World Notes POLAND

The encounter was as historic as the setting. In the glittering white ballroom of the 17th century Palace of the Council of Ministers, 57 people took seats at a massive table built especially for the occasion. Ranged around one side were negotiators for Poland's Communist government, led by the Interior Minister, General Czeslaw Kiszczak. On the other hunched the portly, moustached figure of Lech Walesa at the head of a 25-member team from the banned Solidarity trade union and other opposition groups.

The much anticipated talks, expected to last six weeks, had come at the behest of Communist Party chief Wojciech Jaruzelski's government, which called for negotiations last August. Walesa is demanding that Solidarity once more be legalized and blames the government for "ruining" the country. The government insists that the independent union not return to the "anarchy" of the past, endorse unpopular economic reforms or participate in "nonconfrontational " elections. The initial face-off indicated that even tougher negotiations lie ahead as the two parties try to reach a reconciliation.