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Yushchenko stands by poisoning claims
Ukraine's Opposition leader and presidential candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, has reiterated his assertion that the disfiguration of his face is the result of an attempt to kill him by  poisoning. "I believe now more and more that what happened to me was an act of a settling of political scores," Mr Yushchenko said. "The aim was to kill me." He says forensic tests may be made public in the next few days that will set the record straight on what has happened to him. Mr Yushchenko, 50, fell ill on September 6. Four days later he was admitted to the Vienna clinic, where he remained until September 19. When he finally re-emerged weeks later, voters in Ukraine were shocked to see a man who appeared to have aged by at least a decade. Mr Yushchenko, who will now face his pro-Russian opponent and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich on December 26 in a repeat of the disputed November 21 presidential election, vows that the episode is behind him. "I'm in good physical condition and on my way to full recovery," he said. "I give you my word - all data, all analysis concerning my health will be made public." Vienna treatment Mr Yushchenko has been treated for the ailment at a clinic in Vienna. The head of that facility, Michael Zimpfer, says that the results of further tests on blood samples taken recently in Kiev will be published today (local time). On Wednesday, Nikolai Korpan, a surgeon who treated Mr Yushchenko in the well-known private clinic, said he and his colleagues were working on three theories, all of which were related to poisoning. "But to this date we have no proof that it really was a case of poisoning," Dr Korpan said. He said that the first of the three theories involved dioxin, or endotoxin poisoning, but he would not elaborate on the two others, citing medical confidentiality. Endotoxin is a toxin synthesised by a bacteria, which is not detectable in the blood or urine as little as just hours after it has found its way into the body. If Mr Yushchenko had indeed been the victim of poisoning "it will probably be very difficult to demonstrate it," Dr Zimpfer said. Posted by: God Save The World 2004-12-11 |
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