Word: walesa
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...Lech Walesa, the most common of men doing the most uncommon things...
...same time, police and soldiers were rounding up union radicals elsewhere. The door of one unionist's apartment was smashed as police pushed their way inside. Additional arrests were made in the Baltic port city of Gdansk, where the ruling committee of Solidarity, including its leader, Lech Walesa, had been in stormy session. Also taken into custody were several former government officials, including former Communist Party Chief Edward Gierek. Despite the apparent size of the operation, the news blackout had been planned so carefully that even in the capital, few Poles were aware of what was happening...
...rumors circulated, the whereabouts of Solidarity leader Lech Walesa remained unclear. Polish officials originally said Walesa was free and had been flown from Gdansk to Warsaw to negotiate and attempt to prevent a general strike...
Later reports, however, said that Walesa was under house arrest in a government building outside of Warsaw. The Polish government did not include Walesa's name on a list of interned Solidarity leaders issued Wednesday. Polish officials said Tuesday he was psychologically broken and weeping but Solidarity sources said he remained psychologically sound...
...Walesa was categorical: "If parliament approves the legislation, a general strike will be announced, because we don't see any other way out." Yet, significantly, no date was set for consideration of the strikebreaking bill. As in the past, both sides seemed interested in avoiding a showdown. There was still time for the fire to cool. -By Patricia Blake. Reported by Roland Flamini and Richard Hornik/Warsaw