Spy chief is poisoning suspect

Scotsman ^ | 13 Dec 2004 | CHRIS STEPHEN

[Tailgunner Joe]

UKRAINIAN prosecutors will today begin an investigation into allegations that state officials tried to assassinate opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, following weekend confirmation that he was poisoned in the run-up to presidential elections.

It is an inquiry that is expected to be hugely divisive because the prime suspect is the head of the Ukraine secret service, the SBU.

The official dined with Mr Yushchenko the night he was poisoned, and medical experts say the dioxin is likely to have been administered through the food and drink.

Mr Yushchenko, expected to be elected president in re-run elections on 26 December, yesterday promised a full investigation of the case.

Leaving the Vienna clinic which confirmed, after weeks of uncertainty, that he had suffered dioxin poisoning, he told reporters: "This question will require a great deal of time and serious investigation."

His call was echoed in Washington, where state department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said: "We urge Ukrainian authorities to investigate this matter." She said US officials had also studied the Austrian report and were "deeply concerned about these findings".

Mr Yushchenko yesterday insisted his poisoning would not be the key issue in campaigning ahead of the presidential run-off contest against prime minister Viktor Yanukovich. He said: "I don’t want this factor to influence the election in some way - either as a plus or a minus."

In fact, the timing of the announcement means the issue can hardly be anything else. The poisoning allegations have been the central theme of this election battle ever since Mr Yushchenko was rushed to hospital with a mystery illness on 5 September this year.

His American wife, Ekaterina, said she knew something was wrong when she kissed him the night of the attack, and found a "medicinal" taste on his lips.

The following day, wracked with pain, Mr Yushchenko was rushed to the elite Rudolfinerhaus Clinic. Doctors there saved his life, but insisted in the weeks that followed that they did not know what had made him ill.

Nevertheless, the sight of Mr Yushchenko’s once handsome and now pockmarked and puffy face became the key image of the pro-democracy demonstrations of recent weeks.

Finally, after a battery of tests on Friday, the Austrian clinic confirmed what opponents had long insisted - that Mr Yushchenko was struck by dioxin poisoning. That an attempt on his life was made is now almost certain, but prosecutors still face an uphill battle.

Firstly, the clinic director Dr Michael Zimpher was unable to say which dioxin had been responsible, only that the level of dioxins in Mr Yushchenko’s body were 1,000 times the normal level.

Dioxin is a generic name for toxic chemicals, any one of which may be responsible for Mr Yushchenko’s sickness.

The massive quantities of dioxin found 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.

"Until recently there has been no testing available," said Dr Zimpher. "This may be one of the reasons that this kind of poisoning, if it was a criminal act, was chosen."

But tracing the exact poison, and proving that someone tipped it into his food - a cream soup is the suspected source, according to doctors - will not be easy.

Sources in Kiev say the best hope of solving the mystery has been the recent defection to the opposition of several senior SBU officials, who may bring with them details of any "dirty tricks" operations by the service.

The government, meanwhile, has been issuing furious denials. "There is no logic to this accusation," said Mr Yanukovich’s campaign manager, Taras Chornovyl.

Undercutting the government’s case has been their refusal, ever since the September attack, to admit the possibility of poisoning, or to investigate the allegation.

All this will now change. Last week a new chief prosecutor, Svyatoslav Piskun, was appointed as part of a deal between Mr Yushchenko and the current president Leonid Kuchma clearing the way for new elections.

Mr Piskun was fired by Mr Kuchma last year, allegedly for being too energetic in probing secret service links to the murder of opposition journalist Georgy Gongadze.

There is pressure for Mr Piskun to launch a wide-scale inquiry into whether there was secret service involvement in both the poisoning and the Gongadze case.

For the opposition, an investigation into the poisoning is a sound election tactic, in keeping the government on the defensive.

This investigation will also provide a rallying cry for government opponents, who characterise their fight as more than merely political.

"It shows that in this election you have a fight not only between Yushchenko and Yanukovich, not only between opposition and government, but between the truth and a lie," said Professor Olexiy Haran, director of Kiev’s school for policy analysis.

Mr Yushchenko yesterday insisted his focus remained on the achievement of his supporters in forcing the government to re-run November’s presidential elections after the supreme court and international monitors found widespread fraud.

"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."

DIOXIN - THE SYMPTOMS

DIOXINS come in all shapes and sizes, with low levels arriving in our bodies through processed foods. Other sources include paper bleach, grasshoppers and bonfires, though none of these can supply the concentrations in Mr Yushchenko’s system.

Chloracne, his disfiguring skin condition, is the most recognisable symptom of acute dioxin poisoning, but there are a variety of symptoms, ranging from gastrointestinal disturbances to metabolic disorders. The skin condition can disappear after the poison wears off, or it can persist for many years.

Mr Yushchenko also suffered back pain, acute pancreatitis and paralysis on the left side of his face.

Chronic dioxin exposure is believed to increase the risk of cancers and cause liver damage.

[Dog Gone]

Grasshoppers are the biggest source of dioxins in my body. I'm not sure what to do about it.

[BreitbartSentMe]

Switch to a new drink??

[Dog Gone]

I was going to switch to paper bleach, a really kick-butt concoction, but this article doesn't recommend that, either.

[japaneseghost]

See http://www.viable-herbal.com/herbdesc2/1milkthi.htm

[Travis McGee]

Same old KGB, under any name.

Mokroe Delo. Wet Affairs.

[Shermy]

.

[Leo Carpathian]

"Nice" towarisch rasPutin and his minions. Time to cleanup commie infestation of Ukraine.
I hope that W brings his own soup next time he meets rasPutin for dinner.

[fire_eye]

Something about this doesn't sound right.

I have no doubt that Putin and the KGB would poison an opposition leader in one of the buffer states. But, assuming they had decided on such an action, would they do it by having the head of the KGB in that region do it at dinner with the target?

It seems to me that in such case they would go out of their way to make it look like an accident, not get some top KGB operative to do it. That's almost certain to backfire - and particularly in a case where the poison was designed to leave the target alive.

Something doesn't add up...

[BreitbartSentMe]

Karl Rove must have been behind it! 8-)

[fire_eye]

Damn, why didn't I think of that!!

I missed my chance to be the first to blame Bush.

Damn, damn, damn... My moment of glory slipped *right* through my fingers...

[BreitbartSentMe]

Well, you could sneak over to DU and post the theory. I don't have posting priveleges over there, but they like to blame everying on a 'Rovian' plot....

[fire_eye]

I can't stomach reading that site (except when they're wailing disconsolately, and even then only for a while...).

But posting outrageous conspiracy theories over there to see if they'll go for it, is a good idea. I've suggested it any number of times - this is another suitable occasion. I just wish I could tolerate the site enough to carry out my intentions...

How would this work - Rove is jealous of Bush's friendship with Putin so he arranged for Drinkalotski or whatever his name was, to be poisoned and made it look like Putin did it - would that fly on DUh?

[danamco]

"Nice" towarisch rasPutin and his minions. Time to cleanup commie infestation of Ukraine.
I hope that W brings his own soup next time he meets rasPutin for dinner.



His father, Bush 1, got sick at a dinner party in Japan years ago where he threw up at the table!!!

[LibertyRocks]

Didn't know if you had seen this or not. You may want to ping this one.(o:

[MeekOneGOP]

Spy chief is poisoning suspect

Excerpt:

UKRAINIAN prosecutors will today begin an investigation into allegations that state officials tried to assassinate opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, following weekend confirmation that he was poisoned in the run-up to presidential elections.

It is an inquiry that is expected to be hugely divisive because the prime suspect is the head of the Ukraine secret service, the SBU.

The official dined with Mr Yushchenko the night he was poisoned, and medical experts say the dioxin is likely to have been administered through the food and drink.

Mr Yushchenko, expected to be elected president in re-run elections on 26 December, yesterday promised a full investigation of the case.

Leaving the Vienna clinic which confirmed, after weeks of uncertainty, that he had suffered dioxin poisoning, he told reporters: "This question will require a great deal of time and serious investigation."

His call was echoed in Washington, where state department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said: "We urge Ukrainian authorities to investigate this matter." She said US officials had also studied the Austrian report and were "deeply concerned about these findings".

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Yushchenko vs. Yanukovych/Ukraine election ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks. :^)

[Grzegorz 246]

Thanks.

[Grzegorz 246]

Putinists - ping !

[Destro]

Why would a spy chief make himself an obvious suspect? They are called spooks for a reason and it is not because they work in plain sight.