Opposition leader urges delay in poison inquiry 

Ukrainian Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko called yesterday for a serious investigation to determine how he was poisoned by dioxin, but urged that it be conducted after the December 26 presidential runoff election to avoid influencing the results.

Doctors at Vienna's elite Rudolfiner clinic said tests run over the weekend proved beyond a doubt that it was dioxin poisoning that caused a mystery illness in September that left Yushchenko disfigured and in pain.

"I don't want this factor to influence the election in some way - either as a plus or a minus," Yuschenko said as he headed back to Kiev.