Tens of thousands of grieving Poles packed into Krakow on Sunday for the burial of President Lech Kaczynski and his wife alongside ancient kings and heroes, though Europe\'s air travel crisis kept many world leaders away.
US President Barack Obama and dozens of other dignitaries abandoned plans to attend because of the volcanic ash cloud, but Russian President Dmitry Medvedev showed solidarity after the April 10 plane crash in Russia that killed the couple and 94 others.
Mourners applauded the Kaczynskis, tossed flowers and waved red and white flags as the cortège weaved through the narrow streets of Poland\'s former royal capital, after their bodies were flown by military aircraft from Warsaw.
Sirens wailed and church bells rang to mark the start of the funeral mass at the Gothic Basilica of Our Lady in Krakow\'s central square, where huge crowds had gathered to see the service relayed live on giant screens.
The archbishop of Krakow, Stanislaw Dziwisz, thanked the foreign leaders who came to the service and said he hoped the crash would help end decades of tensions between Russia and Poland.
"The empathy and help that we experienced during these days from our Russian brothers raises hope for rapprochement and reconciliation," he said. "These words I direct to Mr. president of Russia."
Kaczynski\'s Tupolev Tu-154 jet slammed into a forest near Smolensk in western Russia while heading for a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet forces in the Katyn forest.
Acting president Bronislaw Komorowski -- who met Medvedev before the funeral along with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk -- said at the service he hoped Russia would one day reveal the full truth about the atrocity.
Despite his reputation as an often divisive nationalist, Kaczynski and his wife Maria were to be laid to rest in the cathedral crypt of Krakow\'s Wawel castle, alongside Poland\'s monarchs, national heroes, saints and poets.
They will be lowered into a sarcophagus inscribed with their names and a cross. It will lie next to that of Poland\'s revered independence leader, Jozef Pilsudski.
The funeral marks the climax of a national outpouring of grief since the crash, which also killed scores of senior military and civilian officials.
"It\'s an exceptional moment. Poles have to be here," said Maria Kurowska, the mayor of the town of Jaslo, who was in the crowd.
Police said there were nearly 100,000 mourners in Krakow, half of them outside the church and the rest on a huge square which once accommodated some two million people during a mass by Polish pope John Paul II.
A day earlier a similar number massed in Warsaw for a public memorial service for all the victims of the crash.
But the Icelandic volcano eruption that has disrupted European air travel also cast its shadow over Sunday\'s funeral.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Britain\'s Prince Charles and South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan were among dozens of dignitaries who cancelled.
The leaders of many countries close to Poland, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, arrived in Krakow by road and rail instead.
Eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus slammed EU officials for failing to come, saying that "grand phrases about European unity are really nothing but cliches."
Poles lining the streets of Krakow said the foreign no-shows did not detract from the solemnity of the day.
"It looks like a higher power is at work but nothing is keeping us away," said Anna Zajac, 28, who came with her husband and two children from a suburb of Krakow.
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