KIEV, Ukraine — Presidential contender Viktor Yushchenko said Friday that he was increasingly certain he had been poisoned in an effort to assassinate him, and he temporarily left the campaign trail to spend the weekend at a private clinic in Vienna where he was to undergo further medical tests.
Yushchenko, widely viewed as a pro-Western democratic reformer, will face Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich in a Dec. 26 revote ordered by Ukraine's Supreme Court, which ruled their first runoff, in late November, invalid due to fraud.
With parliament's approval Wednesday of electoral law changes designed to prevent cheating, the focus of political energy here has shifted back from street protests to campaign activities. Both men said Friday that they were willing to debate each other. But Yushchenko later interrupted his activities to fly to Austria for the tests and treatment.
The opposition leader said at a news conference early Friday that forensic tests concerning his mysterious illness were underway and that results might be available soon. Illness struck him suddenly in September, affecting several of his organs and leaving his face disfigured with pockmarks and cysts.
"I don't just believe, but this belief is growing and growing, that what happened to me was an attempt to politically destroy a politician with opposing views," Yushchenko said. "The aim was to kill me."
Yushchenko has raised the allegation of poisoning before, and authorities have denied it, with some pro-government politicians ridiculing the idea. Doctors at the clinic have said they have been unable to prove or rule out the possibility that Yushchenko was poisoned. But in recent days they have stressed that his facial appearance could have been caused by dioxin poisoning and that this is one possibility being looked at.
Nikolai Korpan, the doctor at Vienna's Rudolfinerhaus clinic who oversaw Yushchenko's treatment, told reporters Wednesday that doctors were working on three poisoning theories, including one involving dioxin.
Yushchenko said that "dozens, even more than 100 poisons, were tested for."
"I'm in good physical shape," he added. "I'm on my way to full recovery."
Clinic director Michael Zimpfer said that in October, doctors attached a device to Yushchenko's back to inject anesthetic for his overpowering back pain. Zimpfer said he then traveled with Yushchenko to Ukraine to ensure that no problems arose.
