World leaders have been paying tribute to...

The plane was carrying sixty-year-old Kaczynski, his wife and a delegation of senior officials to a ceremony to commemorate the memory of some 20,000 Polish officers killed by Soviet secret police during World War Two.

The Soviet-made Tu-154 hit trees as it approached Smolensk airport in thick fog. All 97 people on board died.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was shocked to hear the news of the crash.

"On behalf of the United Nations, the Secretary-General expresses his deep and heartfelt condolences to the people and government of Poland and to the families of those who perished," Ban"s spokesman said..

"The Secretary-General said President Kaczynski had served his country and people with distinction and conviction, and was deservedly respected internationally. That he died en route to an event marking a new level of reconciliation between Poland and Russia is particularly poignant."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced a national

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