Jadwiga Kaczynska, mom of Polish leaders, dies

WARSAW, Poland -- Jadwiga Kaczynska, the mother of the late President Lech Kaczynski and his identical twin brother, Jaroslaw -- an unusual political duo who shaped public life in Poland for many years -- has died. She was 86.

Kaczynska's death yesterday was announced by Law and Justice, the conservative party led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

The sons were openly attached to their mother and credited her with playing a strong role in shaping their political views and decisions.

For a time the two held the country's top political jobs simultaneously -- as prime minister and president -- and she was sometimes with them at ceremonial events. The closeness of the family was also a way they expressed their attachment to traditional, Roman Catholic family values.

They had credited her with shaping their deeply conservative and patriotic world view, one that is marked by deep suspicion of Poland's historic foes Germany and Russia. -- AP