Polish funeral plans hit by ash

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  • xman
    Admin
    • Sep 2006
    • 24007

    Polish funeral plans hit by ash


    US President Barack Obama will not attend Lech Kacyznski's state funeral on Sunday because of the travel chaos across Europe, the White House says.Other figures unable to attend include the UK's Prince of Wales, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

    Most of Europe's major airports remain closed because of a volcanic ash cloud.

    Thousands of mourners in Warsaw were at an evening Mass for Mr Kacyznski who died with 95 others in an air crash.

    His coffin, with that of his wife, has been taken to the city's cathedral, where it will remain overnight before being flown on Sunday to the historic city of Krakow for the state funeral.

    The Polish government airliner crashed in western Russia on 10 April. Investigator believe pilot error caused the plane to hit tree-tops in heavy fog in the Smolensk region, where the Polish delegation had meant to attend a memorial for Poles massacred by Stalin's secret police at Katyn in World War II.

    Earlier on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people took part in an open-air memorial service in the centre of Warsaw.

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was due to fly back to Germany from a visit to the US on Friday and had planned to attend the funeral, had to fly to Lisbon instead where she spent the night.

    With all German airports still closed, she flew on to Italy on Saturday and continued her journey home by road.

    A number of eastern European leaders have said they will attend by driving to Krakow.

    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is expected to make a final decision on Sunday morning about whether he can fly to Poland, his office said.

    All airports in Poland remain closed on Saturday, including Balice in Krakow where most of the dignitaries were to arrive on Sunday.

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