Thursday, November 25, 2004

Walesa, Havel, Yushchenko poisoning

As the Ukraine election crisis enters another day, some items from here and there:

* The Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reports that Lech Walesa has flown to Kyiv for a meeting with Yushchenko, and probably also for one with Kuchma and Yanukovych:
Lech Walesa flies to Kiev
ms, mab 25-11-2004, last update 24-11-2004 18:25

Nobel prize-winner Lech Walesa flies today to Kyiv for one day with a mission. He will meet with the opposition leader Victor Yushchenko, and probably also with his rival Victor Yanukovich and president Leonid Kuchma.

The legendary leader of Solidarity was invited to Ukraine, just after the elections, by Victor Yushchenko. Walesa had been hesitating for a long time, he was still saying yesterday "that although he is with the Ukrainian people in spirit, he won't go there now". Today he had a planned trip to Portugal.

But at noon, Jaroslaw Walesa, who acts as an assistant of his father informed us - We are flying to Kyiv. Our plan: We're neutral and we talk with both sides.

The former president flies at dawn on the airplane provided by the present president. Probably he will be accompanied by other Polish politicians, among them another legend of Solidarity, Zbigniew Bujak [former "S" leader from the Warsaw region M.L.]

* The Moscow News has the following report:
Former Czech Leader Havel Urges Ukrainians to Keep Up Protests
Created: 24.11.2004 13:16 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:16 MSK,

Former Czech president, Vaclav Havel, urged Ukrainians to keep up their protests against the presidential election results.

The leader of the "Velvet Revolution" in Czechoslovakia was quoted by Reuters as saying that "all respected domestic and international organizations agree that your demands are justified. Therefore I wish you strength, endurance, courage and fortunate decisions."

Long years or decades of the Ukrainians' future are at stake, Havel said during a trip to Taiwan.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian presidential opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko proclaimed himself president even though preliminary results provided by the Central Election Commission said he lost. Late in the evening, Yushchenko and his supporters surrounded the president's office. The candidate's aides said the current president,
Leonid Kuchma, agreed to hold negotiations.

* The current issue of Nature magazine contains an article about a British toxicologist's claim that Yushchenko's acne points to dioxin poisoning:
John Henry, a clinical toxicologist at St Mary's Hospital, London, and a consultant for Britain's National Poisons Information Service, points out that current photos of Yushchenko's face show a dramatic transformation compared with a few months ago.

He says that Yushchenko's disfiguring acne is almost certainly 'chloracne', a characteristic symptom of dioxin poisoning.

(via Marius)

No comments: