Walesa returns home after disappearance

GDANSK, Poland (A P) — Solidarity ch ief Lech W alesa re tu rned to a joyful hom ecom ing yesterday after m ysteriously disappearing for m ore than a day following his release from 11 m onths in martial-law custody. There was no im m ediate explana­ tion for Walesa’s delay in com ing hom e to the first-floor apartm ent in this Baltic port city w here his wife, seven children and hundreds of friends and supporters had m ain­ tained a long, anxious vigil. W alesa was arrested w hen m artial law was im posed Dec. 13 and Solidarity suspended. The independen t union was outlaw ed by Parliam ent last month. The crow d broke in to cheers w hen the 39-year-old union chief show ed up just before 10:30 p.m. — 4:30 p.m. EST. But Walesa jum ped from the car, and accom panied by several bodyguards, rushed in to th e bu ild ­ ing w ithout shaking hands. W it­ nesses d iscounted an earlier rep o rt that the bodyguards w ere Solidarity m em bers and said it appeared they w ere governm ent security men. After five m inutes and in response to the incessant chants o f th e crow d, he w ent to an open w indow o f the apartm ent and said, “I will speak very briefly because I have no t used m y voice for one year. “We have to reach an agreem ent, bu t not on our knees," he said, e c ­ hoing the statem ent he m ade during an interview w ith the governm ent television netw ork Saturday at the state-run lodge in sou theastern Poland w here he had been held for the past six months. W hen he asked if the interview had been show n on television last night, the crow d roared, “No." W alesa arrived in a four-car caravan w hen a crow d that had sw elled to about 3,000 during the day’s w aiting had dw indled to about 500. He re tu rn ed to the drab apart­ m ent in G dansk’s Zaspa d istric t four days after the m ilitary regim e an­ nounced his im pending release from the governm ent lodge at Arlamow, w here he had been in custody for six o f the 11 m onths o f in ternm ent. Mystery, speculation and official silence had su rrounded W alesa’s w hereabou ts since the com m unist governm ent announced Saturday that it had freed him. A uthorities had said they w ere freeing him because they no longer considered him a political threat, and that he had prom ised to com e to term s w ith the m artial law govern­ ment. The governm ent said Saturday that W alesa had left Arlamow and d istribu ted p ic tu res show ing the un ­ ion leader carry ing suitcases. A black car was p ic tu red in the background. A copy of the transcrip t o f the television in terv iew that was ob ­ tained by The A ssocia ted Press quo ted W alesa as saying he w ants a reconciliation w ith th e governm ent bu t “not on my knees. ” The crow d gathered outside the Walesa apartm ent, one of hundreds of nondescrip t dw ellings in a Gdansk suburb, had decora ted the neighborhood w ith Polish flags, red Solidarity banners, p ic tu res o f Walesa and flowers. Police m ade no m oves to stop them . * * * * *