Yushenko - Ukraine was poisoned
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Doctor: Yushchenko Poisoned With Dioxin
By SUSANNA LOOF
Associated Press Writer
The picture combo shows Viktor Yushchenko in file photos dated March 28, 2002, left, and Dec. 6, 2004, right. The Ukrainian opposition leader and presidential candidate's mysterious illness that scared his face was caused by dioxin poisoning, doctors said Saturday Dec. 11, 2004, in Vienna, Austria. (AP Photo/Viktor Pobedinsky/Efrem Lukatsky)
VIENNA, Austria ? Dioxin poisoning caused the mysterious illness of Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, a doctor said Saturday, adding that the poison could have been put in his soup.
Yushchenko is now in satisfactory condition and dioxin levels in his liver have returned to normal, Dr. Michael Zimpfer, director of Vienna's private Rudolfinerhaus clinic, said at a news conference.
A series of tests run over the past 24 hours provided conclusive evidence of the poisoning, Zimpfer said.
"There is no doubt about the fact that Mr. Yushchenko's disease ? especially following the results of the blood work ? has been caused by a case of poisoning by dioxin," Zimpfer said.
The 50-year-old opposition leader first fell ill in September and was rushed to the Vienna hospital. He resumed campaigning later in the month but his mysterious illness had left his face pockmarked and ashen.
Yushchcenko also suffered back pain, acute pancreatitis and nerve paralysis on the left side of his face.
He has accused Ukrainian authorities of trying to poison him ahead of Ukraine's presidential vote ? an allegation they have denied.
"We suspect involvement of an external party, but we cannot answer as to who cooked what or who was with him while he ate," Zimpfer said, adding that tests showed the dioxin was taken orally.
Zimpfer said Yushchenko's blood and tissue registered concentrations of dioxin ? one of the most toxic chemicals ? that were 1,000 times above normal levels.
"It would be quite easy to administer this amount in a soup," Zimpfer said.
Blood tests have been run on Yushchenko before, but this time the hospital sent the samples to a hospital in Amsterdam which is using a new analysis method that could test it for dioxin, Dr. Nikolai Korpan said.
Korpan added that no functional damage would remain and Yushchenko was "fully capable of working."
Yushchenko's supporters expressed little surprise Saturday as the medical report spread through the protesters' camp in Independence Square.
"Everybody knew he was poisoned so we didn't really need official tests," Anatoly Klotchyk, 19, who stood in the sleet outside his tent near the square.
A former representative for rival candidate Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on the Central Election Commission, Stepan Havrysh, questioned the medical conclusions, saying that while he felt sorry for Yushchenko, "I'm afraid, two weeks before the vote, it's all political technologies."
Taras Chornovyl, Yanukovych's campaign manager, also rejected the notion that the prime minister was involved, saying there was "no logic in such an accusation."
Kremlin representatives were not available for comment.
When first seen by the Austrian doctors, Yushchenko was in a "critical stage" but was "not on the verge of dying," Zimpfer said.
"If this dose had been higher, it may have caused death," Zimpfer said.
Dioxin ? one of the contaminants found in Agent Orange ? is formed as a by-product from industrial processes such as waste incineration, chemical and pesticide manufacturing and pulp and paper bleaching.
The tests showed that Yushchenko suffered from chloracne, a type of adult acne caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, which sometimes takes two to three years to heal, hospital dermatologist Hubert Pehmberger told The Associated Press.
Dioxins are a normal contaminant in many foods, but a single high dose can trigger illness, London-based toxicologist John Henry said last month.
Shortly after the announcement of the diagnosis on Saturday, Henry told British Broadcasting Corp. television that Yushchenko's case was, in his experience, unique.
"We've never had a case like this, a known case of large, severe dioxin poisoning ... It's normally fairly mild. It can cause liver damage," he said. "It's usually low-level, long-term poisoning. A very large dose, nobody has any real idea of what it would cause. Now we do know."
Yushchenko had returned to the hospital later in September for further treatment and checked in for a third time Friday.
Dr. Nikolai Korpan said "no functional damage will remain."
Citing fraud, Ukraine's Supreme Court voided the outcome of the Nov. 21 runoff vote, which Yushchenko lost to Yanukovych. A rerun of the ballot is slated for Dec. 26.
Arriving at the hospital Saturday afternoon, Yushchenko's wife Kateryna Chumachenko said she was convinced from the start that her husband was poisoned.
"We had received threats before it happened, and we continued to receive threats because I think there are many people who consider my husband and the changes he would bring to Ukraine a threat to them personally," she said.
Yushchenko arrived at the hospital in a convoy of three cars, surrounded by bodyguards.
"Everything is going well. I plan to live for a long time and I plan to live happily. I am getting better health every day," said Yushchenko, wearing a scarf in his orange campaign color.
Earlier in the race, Yushchenko had refused to let doctors take biopsies of his facial tissue and reportedly said he did not want to have his face bandaged while campaigning.
Going to Austria provided him an opportunity to determine conclusively what happened, said Markian Bilynskyj, a Kiev-based analyst.
"He can afford to miss a couple of days," Bilynskyj said. "The critical stages were before the first and the second round (of elections). Should he become president, he would have to dispel any doubts of his health."
.......................................................................................
By SUSANNA LOOF
Associated Press Writer
The picture combo shows Viktor Yushchenko in file photos dated March 28, 2002, left, and Dec. 6, 2004, right. The Ukrainian opposition leader and presidential candidate's mysterious illness that scared his face was caused by dioxin poisoning, doctors said Saturday Dec. 11, 2004, in Vienna, Austria. (AP Photo/Viktor Pobedinsky/Efrem Lukatsky)
VIENNA, Austria ? Dioxin poisoning caused the mysterious illness of Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, a doctor said Saturday, adding that the poison could have been put in his soup.
Yushchenko is now in satisfactory condition and dioxin levels in his liver have returned to normal, Dr. Michael Zimpfer, director of Vienna's private Rudolfinerhaus clinic, said at a news conference.
A series of tests run over the past 24 hours provided conclusive evidence of the poisoning, Zimpfer said.
"There is no doubt about the fact that Mr. Yushchenko's disease ? especially following the results of the blood work ? has been caused by a case of poisoning by dioxin," Zimpfer said.
The 50-year-old opposition leader first fell ill in September and was rushed to the Vienna hospital. He resumed campaigning later in the month but his mysterious illness had left his face pockmarked and ashen.
Yushchcenko also suffered back pain, acute pancreatitis and nerve paralysis on the left side of his face.
He has accused Ukrainian authorities of trying to poison him ahead of Ukraine's presidential vote ? an allegation they have denied.
"We suspect involvement of an external party, but we cannot answer as to who cooked what or who was with him while he ate," Zimpfer said, adding that tests showed the dioxin was taken orally.
Zimpfer said Yushchenko's blood and tissue registered concentrations of dioxin ? one of the most toxic chemicals ? that were 1,000 times above normal levels.
"It would be quite easy to administer this amount in a soup," Zimpfer said.
Blood tests have been run on Yushchenko before, but this time the hospital sent the samples to a hospital in Amsterdam which is using a new analysis method that could test it for dioxin, Dr. Nikolai Korpan said.
Korpan added that no functional damage would remain and Yushchenko was "fully capable of working."
Yushchenko's supporters expressed little surprise Saturday as the medical report spread through the protesters' camp in Independence Square.
"Everybody knew he was poisoned so we didn't really need official tests," Anatoly Klotchyk, 19, who stood in the sleet outside his tent near the square.
A former representative for rival candidate Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on the Central Election Commission, Stepan Havrysh, questioned the medical conclusions, saying that while he felt sorry for Yushchenko, "I'm afraid, two weeks before the vote, it's all political technologies."
Taras Chornovyl, Yanukovych's campaign manager, also rejected the notion that the prime minister was involved, saying there was "no logic in such an accusation."
Kremlin representatives were not available for comment.
When first seen by the Austrian doctors, Yushchenko was in a "critical stage" but was "not on the verge of dying," Zimpfer said.
"If this dose had been higher, it may have caused death," Zimpfer said.
Dioxin ? one of the contaminants found in Agent Orange ? is formed as a by-product from industrial processes such as waste incineration, chemical and pesticide manufacturing and pulp and paper bleaching.
The tests showed that Yushchenko suffered from chloracne, a type of adult acne caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, which sometimes takes two to three years to heal, hospital dermatologist Hubert Pehmberger told The Associated Press.
Dioxins are a normal contaminant in many foods, but a single high dose can trigger illness, London-based toxicologist John Henry said last month.
Shortly after the announcement of the diagnosis on Saturday, Henry told British Broadcasting Corp. television that Yushchenko's case was, in his experience, unique.
"We've never had a case like this, a known case of large, severe dioxin poisoning ... It's normally fairly mild. It can cause liver damage," he said. "It's usually low-level, long-term poisoning. A very large dose, nobody has any real idea of what it would cause. Now we do know."
Yushchenko had returned to the hospital later in September for further treatment and checked in for a third time Friday.
Dr. Nikolai Korpan said "no functional damage will remain."
Citing fraud, Ukraine's Supreme Court voided the outcome of the Nov. 21 runoff vote, which Yushchenko lost to Yanukovych. A rerun of the ballot is slated for Dec. 26.
Arriving at the hospital Saturday afternoon, Yushchenko's wife Kateryna Chumachenko said she was convinced from the start that her husband was poisoned.
"We had received threats before it happened, and we continued to receive threats because I think there are many people who consider my husband and the changes he would bring to Ukraine a threat to them personally," she said.
Yushchenko arrived at the hospital in a convoy of three cars, surrounded by bodyguards.
"Everything is going well. I plan to live for a long time and I plan to live happily. I am getting better health every day," said Yushchenko, wearing a scarf in his orange campaign color.
Earlier in the race, Yushchenko had refused to let doctors take biopsies of his facial tissue and reportedly said he did not want to have his face bandaged while campaigning.
Going to Austria provided him an opportunity to determine conclusively what happened, said Markian Bilynskyj, a Kiev-based analyst.
"He can afford to miss a couple of days," Bilynskyj said. "The critical stages were before the first and the second round (of elections). Should he become president, he would have to dispel any doubts of his health."
.......................................................................................
he apparently ingested "dioxin".....i.e. chemically hazardous waste material....
there`s no proof that it was intentional,though.... :thinking: :SIB :142smilie :142crying
"uhhhhh...please pass the dioxin.....errr,i mean the salt".......
there`s no proof that it was intentional,though.... :thinking: :SIB :142smilie :142crying
"uhhhhh...please pass the dioxin.....errr,i mean the salt".......
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it`s entirely possible that someone put dioxin in the "salt shaker"...and salt in the "dioxin shaker" by mistake....
these things happen...nobody`s perfect... :yup
these things happen...nobody`s perfect... :yup
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko left a Vienna clinic Sunday after being diagnosed with dioxin poisoning, saying he was happy to be alive and comparing the street demonstrations for him to the groundswell that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Yushchenko, who is facing a rerun of the runoff vote on Dec. 26 against Viktor Yanukovych, praised the thousands in Ukraine who took to the streets to demand the new vote after international monitors reported massive fraud in the Nov. 21 balloting that made Yanukovych the victor.
"We haven't seen anything like that for the past 100 years," he said. "I think it would be appropriate to compare this to the fall of the Soviet Union or the fall of the Berlin Wall."
The 50-year-old Yushchenko thanked the medical staff who determined he had been poisoned, which caused him extreme pain and left his once-handsome face severely pocked and gray.
"They've spent many days and nights with me and I am very happy to be alive in this world today," Yushchenko said. "I thank these people for this."
Doctors said had the dose of dioxin been greater, it could have been fatal but that he is now getting better and can return to the campaign trail.
Yushchenko did not talk about his previous claims that he was poisoned by Ukrainian authorities. Instread, the opposition leader focused on the two weeks of campaigning before the presidential runoff election.
"I am very happy that we were able to mobilize the Ukrainian community to stand up for its rights," he said.
After the confirmation of poisoning, Yanukovych campaigners on Saturday rejected suggestions that the prime minister could have been involved.
There is "no logic in such an accusation," said Taras Chornovyl, Yanukovych's campaign manager.
Yushchenko's wife Kateryna Chumachenko said Saturday that she and her husband had received threats and she had been convinced from the start that he was poisoned.
"There's nothing more to say," she said.
Yushchenko fell ill Sept. 5 and has been treated at the Vienna clinic twice before, but the tests performed since he checked in Friday night provided conclusive evidence of the poisoning, said hospital director Dr. Michael Zimpfer.
"There is no doubt about the fact that Mr. Yushchenko's disease - especially following the results of the blood work - has been caused by a case of poisoning by dioxin," Zimpfer said. Dioxin is a byproduct of industrial processes such as waste incineration and chemical and pesticide manufacturing.
Zimpfer said Yushchenko's blood and tissue dioxin concentrations 1,000 times normal levels.
Tests showed the toxin was taken orally, and was likely slipped into something that Yushchenko ate or drank, Zimpfer said.
The massive quantities of dioxin in Yushchenko's system caused chloracne, a type of adult acne caused by exposure to toxic chemicals. The condition is treatable, but can take two to three years to heal.
The Supreme Court ordered the presidential runoff because of fraud in the earlier vote that had Yanukovych winning.
Tension in Ukraine's political crisis has eased with parliament's adoption of the electoral changes aimed at preventing fraud in return for handing over some presidential powers to the parliament.
Yushchenko wants to move his former Soviet republic closer to the West politically and is largely backed by the Ukrainian-speakers who want to end what they say has been mass corruption during the previous decade.
The pro-Kremlin Yanukovych, who had been backed by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, draws his strength from the Russian-speaking, industrial east, which accounts for one-sixth of Ukraine's population of 48 million
Yushchenko, who is facing a rerun of the runoff vote on Dec. 26 against Viktor Yanukovych, praised the thousands in Ukraine who took to the streets to demand the new vote after international monitors reported massive fraud in the Nov. 21 balloting that made Yanukovych the victor.
"We haven't seen anything like that for the past 100 years," he said. "I think it would be appropriate to compare this to the fall of the Soviet Union or the fall of the Berlin Wall."
The 50-year-old Yushchenko thanked the medical staff who determined he had been poisoned, which caused him extreme pain and left his once-handsome face severely pocked and gray.
"They've spent many days and nights with me and I am very happy to be alive in this world today," Yushchenko said. "I thank these people for this."
Doctors said had the dose of dioxin been greater, it could have been fatal but that he is now getting better and can return to the campaign trail.
Yushchenko did not talk about his previous claims that he was poisoned by Ukrainian authorities. Instread, the opposition leader focused on the two weeks of campaigning before the presidential runoff election.
"I am very happy that we were able to mobilize the Ukrainian community to stand up for its rights," he said.
After the confirmation of poisoning, Yanukovych campaigners on Saturday rejected suggestions that the prime minister could have been involved.
There is "no logic in such an accusation," said Taras Chornovyl, Yanukovych's campaign manager.
Yushchenko's wife Kateryna Chumachenko said Saturday that she and her husband had received threats and she had been convinced from the start that he was poisoned.
"There's nothing more to say," she said.
Yushchenko fell ill Sept. 5 and has been treated at the Vienna clinic twice before, but the tests performed since he checked in Friday night provided conclusive evidence of the poisoning, said hospital director Dr. Michael Zimpfer.
"There is no doubt about the fact that Mr. Yushchenko's disease - especially following the results of the blood work - has been caused by a case of poisoning by dioxin," Zimpfer said. Dioxin is a byproduct of industrial processes such as waste incineration and chemical and pesticide manufacturing.
Zimpfer said Yushchenko's blood and tissue dioxin concentrations 1,000 times normal levels.
Tests showed the toxin was taken orally, and was likely slipped into something that Yushchenko ate or drank, Zimpfer said.
The massive quantities of dioxin in Yushchenko's system caused chloracne, a type of adult acne caused by exposure to toxic chemicals. The condition is treatable, but can take two to three years to heal.
The Supreme Court ordered the presidential runoff because of fraud in the earlier vote that had Yanukovych winning.
Tension in Ukraine's political crisis has eased with parliament's adoption of the electoral changes aimed at preventing fraud in return for handing over some presidential powers to the parliament.
Yushchenko wants to move his former Soviet republic closer to the West politically and is largely backed by the Ukrainian-speakers who want to end what they say has been mass corruption during the previous decade.
The pro-Kremlin Yanukovych, who had been backed by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, draws his strength from the Russian-speaking, industrial east, which accounts for one-sixth of Ukraine's population of 48 million
........................................................gardenweasel said:
Yeh the scary thing about it is that somewhere there were scientists and the question was posed to them. What would we do to really mess him up ?
Well you could put some dioxan in his soup.
Yikes... thats pretty evil thinking.
:scared
are they sure it wasn`t "botox"?.....
that "after" picture sort of has a little bit of a joan rivers feel to it....
that "after" picture sort of has a little bit of a joan rivers feel to it....
.............................................................AR182 said:
Putin is probably answering to imp people and
they do not wish to give up power and money.
It seems like nothing changes.
We do the same thing here.
And the same is done in Canada I am sure of it.
Ukraine Seeks to Control Yushchenko Probe
By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press Writer
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- Ukraine's outgoing government sought Monday to control the inquiry into the poisoning of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, with officials close to the government taking charge of both investigations into who tried to harm or kill the leader of the "Orange Revolution."
The head of a new inquiry by lawmakers - an ally of Yushchenko's opponent in the court-ordered Dec. 26 presidential rematch - immediately cast doubt on whether deliberate poisoning could be proven. The decision by a parliamentary commission to reopen its probe came a day after a similar move by the country's new top prosecutor.
Yushchenko praised Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun on Sunday for resuming the investigation after an elite clinic in Austria determined over the weekend he had been poisoned by dioxin. But he said he hoped the investigation would be conducted after the election because he didn't want it to influence the vote "positively or negatively."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the Bush administration was deeply disturbed by the physicians' report.
"We support a full and complete transparent investigation into that matter, into how it happened, who did it, what the cause was," Boucher said Monday.
The poisoning was not the first time that government opponents have been attacked in this former Soviet republic. More than two dozen Ukrainian politicians, high-ranking businessmen and journalists have died under suspicious circumstances over the past 10 years. All investigations into the deaths have proved inconclusive.
Getting to the bottom of what happened to Yushchenko is fraught with difficulties because many people stood to gain if he were sidelined from the election.
Speculation about who might have been behind the poisoning began immediately.
Ukraine Leader Says U.S. Meddled in Vote
Pro-Yushchenko lawmaker Yuriy Pavlenko speculated that Russian agents may have been involved - a popular local theory stemming from President Vladimir Putin's backing of Yushchenko's rival - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
"It is precisely Russia that was interested in neutralizing Viktor Yushchenko," Pavlenko said.
Many of the ruling elite faced the loss of lucrative contracts made possible by high-level connections if Yanukovych - President Leonid Kuchma's hand-picked successor - lost the race, analysts said. Many of those contracts involve Russia. All but one of Russia's major infrastructure links and natural gas exports to Europe pass through Ukraine.
The Ukrainian port of Odessa is an important regional trading outlet to the Black Sea and Middle East, while the naval base in Sevastopol is Russia's only deep-water port on the entire Black Sea coast. Russia also imports food from Ukraine and, in return, this country of 48 million is a key consumer of Russian goods and products.
Lawmakers from Yushchenko's party have said the Austrian clinic's findings confirmed that his opponents wanted to assassinate him rather than take the risk he would defeat Yanukovych. But some Ukrainian political analysts, such as Markian Bilynskyj, suggest that the point of the attack was to sideline Yushchenko long enough for him to drop from the public eye and lose support.
"The idea wasn't to kill him, to assassinate him," Bilynskyj said. "That would have turned Kuchma into a pariah. That would have been too obvious."
By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press Writer
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- Ukraine's outgoing government sought Monday to control the inquiry into the poisoning of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, with officials close to the government taking charge of both investigations into who tried to harm or kill the leader of the "Orange Revolution."
The head of a new inquiry by lawmakers - an ally of Yushchenko's opponent in the court-ordered Dec. 26 presidential rematch - immediately cast doubt on whether deliberate poisoning could be proven. The decision by a parliamentary commission to reopen its probe came a day after a similar move by the country's new top prosecutor.
Yushchenko praised Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun on Sunday for resuming the investigation after an elite clinic in Austria determined over the weekend he had been poisoned by dioxin. But he said he hoped the investigation would be conducted after the election because he didn't want it to influence the vote "positively or negatively."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the Bush administration was deeply disturbed by the physicians' report.
"We support a full and complete transparent investigation into that matter, into how it happened, who did it, what the cause was," Boucher said Monday.
The poisoning was not the first time that government opponents have been attacked in this former Soviet republic. More than two dozen Ukrainian politicians, high-ranking businessmen and journalists have died under suspicious circumstances over the past 10 years. All investigations into the deaths have proved inconclusive.
Getting to the bottom of what happened to Yushchenko is fraught with difficulties because many people stood to gain if he were sidelined from the election.
Speculation about who might have been behind the poisoning began immediately.
Ukraine Leader Says U.S. Meddled in Vote
Pro-Yushchenko lawmaker Yuriy Pavlenko speculated that Russian agents may have been involved - a popular local theory stemming from President Vladimir Putin's backing of Yushchenko's rival - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
"It is precisely Russia that was interested in neutralizing Viktor Yushchenko," Pavlenko said.
Many of the ruling elite faced the loss of lucrative contracts made possible by high-level connections if Yanukovych - President Leonid Kuchma's hand-picked successor - lost the race, analysts said. Many of those contracts involve Russia. All but one of Russia's major infrastructure links and natural gas exports to Europe pass through Ukraine.
The Ukrainian port of Odessa is an important regional trading outlet to the Black Sea and Middle East, while the naval base in Sevastopol is Russia's only deep-water port on the entire Black Sea coast. Russia also imports food from Ukraine and, in return, this country of 48 million is a key consumer of Russian goods and products.
Lawmakers from Yushchenko's party have said the Austrian clinic's findings confirmed that his opponents wanted to assassinate him rather than take the risk he would defeat Yanukovych. But some Ukrainian political analysts, such as Markian Bilynskyj, suggest that the point of the attack was to sideline Yushchenko long enough for him to drop from the public eye and lose support.
"The idea wasn't to kill him, to assassinate him," Bilynskyj said. "That would have turned Kuchma into a pariah. That would have been too obvious."
Doctors in Austria said Saturday that the dioxin, which caused dramatic facial disfigurement and other ailments, may have been slipped into his food.
Yushchenko had dinner with Security Service chief Ihor Smeshko and his deputy Volodymyr Satsyuk on Sept. 5. Yushchenko's American-born wife, Kateryna Chumachenko, told Ukraine's Zerkalo Nedeli weekly that her husband came home late and that when she kissed him she felt the strange taste of medicine.
The candidate fell sick the next day, and Ukrainian doctors treated him for food poisoning. Yushchenko was rushed to the Austrian clinic on Sept. 10. Smeshko has denied poisoning him.
Mikhail Pohrebinsky, a Kiev-based political analyst with ties to Kuchma, said all of the scenarios about Yushchenko's poisoning "are politically motivated and far from the truth."
For his part, Yanukovych said he sympathized with his rival and that he wished him "no evil."
In an interview with The Associated Press, he demanded a thorough investigation and promised not to interfere. But he stressed that the impact of the dioxin could hamper Yushchenko's performance should he be elected in the rerun.
"The fact of the matter is that Yushchenko is seriously ill," he said." We can all see it."
While high concentrations of dioxin, a byproduct of industrial processes, remain in his blood, doctors said Yushchenko's organs have not been damaged and he is fit for the campaign trail. His prognosis depends on which dioxin he ingested - which is not known - and in what amount.
Dioxins, or dioxin-like compounds, are pollutants found in air, soil and water, which can be released when industrial waste is burned. They build up in fatty tissues of animals, and scientists believe that humans are exposed to them when they eat meat and fish. Breast-feeding infants and unborn children are at risk of suffering harmful effects like behavioral disorders and cancer if they are exposed to high levels.
The chemical used in Agent Orange, a defoliant sprayed to clear jungles of vegetation during the Vietnam War, included the most toxic form of dioxin.
The investigations mark the second time the parliament and the prosecutor took up such probes.
Piskun, the new prosecutor, was appointed by Kuchma on Friday to replace Hennady Vasylyev, who was accused of covering up fraud in the Nov. 21 presidential runoff. Ukraine's election commission declared Yanukovych the winner.
But Ukraine's Supreme Court threw out the results as tainted and ordered a Dec. 26 rematch after tens of thousands of opposition protesters - wearing their trademark orange - demonstrated in the capital for more than two weeks.
A decision by lawmakers is required before the parliamentary commission begins work. Parliament has not met since the Austrian clinic announced that Yushchenko had been poisoned, and it was unclear whether his allies in the chamber would object.
Volodymyr Sivkovych, who leads the commission, concluded in October that Yushchenko had suffered a combination of a viral infection and several other diseases, while prosecutors agreed that they could not determine he was poisoned.
Sivkovych said he had met with the prosecutor general and said the urgency with which the case was raised suggested that all matters would be thoroughly investigated. But he refused to comment on "speculation" over who was behind the poisoning.
"All those scenarios are more public relations than truth," he said.
---
Associated Press writers Yuras Karmanau and Aleksandar Vasovic contributed to this story.
? 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
Yushchenko had dinner with Security Service chief Ihor Smeshko and his deputy Volodymyr Satsyuk on Sept. 5. Yushchenko's American-born wife, Kateryna Chumachenko, told Ukraine's Zerkalo Nedeli weekly that her husband came home late and that when she kissed him she felt the strange taste of medicine.
The candidate fell sick the next day, and Ukrainian doctors treated him for food poisoning. Yushchenko was rushed to the Austrian clinic on Sept. 10. Smeshko has denied poisoning him.
Mikhail Pohrebinsky, a Kiev-based political analyst with ties to Kuchma, said all of the scenarios about Yushchenko's poisoning "are politically motivated and far from the truth."
For his part, Yanukovych said he sympathized with his rival and that he wished him "no evil."
In an interview with The Associated Press, he demanded a thorough investigation and promised not to interfere. But he stressed that the impact of the dioxin could hamper Yushchenko's performance should he be elected in the rerun.
"The fact of the matter is that Yushchenko is seriously ill," he said." We can all see it."
While high concentrations of dioxin, a byproduct of industrial processes, remain in his blood, doctors said Yushchenko's organs have not been damaged and he is fit for the campaign trail. His prognosis depends on which dioxin he ingested - which is not known - and in what amount.
Dioxins, or dioxin-like compounds, are pollutants found in air, soil and water, which can be released when industrial waste is burned. They build up in fatty tissues of animals, and scientists believe that humans are exposed to them when they eat meat and fish. Breast-feeding infants and unborn children are at risk of suffering harmful effects like behavioral disorders and cancer if they are exposed to high levels.
The chemical used in Agent Orange, a defoliant sprayed to clear jungles of vegetation during the Vietnam War, included the most toxic form of dioxin.
The investigations mark the second time the parliament and the prosecutor took up such probes.
Piskun, the new prosecutor, was appointed by Kuchma on Friday to replace Hennady Vasylyev, who was accused of covering up fraud in the Nov. 21 presidential runoff. Ukraine's election commission declared Yanukovych the winner.
But Ukraine's Supreme Court threw out the results as tainted and ordered a Dec. 26 rematch after tens of thousands of opposition protesters - wearing their trademark orange - demonstrated in the capital for more than two weeks.
A decision by lawmakers is required before the parliamentary commission begins work. Parliament has not met since the Austrian clinic announced that Yushchenko had been poisoned, and it was unclear whether his allies in the chamber would object.
Volodymyr Sivkovych, who leads the commission, concluded in October that Yushchenko had suffered a combination of a viral infection and several other diseases, while prosecutors agreed that they could not determine he was poisoned.
Sivkovych said he had met with the prosecutor general and said the urgency with which the case was raised suggested that all matters would be thoroughly investigated. But he refused to comment on "speculation" over who was behind the poisoning.
"All those scenarios are more public relations than truth," he said.
---
Associated Press writers Yuras Karmanau and Aleksandar Vasovic contributed to this story.
? 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
Yushchenko says government poisoned him
December 17, 2004
The Associated Press
KIEV, Ukraine ? Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko starkly accused the government Thursday of poisoning him in a "political murder" to knock him out of the presidential race, saying his massive dioxin dose probably came from a dinner three months ago with Ukraine's security chief.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Yushchenko laid the blame unequivocally on the government of President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, his opponent in the contest to be decided in a Dec. 26 repeat of their fraud-marred runoff.
For the first time, he also pinpointed the time and place the poisoning likely took place: a Sept. 5 dinner with the head of the Ukrainian Security Service, Ihor Smeshko, and his deputy, Volodymyr Satsyuk.
"That was the only place where no one from my team was present and no precautions were taken concerning the food," Yushchenko told the AP.
"It was a project of political murder, prepared by the authorities."
Yevhen Chervonenko, a lawmaker and the head of Yushchenko's security detail, told the AP on Thursday that he had tasted all Yushchenko's food that day except for what was served at the security service deputy's dacha.
"The authorities did it because I am the opponent, the opposition candidate for Ukraine's presidency," he said. He said he was "very much in the way" of the leadership's plans.
The two top security service leaders were unavailable for reaction to Yushchenko's allegations, and a security service spokesman declined comment.
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December 17, 2004
The Associated Press
KIEV, Ukraine ? Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko starkly accused the government Thursday of poisoning him in a "political murder" to knock him out of the presidential race, saying his massive dioxin dose probably came from a dinner three months ago with Ukraine's security chief.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Yushchenko laid the blame unequivocally on the government of President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, his opponent in the contest to be decided in a Dec. 26 repeat of their fraud-marred runoff.
For the first time, he also pinpointed the time and place the poisoning likely took place: a Sept. 5 dinner with the head of the Ukrainian Security Service, Ihor Smeshko, and his deputy, Volodymyr Satsyuk.
"That was the only place where no one from my team was present and no precautions were taken concerning the food," Yushchenko told the AP.
"It was a project of political murder, prepared by the authorities."
Yevhen Chervonenko, a lawmaker and the head of Yushchenko's security detail, told the AP on Thursday that he had tasted all Yushchenko's food that day except for what was served at the security service deputy's dacha.
"The authorities did it because I am the opponent, the opposition candidate for Ukraine's presidency," he said. He said he was "very much in the way" of the leadership's plans.
The two top security service leaders were unavailable for reaction to Yushchenko's allegations, and a security service spokesman declined comment.
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Question
Is the kid with the red hair real or is he in
the sign photo ? Its a strange bunch them
Ukranians.
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