Czech press hail Havel, 'man who changed the nation'

Czech dailies on Monday heaped tributes on Vaclav Havel, calling the late former president and revolution icon a fighter for truth who changed the course of history. Havel "won his greatest political battles," the mass-circulation DNES newspaper said in a commentary, dedicating 22 pages to the man hailed as the "soul of the Czech revolution." "Some see him as an incorrigible political idealist, others as a famous artist. But everyone who has heard of the small country in the heart of Europe will probably see him as a symbol of the fight against totalitarianism," it said. Havel, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992 and of its successor Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003, died aged 75 on Sunday after a long battle with respiratory illness -- a legacy of the five years he spent in communist jails.   "He was the only Czech president who spoke at the US Congress, where he received a standing ovation. He was a unique politician because he basically never was a politician at all," the Lidove Noviny said. "We will never have anyone else like Havel." The Blesk tabloid enlarged its format for a special edition that ran with the title "The Man Who Changed the Nation -- Thank You" under a poster-sized front-page portrait. "He fought for our freedom, and freedom is the greatest gift we have. One full epoch of Czech history will carry the imprint of his personality," it said.    The Hospodarske Noviny broadsheet ran Havel's motto "truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred," adding: "It is up to us, the others, to fight for the victory of truth and love now."