http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&ncid=1503&e=19&u=/afp/20041208/ts_afp/ukraine_vote_opposition_health_britain_041208070332It was already pretty much general knowledge, but I thought I'd post this since it's the first official confirmation I've seen that
someone, naming no nameski, has been poisoning political rivals...
Top Stories - AFP
Doctors say Ukraine opposition leader Yushchenko was poisoned: Times
Wed Dec 8, 2:03 AM ET Top Stories - AFP
LONDON (AFP) - Ukraine's opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned in an attempt to kill him during election campaigning in September, a British daily reported, quoting the doctor who oversaw his treatment.
Doctors at Vienna's Rudolfinerhaus clinic are within days of identifying the substance that left Yushchenko's face disfigured with cysts and lesions, Doctor Nikolai Korpan was quoted as telling The Times in a telephone interview.
Specialists in Britain, the United States and France had helped to establish that it was a biological agent, a chemical agent or, most likely, a rare poison that struck him down in the run-up to the presidential election, he said.
Doctors needed to examine Yushchenko again at the clinic in Vienna to confirm their diagnosis but were in no doubt that the substance was administered deliberately, he was quoted as saying.
"This is no longer a question for discussion," Doctor Korpan said. "We are now sure that we can confirm which substance caused this illness. He received this substance from other people who had a specific aim."
Asked if the aim had been to kill him, Korpan said: "Yes, of course."
Proof that Yushchenko was deliberately poisoned would be a devastating blow for his rival, the prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, as the two candidates prepare for a repeat of a presidential run-off on December 26, The Times said.
It would raise questions about whether the poisoning was ordered by Yanukovich, his allies, or even the Kremlin, which fears that Yushchenko will take Ukraine out of its sphere of influence by joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union (news - web sites), it said.
Yushchenko had said recently that he would soon reveal proof that his opponents had tried to assassinate him, but a spokeswoman said he had no plans to travel to Vienna, the newspaper said.
Yushchenko fell ill on September 6 and was rushed to Rudolfinerhaus four days later with severe abdominal pain and lesions on his face and trunk, The Times said.
His liver, pancreas and intestines were swollen and his digestive tract covered in ulcers, but doctors could not explain the symptoms.
Against their advice he went back on the campaign trail after a week, but returned to the clinic two weeks later with back pain.
His Austrian doctors had said previously they had no proof of a criminal poisoning.
Nevertheless his campaign staff have insisted the medical exam revealed that Yushchenko's illness had been caused "by a viral infection and chemical substances that are not usually found in food products."
Yahoo seems to be getting funny about remote linking
