NEWSBRIEFS (08/11/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Belarusians seek asylum in Ukraine

KYIV - Three Belarusian citizens on August 6 applied for political asylum in Ukraine, claiming they were persecuted in Belarus for opposition views and activities, the Associated Press and UNIAN reported. Uladzimir Bukhanau, Svyataslau Shapavalau and Syarhey Korneu said in a statement to the media that Belarusian prosecutors frequently questioned them and that they were subject to police beatings and had friends who died under strange circumstances. They also said their opposition activities included the dissemination of anti-government leaflets. The Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv did not comment on the request, but noted that the men are not political or public leaders in Belarus and had previously been denied political asylum in Russia and Germany, the AP reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Opposition agrees on protest action

KYIV - Socialist Party lawmaker Yosyp Vinskyi told UNIAN on July 25 that the opposition has agreed to hold a nationwide protest action on September 16 to demand early presidential elections. According to Mr. Vinskyi, the protest will involve activists of the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine. The action is scheduled to coincide with the second anniversary of the disappearance of journalist Heorhii Gongadze. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Communists list conditions for protests

KYIV - Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko has listed conditions for the participation of his comrades in the opposition protest actions planned for this fall, UNIAN reported on August 6. According to Mr. Symonenko, the protests should focus on forcing early presidential elections and forming a "democratic and efficient political system" in Ukraine. Mr. Symonenko stressed that the Communist Party has different "strategic goals" than the right-wing opposition and added that the Communists are not going to decide "at the present stage" on an opposition presidential candidate for a possible early ballot. The Communist leader said he is aware that Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, as well as the Socialist Party will support Viktor Yushchenko for the post of Ukraine's president. According to Mr. Symonenko, the promotion of Mr. Yushchenko as a presidential candidate during the planned protest would run "counter not only the needs of the leftist movement but, first and foremost, those of the Ukrainian people." Simultaneously, Mr. Symonenko warned opposition parties against attempts by "the ruling regime to use ideological differences between opposition groups [to pursue] its dirty and greedy interests." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tymoshenko Bloc concurs with CPU

KYIV - Responding to the August 6 statement by Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc said the same day that it agrees with many proposals by the Communist Party of Ukraine regarding the goals of the protest campaign planned for this fall, the UNIAN news service reported. In particular, the bloc stressed that the main goal of the planned protest campaign is to "form an efficient political system and a professional governing team" as well as to force an early presidential election in Ukraine. The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, like the Communist Party, believes that the issue of whom the opposition should support in a possible early presidential election should not be raised during the upcoming protest campaign. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Medvedchuk shrugs off threat of protest

KYIV - Presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk told journalists on August 2 that some opposition leaders' recently announced plan to hold a protest action in September was motivated by their desire to achieve "political dividends," UNIAN reported. "It is likely that some political forces, taking into account their failure during recent political developments, have decided to compensate [this failure] and to call for a revolution," Mr. Medvedchuk said. He said that "there will be no revolution," adding that "our Ukrainian society is ready and able to give an adequate answer to those seeking to destabilize the situation in Ukraine." (RFE/RL Newsline)

UFO theory rejected as cause of crash

LVIV - The government commission investigating the tragic crash of a fighter jet at an air show in Lviv on July 27 flatly denied media reports that an unknown object in the air caused the disaster, the Associated Press reported on August 6. "The reasons are known. Military and civil organizers of the event caused the tragedy," 1+1 Television quoted commission Chairman Yevhen Marchuk as saying. Mr. Marchuk's comments came after German RTL television showed video footage of an unidentified cylindrical object speeding under the plane just seconds before the crash. Calling for an end to "cheap sensationalism," Mr. Marchuk said investigators analyzed every possible cause and concluded that organizational failures and pilot error caused the crash. On August 7 Mr. Marchuk said the two pilots of the jet are primarily to blame for the tragedy. "The pilots failed to follow the flight plan and performed four difficult maneuvers that they had not done before," he said at a press conference announcing results of the investigation. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Oil flows into Odesa-Brody pipeline

ODESA - A tanker carrying 30,000 tons of Caspian oil arrived at the Southern (Pivdennyi) oil terminal in Odesa on August 4 and began unloading the following day, the UNIAN news service reported. This is the first oil received by the Southern terminal of the Odesa-Brody oil pipeline, which is part of Ukraine's ambitious Eurasian Oil-Transporting Corridor for supplying Caspian oil to Europe. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rep. Schaffer expresses condolences

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.), a co-chairman of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, on July 30 issued a statement on the deaths of 83 people when a fighter jet crashed on July 27 into a crowd of spectators at a weekend air show outside of Lviv. "I am truly saddened by news of the tragic air crash at the Lviv airshow this past weekend in which 83 people - including 23 children - lost their lives and scores of others were injured. My prayers and deepest sympathies go out to the families touched by this terrible tragedy," he said. (Office of Congressman Bob Schaffer)

Poland sends aid to air crash victims

LVIV - A shipment of medicines and other medical material worth some 50,000 zlotys ($12,000) sent from Poland's southeastern region reached Lviv hospitals on July 29, the PAP news service reported. Another shipment of aid prepared by local governments was sent to Lviv on July 30. The Caritas church-charity organization from the Rzeszow region has also joined the effort to collect donations. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S.: no evidence of arms sales to Iraq

WASHINGTON - There is no evidence that Ukraine has transferred military equipment to Iraq, but the United States remains "extraordinarily sensitive" to that issue, Reuters reported on August 1, quoting a senior official at the U.S. State Department. "The Ukrainians have incredible technology, especially missile technology, and we know that there are countries with less-than-good reputations who would love to have that technology," the official told a small group of reporters on condition of anonymity. He urged Ukraine to put more safeguards around its missile technology or risk having security concerns hurt its bid to join NATO, the Associated Press reported. "There's no evidence that there have been military transfers from Ukraine to Iraq," the official added. Media reports in April alleged that Ukraine may have sold four radar systems to Iraq in violation of United Nations sanctions. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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