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WARSAW - WORLD leaders, including US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dimtry Medvedev, are to travel from far and wide to pay last respects to Polish president Lech Kaczynski at his funeral on Sunday. The leaders are to descend on the southern Polish city of Krakow to lay Kaczynski and his wife Maria to rest in the cathedral crypt of the hilltop Wawel castle.
Mr Obama will leave for Poland on Saturday to attend the funeral, his spokesman said. 'The president will travel to Krakow to express the depth of our condolences to an important and trusted ally, and our support for the Polish people, on behalf of the American people,' White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Mr Obama, who only returned on Friday from a trip to the Czech Republic, led leaders at the 47-nation nuclear security summit in Washington Tuesday in a moment of silence for Kaczynski and offered condolences to all Poles.
The Kremlin has also said that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will attend Kacynski's funeral after he wraps up a week of travelling that includes the nuclear summit in Washington and trips to Brazil and Argentina.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at the Washington summit on Tuesday he too would attend the funeral and that he would order all French public buildings to fly the flag at half-mast on Sunday, the day of the funeral in Krakow. According to the office of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he will attend to 'express condolences and show Canada's solidarity to the Polish people, during this time of great sorrow for the Polish people.'
Even before the date of the funeral had been set, Berlin decided to send both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Koehler to represent Germany at the funeral. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, will attend along with EU president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso representing the 27-nation bloc's institutions. -- AFP
Mr Obama will leave for Poland on Saturday to attend the funeral, his spokesman said. 'The president will travel to Krakow to express the depth of our condolences to an important and trusted ally, and our support for the Polish people, on behalf of the American people,' White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Mr Obama, who only returned on Friday from a trip to the Czech Republic, led leaders at the 47-nation nuclear security summit in Washington Tuesday in a moment of silence for Kaczynski and offered condolences to all Poles.
The Kremlin has also said that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will attend Kacynski's funeral after he wraps up a week of travelling that includes the nuclear summit in Washington and trips to Brazil and Argentina.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at the Washington summit on Tuesday he too would attend the funeral and that he would order all French public buildings to fly the flag at half-mast on Sunday, the day of the funeral in Krakow. According to the office of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he will attend to 'express condolences and show Canada's solidarity to the Polish people, during this time of great sorrow for the Polish people.'
Even before the date of the funeral had been set, Berlin decided to send both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Koehler to represent Germany at the funeral. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, will attend along with EU president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso representing the 27-nation bloc's institutions. -- AFP
