
to blame.

That is being conducted alongside the main Russian investigation, in
which a Polish official is an observer. Both sides are supposed to share
their information.

Polish Interior Minister Jerzy Miller said Monday that holes in
documentation provided by Russia are preventing the Poles from reaching
conclusions. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he would ask Moscow for an
explanation of delays in making the documents available.

Officials in Moscow had no comment Tuesday on the complaints.

Geez, That guy sure was popular.