Opposition MP Taras Chornovil is accusing Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko of overseeing the sale of X-55 missiles to China and Iran.
"The transaction could only take on such dimensions after arrangements with the prime minister who knew" about it, he added.
Yushchenko headed the Ukrainian government between December 1999 and April 2001 before joining the opposition to then president Leonid Kuchma and becoming president late last year.He has admitted that nuclear-capable cruise missiles were sold illegally to China and Iran under Kiev's previous regime but said the X-55 missiles were exported under a forged contract that had Russia as the country of destination.
The sale, which Iran denies, took place in May-June 2001. Chornovil said that news reports say the Yushchenko's brother Petro was involved with the sale and smuggling operations. Chornovil added:
"That is why the new president should assume full responsibility for these actions which increased the threat facing peace worldwide. I do not rule out that these operations could have been documented in numerous resolutions marked 'not for the press' which were issued by the then Cabinet. Yushchenko has not dropped the habit of issuing such resolutions even after his election to the presidential post," Chornovyl said.
Now we should probably wait and see what other evidence shows up, but if true this could explain Yushchenkos' reluctance to deal with the Melnychenko tapes.
Speaking of Tapegate, abdymok points to this article about the Gongadze murder case:
Inevitably, then, the Gongadze affair is now, in the words of Prosecutor-General Piskun, "a litmus test of democracy” in Ukraine. Yushchenko told the European Union in February that solving Gongadze’s killing was “a matter of honor for me and my team.”
On 1 March, he declared that “the former government not only lacked the political will to solve the case. The government gave cover to the murderers. The goal was to never solve the case.”
On the face of it, Yushchenko’s administration has the political will. The car used in Gongadze’s kidnapping has been found, two suspects have been arrested, and an arrest warrant has been issued for General Pukach. Yushchenko has promised to set up a special office to investigate other high-profile deaths.
This, as abdymok says, is close but gets no cigar. The author seems to take Melnychenko at face value which would be a mistake. Still, the article does touch on something that was written on the site weeks ago:
But some have another worry: that politicians’ fear of the impact of the Melnychenko tapes could increase a danger that has always been there: that a new administration drawn heavily from the old elite might become like the old regime. Already some are pointing to worrying signs.
Yushchenko’s declaration that the murder had been “solved” – a claim made before the case went to court – was seen as an act of rash bravura by some and by others as too strong an echo of the old regime.
It's about time that this starts getting some traction, even tough I suppose that we can't really accuse Tol of being part of the MSM.
For some background on Yushchenko's Tapegate go here.
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