Walesa opens his communist-era file

Lech Walesa has made public 500 pages of files kept on him by Poland's former secret police in an attempt to end accusations he was a communist collaborator.

Mr Walesa won the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize for his fight for labour freedom and was elected Poland's first post-communist president in 1990.

"I got sick and tired of the constant accusations, doubts and insinuations being peddled by these people and decided to publish these materials for all to see," he said yesterday after publishing the files on the Internet ( www.mojageneracja.pl/1980 ).

But some of his former colleagues in the Solidarity trade union he led to victory over communism have accused him of being the creation of the secret services and of shielding ex-communists from justice.

Mr Walesa has ridiculed such charges and won several court cases against his accusers. He has been cleared of any collaboration by a special vetting agency.

Mr Walesa said the files he published on his blog showed how the secret police had manipulated his fellow Solidarity activists and sowed discord within the organisation's ranks by smearing them.