POLITICS: Viktor Yushchenko Inaugurated as President of Ukraine, page 1

Viktor Yushchenko was inaugurated Sunday as the president of Ukraine after a long battle which included a poisoning, voter fraud, massive street protests and a court-ordered election rerun. Yushchenko took the oath of office over a copy of the Ukrainian constitution and an ancient Bible. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell as well as other western leaders attended the ceremony.

www.foxnews.com
KIEV, Ukraine — Viktor Yushchenko was sworn in as president of Ukraine on Sunday, two months after huge protests over his loss in a fraud-plagued election plunged the ex-Soviet republic into political crisis.

Yushchenko, a Western-oriented reformer, took the oath in the Verkhovna Rada parliament, placing his hand on a copy of the constitution and an old Bible.

Afterward, some deputies repeatedly shouted "Yu-shchen-ko, Yu-shchen-ko," an echo of the chanting that filled Kiev during the showdown with his Kremlin-backed rival.

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This is a great victory for the Ukrainian people and democracy in general. The Ukrainians overcame Soviet-style strongarm tactics employed by the former regime and demanded that their choice prevail over the Russian-backed candidate. It will be interesting to see what happens in the Ukraine going forward.

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ABC News

[edit on 23-1-2005 by Banshee]