Poland's ruling conservatives say files cast new shadow over Walesa

Newly-publicised documents have revived claims Lech Walesa, the giant of Poland's struggle to overthrow communism, was a secret police informant in the 1970s - allegations still fuelling an old feud among postcommunist leaders. Poland's ruling conservatives, led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, have leapt at the opportunity to question Walesa's independence from the communist-era police after he became Poland's first democratically elected president between 1990 and 1995. His defenders say that whatever the authenticity of the documents, they do little to undermine the record of a man who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983. Walesa, 72, has said a batch of files found last week at the house of a late communist interior minister was fabricated, and denied he ever spied on fellow dissidents, an accusation he has faced repeatedly over two decades. The new files contain a handwritten document signed "Lech Walesa" which includes a pledge to cooperate with the secret service. It mentions the codename "Bolek", long ascribed by critics to Walesa. Other documents include typed descriptions of conversations with Bolek in which he describes the mood among workers in the Gdansk shipyard where...

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