Top Ukraine politician shot dead

KIEV - The Ukrainian Transport Minister and one of Ukraine's most prominent businessmen, Heorhiy Kyrpa, was found dead yesterday at his home outside Kiev, days after the rerun election.

"An investigating group from the police are working at the scene. He was found dead with gunshot wounds at his dacha," a Government source said.

The television station 5 Kanal reported a gun was found near the body. It was not clear whether Kyrpa killed himself or was murdered.

West-leaning Opposition Leader Viktor Yushchenko looked certain yesterday to become Ukraine's next President.

But his opponent, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, refused to concede defeat in the bitterly fought contest.

Kyrpa was named Transport Minister in July as part of an overhaul by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma.

The move created a single transport and telecommunication ministry and came as Ukraine was preparing to sell 43 per cent of its national fixed-line telecoms monopoly Ukrtelekom.

Analysts said the move would increase state influence in the industry.

Kyrpa had close ties to Kuchma and at one time was mentioned as a possible candidate in the presidential election that ended with Sunday's rerun of a rigged November 21 poll.

Yushchenko has promised to end rampant graft and reform the ex-Soviet state's damaged economy. He wants to align Ukraine with the West, fanning concerns in Russia that it will lose influence over a region where it has held sway for 300 years.

Prime Minister Yanukovich, who won a rigged vote last month, angrily rejected conceding defeat and said he would lodge a challenge in the Supreme Court - the same method used by the Opposition to force Sunday's rerun.

That threatens to prolong the nation's five-week crisis, although Yanukovich has failed to muster anywhere near the popular support that Yushchenko did. He gave no details of evidence to back his case.

International observers gave their blessing to the rerun of the presidential election, saying it had been much fairer than the November 21 poll which the Supreme Court quashed on the grounds of mass fraud.

Western neighbour Poland, traditionally a rival but now a member of the European Union which Ukraine aspires to join, was the first country to congratulate Yushchenko.

The EU said the poll paved the way for stronger co-operation.

Kuchma's 10-year rule was marked by murky privatisations, widespread poverty, and political scandals such as the unexplained beheading of an investigative reporter and suspected arms sales to pariah states.

"For 14 years we have been independent. Now we have become free," Yushchenko told supporters gathered in Kiev's Independence Square, site of more than two weeks of mass protests against last month's rigged election.

"The people proved their power. They rebelled against probably the most cynical regime in eastern Europe."

 

However, Yanukovich said he would challenge the result.

"I will never recognise this defeat because there were violations of the constitution and of human rights in our country," he told a news conference.

He said he had no confidence in the Supreme Court's civil chamber, which annulled his victory.

"I will demand that our appeal, which is being prepared, be examined by the entire collegium of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. And that this should be done publicly.

"Only a blind man could have failed to see all the irregularities that occurred on election day."

Ukraine's top election official said he would defend any ruling by the Central Election Commission.

"Why should I be afraid of that?" Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted commission head Yaroslav Davydovych. "We can uphold our viewpoint in court, too."

The poll was praised in the West.

United States Secretary of State Colin Powell said the election appeared to have been full and free, calling it "a historic moment for democracy".

The EU Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said the contest "opens the way towards strengthened co-operation between the EU and Ukraine".

Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the election was "relevant to Nato's political relationship with Ukraine" and its aim of promoting regional stability.

The outcome suggests Yushchenko, his face disfigured by dioxin poisoning which he blames on a spiked dinner with the security services, will have a big enough margin of victory to carry out a major overhaul of key institutions.

His powers will be weaker than Kuchma's after a change in the law. Building cross-party support in the split parliament will be crucial.

In particular he must win support from the Russian-speaking community in eastern Ukraine.

How they scored

Official results from Ukraine's Central Election Commission.

Votes counted 99.8 per cent

* For Yushchenko, 52.03 per cent

* For Yanukovich, 44.16 per cent

* Turnout 77.22 per cent


- REUTERS