Security heads deny poison plot

2004-12-23 12:47

Kiev - Ukraine's top security service denied on Thursday that it had any involvement with the dioxin poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko, the country's top opposition leader and leading candidate in Sunday's rerun for the presidency.

In a statement posted on its website, Ukraine's State Security Service, or SBU, said that "it has no relation with the worsening" of Yushchenko's health.

Last week in an interview with The Associated Press, Yushchenko said he was probably poisoned at a September 5 dinner with the head of the Ukrainian security service, Ihor Smeshko, and his deputy, Volodymyr Satsyuk, who later denied any involvement in the poisoning.

"The Ukrainian Security Service did not obtain a single official document that could provide a basis for the establishment of the time or the place or the fact of the candidate's poisoning," the statement said.

Dramatically disfigured his face

The poisoning dramatically disfigured Yushchenko's face but doctors have said he has recovered enough to campaign.

Ukrainian prosecutors and a special parliamentary committee are investigating, and the state security service has expressed willingness to participate in the probe.

On Wednesday, Yushchenko told thousands of his orange-clad supporters massed at Kiev's Independence square for a giant rally that his victory is near.

"The doors have been opened. The only thing left for us is to step over the threshold," Yushchenko said during the open-air speech called to mark one month since the "orange revolution" protests.

He warned of a plot to disrupt the revote, but did not say who was behind it.

"The vote on December 26 will not be an easy political walk," he said. "There are some forces preparing to disrupt and they are preparing brigades, groups who are readying to come to Kiev."

"We will come on this square, this stage, after the vote on December 26 and will stay until our victory is celebrated," he said.

Fears of violence have been high ahead of Sunday's runoff, with rumours swirling that armed supporters of Yushchenko's rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, are poised to head to Kiev after the vote. Yanukovych's campaign staff has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Heated campaign divided Ukraine

The heated campaign has divided Ukraine between the pro-Yanukovych industrial, Russian-speaking east, and the west and centre where Yushchenko draws his support. Some eastern regions had raised the possibility of pursuing autonomy if Yushchenko wins.

Yushchenko's call for supporters to gather after the vote echoed a similar appeal he made after the November 21 runoff that Yanukovych won, until the Supreme Court annulled the vote, citing massive fraud.

For nearly three weeks, Independence Square was the scene of massive protests that paralysed the government in this ex-Soviet republic. Protesters set up a sprawling tent camp on the tree-lined main street, bringing central Kiev to a halt.

- AP