Soros attacked with glue
2004-03-31 13:03
Kiev - The US billionaire and philanthropist George Soros was splashed with water and glue in Ukraine's capital Kiev Wednesday by two young Ukrainians who burst into a hall where he was addressing a human rights conference.
"Soros, Out of Ukraine! You'll get nothing here!" the Ukrainians shouted as they carried out their protest, the Interfax news agency reported. They were immediately detained and led away by security personnel.
Soros said he doubted it was just an ordinary incident. "Somebody is behind this," he was quoted as saying by Interfax.
The Hungarian-born financier had accused the Ukrainian presidential administration of trying to prevent the holding of a forum in Crimea, southern Uraine, which finally started Tuesday.
Soros, who arrived on Monday in the former Soviet republic for a five-day visit, was due on Wednesday to meet Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and later in the week President Leonid Kuchma.
The Soros Foundation is heavily involved in promoting civil society and the development of democratic ideas, chiefly in former Soviet bloc countries. But it is sometimes accused of interfering in countries' internal affairs.
Soros's activities in Russia have been effectively frozen since the seizure of the foundation's Moscow premises in early November in a complicated property dispute that some have linked to political motives.
Former Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze, who was forced to resign after a wave of street protests by the opposition in November, accused Soros of orchestrating the campaign that led to his downfall.
The new US-educated Georgian president, 36-year-old Mikhail Sakaashvili, has held contacts with the popular pro-Western Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, tipped in opinion polls to win October presidential elections.
Opponents of Ukraine's Kuchma - who has ruled with strong-arm tactics since 1994 - accuse him of trying to use constitutional reforms to keep a hold on power after his second term ends in October.
- AFP