Kaczynski cross quietly moved

Polish officials yesterday quietly moved a makeshift memorial cross honouring the late President Lech Kaczynski to the presidential palace chapel, in an attempt to end a lengthy dispute that divided the nation.

There was no disturbance when palace officials took down the simple wooden cross from the square outside the palace.

Attempts to remove it in August revealed a rift in Polish society between the nation's more conservative devout Roman Catholics and younger citizens, who are increasingly self-confident and insists on an enforcement of the separation of church and state.

The cross was set up by Boy and Girl Scouts shortly after Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and 95 other top officials were killed in a plane crash in April.