Ukraine President Orders Probe Into Allies` Fight

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday ordered prosecutors to investigate a fight between Ukraine's interior minister and the mayor of Kiev that sparked a furore about post-Soviet business and political ethics.

Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko
Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko and Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky, broadly allies of Yushchenko, accused each other of corruption at a session of the National Security and Defence Council devoted to land use.

Officials present said that during a confrontation after the meeting Lutsenko, a leading figure in the 2004 "Orange Revolution" that catapulted the president to power, struck Chernovetsky in the face at least once.

In an unusual move, Yushchenko's chief of staff Viktor Baloha told reporters that the general prosecutor's office "must produce complete and objective conclusions with no political bias" in his report into the clash.

"Both men enjoy the trust of hundreds of thousands of people who put them in power for reasons other than their ability as boxers," he said of last Friday's incident.

The fight prompted politicians to call for the sacking of both men, while psychologists say the confrontation sent precisely the wrong signals to a public already highly distrustful of public figures.

Corruption allegations remain a top issue in most ex-Soviet states and have played a key role in recent Ukrainian politics.

The president's first government, elected after he won power following mass protests against election fraud, collapsed after it split into two camps, each accusing the other of corruption.

Lutsenko was interior minister in that government.

In last year's snap parliamentary election, he led a group closely linked to the president and was given his job back when liberal Yulia Tymoshenko became prime minister a second time last month.

Lutsenko has long called for a new election to replace mayor Chernovetsky, known for outlandish statements and his links to a religious group that draws large crowds to its rallies.

Source: Javno