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Polish first lady's body is returned to Warsaw

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The body of Poland's First Lady, Maria Kaczynska, has been flown to Warsaw to lie in state alongside that of her husband, President Lech Kaczynski. 

Poland has seen an outpouring of grief since the couple and scores of other senior Polish officials died in a plane crash in western Russia on Saturday.

Poland's parliament will hold a special session later to discuss the disaster.

The first couple are to be buried on Sunday, a day after a memorial service for the victims in the Polish capital.

A guard of honour stood to attention in the rain at Warsaw airport as the body of the first lady arrived on a military plane from Moscow.

Weather warning

A hearse took her coffin through the streets of Warsaw to the presidential palace, where she is expected to lie in state later in the day with her husband, whose remains returned on Sunday.

Ninety-six people died when the plane clipped tree-tops as it tried to land at a former air base north of Smolensk city on Saturday morning.

Russian officials say the pilots of the Soviet-built Tu-154 airliner had ignored weather warnings and repeatedly tried to land.

Polish prosecutors have stressed there is no evidence the crew were pressured by those onboard to ignore the advice.

 

The president and his party of senior Polish military and political officials had been due to attend a memorial for the Polish victims of a World War II massacre by Soviet secret police at Katyn, near Smolensk.

Relatives of the victims have been flown to the Russian capital to help forensic scientists identify their bodies. They are being supported by Polish and Russian psychologists.

Forty-five of the victims have been identified, the Russian health minister said on Tuesday, reports AFP news agency.

Some of the bodies are so badly disfigured that DNA evidence will be needed.

President Kaczynski's body was identified on Saturday in Smolensk by his identical twin Jaroslaw, a former prime minister.

Poland is in the middle of seven days of mourning over the tragedy; Russia observed a day of mourning on Monday.

President Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have devoted much time to dealing with the aftermath of the crash.

The Russian president is expected to be among leaders attending Sunday's state funeral for Mr Kaczynski, who was an outspoken nationalist known for his distrust of Russia.

Russia's handling of the tragedy has been widely appreciated in Poland, though others suggest the thaw in relations may not last, the BBC's Duncan Kennedy reports from Warsaw.

Meanwhile, Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski said he would announce the date of the country's presidential election on Wednesday, reports Reuters news agency.

Parliamentary speaker Mr Komorowski, a liberal, is expected to run against Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Source BBC

Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 April 2010 10:46