Muck Flies In Election Campaign
Poland's presidential candidate Lech Kaczynski sacked his campaign manager for saying the family of rival Donald Tusk had ties to Nazi Germany's army during World War Two.
After a day of controversy and amid signs the campaign was turning nasty, Kaczynski stepped in and sacked Jacek Kurski, the campaign manager who had made the allegations.
In a presidential debate later on Tuesday, Kaczynski said: "Today I must apologise to Donald Tusk for the elements of black PR in the campaign."
Kurski will face an intra-party disciplinary hearing for the accusations. Kaczynski, a conservative, trailed free-market enthusiast Tusk by a bit in the first round of voting last Sunday and the two will face off in a run-off on Oct. 23.
Any hint of collaboration with Nazi Germany is damaging in Poland, which was occupied by Hitler's troops and lost millions of citizens during the war.