LEAD: Thirty injured, scores arrested on Polish independence day

Nov 11, 2011, 18:03 GMT

Warsaw - Thirty people were injured, including nine policemen, and more than 150 were arrested as nationalist and leftist protesters clashed with police Friday during a march commemorating Poland's 93rd Independence Day.

'Hooligans' threw rocks and bottles at police, slightly injuring nine policemen, as several thousand marched in the capital, said Maciej Karczynski of the Warsaw police.

Police arrested more than 150 people, including members of leftist groups, after they attacked officers during the marches. The violence reportedly broke out when police tried to stop skirmishes between nationalist and leftist groups.

Marchers also set fire to two vehicles belonging to a local news broadcaster.

President Bronislaw Komorowski canceled a visit to the philharmonic for a concert late Friday, and called a meeting of advisors to discuss if current laws regulating mass events were sufficient.

The march was organized by far-right organizations, including the All Polish Youth group. Around 10,000 people took part, organizers said.

Various left-wing organizations had said they would hold rallies and block the nationalists' march, calling the groups 'fascists.'

Earlier Friday, President Komorowski took part in a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw. He appealed for Poles to celebrate the day in unity.

'Let's not dictate to others how they should love Poland,' Komorowski said.

Poland regained independence on November 11, 1918 after more than a century of partitions by Austria, Russia and Prussia.