Yushchenko Heads to Switzerland for Medical Consultations

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Viktor Yushchenko, whose poisoning last year left his face deeply pockmarked, was heading to Switzerland Feb. 11 for medical consultations, his office said.

Yushchenko will be accompanied by Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Pyskun, who plans to meet with doctors at a Swiss dermatological clinic as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into Yushchenko's nearly fatal dioxin poisoning, the president's press office said.

A spokeswoman gave no details about the clinic or the treatment. Yushchenko expects to return to Ukraine on Feb. 13.

Earlier this week, Pyskun visited Vienna to speak with the doctors who treated Yushchenko after the poisoning last September.

Yushchenko fell ill after a dinner with the top two officials from the Ukrainian Security Service. The illness took him off the campaign trail for weeks and left his face badly scarred and discolored.

Subsequent tests confirmed Yushchenko was poisoned with a massive dose of dioxin. He has called it an assassination attempt.

During a meeting of business and political leaders in Switzerland two weeks ago, Yushchenko declined to comment on Swiss media reports that he had been treated at Geneva's University Hospital in early January. The hospital also refused comment on the reports, citing strict medical secrecy laws.

In an earlier interview with The Associated Press, Yushchenko said that the dinner with security officials was the most probable place where he was poisoned. Both security officials have denied any involvement in the poisoning.

Yushchenko won the presidency in a court-ordered revote on Dec. 26 following an earlier vote that the Supreme Court ruled was fraudulent.