Pakistan’s anti-drone campaigner Imran Khan removed from US airline for interrogation

 

Pakistani politician Imran Khan (AFP Photo / A Majeed)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/us-immigration-drone-strikes-398/

US immigration authorities have taken Pakistan’s former cricket superstar-turned-politician Imran Khan off a flight to New York and interrogated. Khan is known for his anti-drone campaigning.

Khan, who is now a popular political figure in Pakistan and ahead of the Pakistan Movement for Justice party (PTI), was removed from an American Airlines flight heading from Canada to New York and interrogated. Immigration officials asked him whether he was planning to protest in the US, as well as demanding to know his views on drone strikes and jihad.

Earlier this month, the former cricket star led thousands of Pakistani protesters, together with some US anti-war advocates, on a march from Islamabad to the tribal region of South Waziristan in opposition to US drone strikes. About 15,000 of his supporters joined him in the high-profile march, which focused attention on the strikes that have killed large numbers of civilians. Islamabad recently said that 80 percent of drone-related deaths were civilians.

“I was taken off the plane and interrogated by US Immigration in Canada on my views on drones. My stance is known. Drone attacks must stop,” Khan wrote in a tweet after being questioned on Friday. Khan had been on his way to the US to give a speech and attend a fundraiser organized by his political party, which the delay caused him to miss.

“Missed flight and sad to miss the fundraising lunch in NY but nothing will change my stance,” he tweeted.

Furthermore, Khan said the official who was questioning him did not seem to understand drone warfare himself. He also expressed confusion over why he was granted a visa to visit the US given if his stance on drones was a problem.

Khan heads a political party that was founded in 1996 and ignored for years. The PTI was called “Pakistan’s one-man party” by the US Department of State. Today, it is rapidly growing, with electable officials joining. The Pakistani leader believes the War on Terror “has been devastating for Pakistan,” he said in an interview with Julian Assange in June.

“Basically, our army was killing our own people,” he said.

He is an avid opponent to US presence on Pakistani soil – even when it came down to the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011. The US mission to kill the former terrorist leader in Pakistan shows that “our ally did not trust us,” the politician said.

Rather than employ Pakistan as “a hired gun, being paid to kill America’s enemies,” Khan believes the US should trust that there will not be terrorism coming out of Pakistan.

Several Canadian commentators have suggested that groups protesting Khan’s entrance to the US may have influenced Immigration to pull him off the flight. The American Islamic Leadership Coalition last week requested that Hilary Clinton attempt to revoke his visa due to what they believe are sympathetic views towards the Taliban.

“The US Embassy made a significant error in granting this Islamist leader a visa,” the group said in a statement reported by the Sun. “Granting individuals like Khan access to the US to fundraise is against the interest of the people of Pakistan and the national security interests of the US.”

Ali Zaidi, a senior PTI party leader, demanded an apology from the US government for removing Khan from the plane. So far, no apologies have been made, and Immigration officials have only restated their policies.

“Our dual mission is to facilitate travel in the United States while we secure our borders, our people, and our visitors from those that would do us harm like terrorists and terrorist weapons, criminals, and contraband,” Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Joanne Ferreira told the Toronto Sun.

Cheney says Canada too dangerous for visit

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/231567.html

Former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney has cancelled an April appearance in Toronto citing concerns Canada is too dangerous.

“He felt that in Canada the risk of violent protest was simply too high,” said Ryan Ruppert, president of promotions company Spectre Live Corp., which had booked Cheney for an April 24 appearance at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

“They specifically referenced what happened in Vancouver,” Ruppert added. “God forbid there was ever an emergency,” said Ruppert, noting Cheney’s history of heart problems. nationalpost

Cheney’s last Canadian appearance in September of 2011 erupted in violence as protesters swarmed the entrance of the private Vancouver club where the former Bush administration official and Iraq War architect was speaking.

Vice President Cheney was trapped inside the venue for more than seven hours as police in riot gear attempted to disperse the crowd and quell to the resulting melee. rawstory

Cheney, who along with former President George W. Bush remains unpopular in Canada, had been slated to talk about his time in office and the current U.S. political landscape.

Cheney was Bush’s vice-president from 2001 to 2009

Tymoshenko backers start sit-in in Kiev

Supporters of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko gather outside the Kiev court where her trial is being held on August 5, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/192687.html

Supporters of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko have started an indefinite sit-in to protest her detention until she is released.

Over 100 supporters, including members of parliament, have pitched about 30 tents near the courthouse in Kiev, vowing to continue their sit-in until Tymoshenko is released, AFP reported.

Meanwhile Tymoshenko's right-hand man, Olexander Turchinov, has said the protests could lead to a repeat of the 2004 Orange Revolution that could be victorious by September.

Ukrainian prosecutors have charged Tymoshenko with abuse of office, accusing her of illegally forcing state energy company Naftogaz to sign a gas supply contract with Russia in 2009.

The former prime minister has repeatedly denied the charges, saying that the trial is part of a plot devised by her archrival, President Viktor Yanukovych.

The judge in her trial ordered her placed under arrest for contempt of court on Friday.

The current charges carry a sentence of between seven and 10 years in prison.

Over 400 officials are currently on trial in Ukraine, but Tymoshenko is the most prominent figure being prosecuted.

Former Ukrainian PM arrested

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/192539.html

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been taken to a detention center on the orders of the judge at her trial for “systematically violating courtroom proceedings.”

After Judge Rodion Kireyev adjourned the court until Monday, Tymoshenko was driven away from the court under a heavy police escort on Friday, with members of the opposition chanting “Shame,” Reuters reported.

Hundreds of her supporters took to the streets of downtown Kiev, and Tymoshenko's party has called for members of her bloc to stage more rallies in front of the courthouse in the capital.

Ukrainian prosecutors charged Tymoshenko with abuse of office, accusing her of illegally forcing state energy company Naftogaz to sign a gas supply contract with Russia in 2009.

Tymoshenko is Ukraine's leading opposition politician and the most formidable opponent of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, who says her actions in the gas deal with Russia were a “betrayal of national interests.”

The former prime minister has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Since the start of the trial in June, Tymoshenko has openly mocked Judge Kireyev in the courtroom, refusing to stand when addressing him and calling him “Yanukovich's puppet.”

The European Union has also censured Ukraine for putting Tymoshenko on trial for her criticism of the president's policy, saying that the European country “must do more to show its commitment to rule of law and put an end to such spurious proceedings.”

Tymoshenko, who twice served as prime minister between 2005 and 2010, says the case against her is “politically motivated” and has been “fabricated on the orders of Yanukovich,” who only narrowly defeated her in last year's presidential election.

Over 400 officials are currently on trial in Ukraine, but Tymoshenko is the most prominent figure being prosecuted.

US arrests hospitalized peace activist

CODEPINK peace activist Rae Abileah at George Washington University Hospital

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/181820.html

The US police have arrested a peace activist who was hospitalized after being severely assaulted by a pro-Israeli pressure group for interrupting the Israeli premier's speech at Congress.

Police apprehended CODEPINK peace activist Rae Abileah at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C., the group reported on its website.

Abileah interrupted Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at US Congress on Tuesday, with a banner that read, "Occupying Land Is Indefensible" and shouting, "No more occupation, stop Israel war crimes, equal rights for Palestinians, occupation is indefensible."

When Natanyahu began to speak about the global movement for more democracy, the 28-year-old Jewish American woman rose up to speak out for the human rights of Palestinians, but AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) members of the audience assaulted her and tackled her to the ground.

AIPAC is one of the most powerful political pressure groups in the US that spends large sums of money on US lawmakers to ensure unconditional and comprehensive support for the regime in Tel Aviv.

Following the attack, the severely-battered Abileah was immediately transferred to hospital.

In his Tuesday speech, Netanyahu once again rebuffed the US call for Israel's retreat from a part of Palestinian lands.

He also implied that contrary to Iran, Israel respects freedom and allows opposition groups to express their views.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been expelled from their homeland to the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as countries in the region and worldwide since the 1948 Israeli occupation.

Consequently, Israel has encouraged the immigration of Jews from all over the world to the occupied Palestinian lands.

"I am in great pain, but this is nothing compared to the pain and suffering that Palestinians go through on a regular basis," said the CODEPINK activist from her hospital bed.

CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end US-funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect resources into humanitarian projects.

Mubarak dismisses government

Egyptian President says he will not allow protests to jeopardise reforms

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011128222033802146.html

The Egyptian president has dismissed his government, saying that he will replace it with a new one on Saturday.

"I have asked the government to resign and tomorrow there will be a new government," Hosni Mubarak said in an address to the nation late on Friday after four days of deadly protests.

The president said that change can not be achieved through chaos but through dialogue.

Saying he understood that the people of Egypt wanted him to address poverty, employment and democratic reform, he promised to press ahead with social, economic and political reforms.

"We will not backtrack on reforms. We will continue with new steps which will ensure the independence of the judiciary and its rulings, and more freedom for citizens," Mubarak said.

He said new steps will be taken "to contain unemployment, raise living standards, improve services and stand by the poor."

Reacting to the protests that have erupted in the capital and other cities, Mubarak urged calm, adding that only because of his own reforms over the years, were people able to protest.

'Not enough'

His words, however, are likely to be interpreted as an attempt to cling to power rather than take concrete steps to solve some of the more pressing problems facing many Egyptians, primarily unemployment and rapidly rising food prices.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Cairo, said many Egyptians calling for change would say the sacking of the government is not enough.

"Ultimately in Egypt, the power lies with the president," he said.

"On paper, you have an independent parliament and an independent judiciary but every Egyptian will tell you that at the end of the day, power is concentrated in the hands of the president.

"Very few institutions can challenge his authority so the sacking of the cabinet is not going to end the grievances of the people."

A somber looking Mubarak called anti-government protests "part of a bigger plot to shake the stability and destroy legitimacy" of the political system.

He also defended the security forces' crackdown on protesters, saying he had given them instructions that the protesters be allowed to express their views. But, he said, acts of violence and vandalism left the security forces with no choice but to react to restore order

Mubarak will step down: Brotherhood

Egyptians attend anti-government demo in Cairo on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162481.html

The Muslim Brotherhood has said that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will be stepping down.

At 11:51 p.m. Cairo time on Friday night, the Muslim Brotherhood's website Ikhwanweb.com posted the sentence: “Semi-confirmed: The dictator will step down, his family fled the country secretly.”

Tens of thousands of protesters across the country turned out after Friday prayers and clashed with police.

Egyptian authorities shut down internet and cell phone service in the country on Thursday and imposed a curfew in major cities.

At least 21 people have been killed and dozens of others have been injured since the demonstrations against unemployment, corruption, and rising prices began four days ago.

Over 1,000 people have been arrested during the protests.

Worldwide protests back Egypt uprising

Riot police force protestors back across the Kasr Al Nile Bridge as they attempt to get into Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo on January 28, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162430.html

Hundreds of people around the world have held demonstrations near Egyptian embassies to support the ongoing protests against President Hosni Mubarak.

In Turkey, groups of people gathered outside the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara in a show of solidarity with protesters in Egypt.

In London, demonstrators called on the Egyptian authorities to avoid the use of force against protesters.

In the Tunisian capital of Tunis, a similar rally was held in front of the Egyptian Embassy to support the uprising in Egypt.

"We are here to say that the Tunisian people are behind the Egyptian people. They have suffered in the way that we suffered. It's time for change," AFP quoted one protester as saying.

A demonstration is also expected in Germany to show solidarity with Egyptian protesters.

Egyptian security forces have clashed with protesters in the capital Cairo and several other cities where rallies are held against the government of Mubarak.

Thousands of protesters have defied an overnight curfew and to stay on Cairo's streets.

The Egyptian government initially announced an overnight curfew in the districts of greater Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. But later it was extended to the whole country.

Security forces have been replaced with army troops on the streets of Alexandria while reports say security forces have opened fire on thousands of protesters in Suez.

Latest reports say at least five people have been killed during Friday's protests, bringing to 14 the number of those killed in the unrest. Scores of others have been wounded in the massive protests.

Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, earlier called on all Egyptians to take to the streets. Sources say the opposition leaders brace for massive arrests across the country.

The Egyptian government has cut all cell-phone and Internet services amid anti-government demonstrations that began after the Friday prayers.

The army has also been brought in and military vehicles are seen on the streets of the capital following violent clashes between police and protesters.

Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei was among other top figures, who attended the rally.

Reports say ElBaradei has been placed under house arrest after joining the massive anti-government protests in Cairo.

Security forces initially prevented ElBaradei from leaving a mosque in Giza.

The mosque was under siege for several hours before ElBaradei was put under house arrest.

ElBaradei has said he would help head a transitional government if Mubarak steps down.

Many more people including opposition activists have been arrested. Protesters want an end to the decades-long rule of Mubarak.

13 killed in Suez in 4 days

Tear gas is used during anti-government demonstrations in Suez, Egypt

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162480.html

At least 13 people have been killed and 75 injured in anti-government demonstrations in the Egyptian city of Suez over the past four days.

On Friday, thousands of Egyptian protesters stormed the main police station in the port city of Suez, overwhelming security forces and raising an even bigger challenge to the embattled regime of President Hosni Mubarak.

The protesters freed prisoners from the city jail, destroyed armored police vehicles, then sacked the building and looted its contents.

The demonstrators emerged from Friday prayers at mosques in Suez and confronted police outside the station. Police fired at the demonstrators, who then surged forward to take over the police station. The protesters dragged fleeing riot police off their motorbikes and seized their batons and equipment, AFP reported.

They also set at least a half dozen armored vehicles on fire.

After storming the police station, protesters removed its contents -- refrigerators, desks, files, and other equipment

Friday evening was the first time the army was deployed on the streets. It was not immediately clear what role it would play or how troops would react to the protesters.

Some demonstrators held banners saying: "Everyone against one" and chanted "Peaceful, peaceful, peaceful, no violence." Others threw shoes at and stamped on posters of Mubarak.

As clashes intensified, police waded into the crowds with batons and fired volleys of tear gas.

On Thursday, the Egyptian government vowed to crack down on demonstrations and arrest participants and went so far as to block the internet, mobile phones, and SMS services on Thursday night in order to disrupt the planned demonstrations.

Before Egypt shut down internet access, activists were posting and exchanging messages using social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter, listing more than 30 mosques and churches where protesters were to organize on Friday.

'US supports Mubarak, not Egyptians'

Riot police clash with protestors on the Kasr Al Nile Bridge, Cairo, on January 28, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162467.html

A political analyst says the US call on the Egyptian authorities to heed demands for reforms is a charade, as Washington will continue to support President Hosni Mubarak.

In an apparent change of tone, the Obama administration on Friday expressed its deep concerns about the use of violence by Egyptian police and security forces against protesters and urged Egyptian authorities to respect citizens' rights.

"Events unfolding in Egypt are of deep concern. Fundamental rights must be respected, violence avoided and open communications allowed," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley tweeted.

Crowley's remarks, however, contradicts Washington's earlier stance on Egypt's protests which were accompanied by mild expressions of support for Mubarak.

"Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things. And he's been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with-with Israel. …I would not refer to him as a dictator," US Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday.

Some political analysts, however, believe that there is no change in the US stance toward Egypt and that Washington still fully supports Mubarak's regime.

"There is no ambiguity about what [the US] stance is. The Egyptian military and police are completely supported and backed by the US and by the Central Intelligence Agency," the author of The Hidden History of Zionism Ralph Schoenman told Press TV in an interview.

"It's a country selling regime that does the bidding of US and Israeli policy in the region at the expense of the very livelihood and survival of its own people," he added.

On Friday, tens of thousands of protesters across the country turned out after Friday prayers and clashed with police.

In response to the mass protests, Egyptian authorities shut down Internet and cell services in the country and imposed curfew in major cities.

So far, at least 14 people have been killed and dozens of others have been injured since the protests against unemployment, corruption and rising prices began four days ago.

Up to 1,000 people have been arrested during the protests.

Egypt clamps down on media, Internet

Egptian protesters trampling the picture of President Hosni Mubarak

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162366.html

The Egyptian government has stepped up its clampdown on the media and communications services ahead of massive protests expected after Friday prayers.

Internet services and cell phone text messaging have been cut across the African country to prevent the organizers of the protests from further connection, AFP reported on Friday.

On Thursday, Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, called on the country's people to continue the protests after the weekly Muslim prayer congregation of Friday.

At least 20 members of the opposition group, including five former parliament representatives, were detained overnight Friday, the group's lawyer Abdelmoneim Abdel Maqsoud said.

The Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, Essam al-Arian, warned that Egypt will “explode” if the government continues its policy of repression and does not listen to the people.

The government has taken tougher actions by heavily deploying security forces especially in the capital, Cairo and has warned of decisive measures against the dissidents.

US President Barack Obama has urged the Egyptian government to shun violence saying the recent demonstrations have provided an opportunity for the government to adopt political reforms.

The country's prominent opposition figure, Mohamed ElBaradei, who has just arrived in Egypt form Vienna, has expressed readiness to lead the protest movement with the aim of enabling a “peaceful transition” of power.

Reports say that at least nine people have been killed and hundreds arrested during the past three days of unrest that aims at putting an end to President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule.

Street protests that commenced in Egypt four days ago were inspired by the recent uprising in Tunisia that led to the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

20 Egypt opposition members detained

Egyptian riot police roam the streets during clashes with anti-government protesters at night in Suez, Egypt Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162353.html

At least 20 members of Egypt's opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, have been arrested as tensions rise ahead of the Muslim Friday prayers, the group's lawyer says.

Abdelmoneim Abdel Maqsoud said that the members, including five former parliament representatives, were detained overnight Friday, AFP reported.

Although Egyptian authorities have banned protests, the Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday called on people to gather en masse and continue the demonstrations in their fourth day after the Friday prayers.

The Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, Essam al-Arian, warned that Egypt will “explode” if the government continues its policy of repression and does not listen to the people.

The ruling regime in Cairo has disrupted Internet service and deployed special operations counterterrorism forces on the side of several roads in capital Cairo.

Egypt's interior ministry has warned of “decisive measures” against anti-government protests that have turned into the country's largest uprising since President Hosni Mubarak came to power three decades ago.

US President Barack Obama called on Mubarak on Thursday to make "absolutely critical" reforms, boosting pressure on the key US ally. However, an Israeli minister said the Egyptian government will have to exercise force to rein in public protests.

The country's prominent opposition figure, Mohamed ElBaradei, who has just arrived in Egypt form Vienna, has expressed readiness to lead the protest movement with the aim of enabling a “peaceful transition” of power.

According to opposition group, Egyptian riot police have cracked down on the anti-government protesters, killing at least nine people and arresting up to 1,200 activists in the past three days of protests.

Students arrested in LA for heckling Israeli envoy

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118327§ionid=3510203


At least eleven students have been arrested over their interruption of a lecture by the Israeli ambassador to the US at the University of California, Irvine.

Michael Oren was invited to the university by the Jewish Federation of Orange County to speak about Israeli views on the status of the Middle East and Tel Aviv's relationship with Washington.

However as the ambassador was addressing the crowded auditorium, he was interrupted for at least ten times by anti-Israeli students.

"Michael Oren, propagating murder is not an expression of free speech," the first of the ten students yelled before being led away by university police.

The remainder of Oren's speech was drowned by similar remarks, with some students shouting "killer" and "how many Palestinians did you kill?"

By the end of the night, 11 students were arrested and cited for disturbing a public event.

They could face misdemeanor charges as well as university disciplinary hearings that could result in suspensions or dismissals, Cathy Lawhon, Media Relations Director at the UC-Irvine campus said.

The University's Muslim Union was not available for contact but it did issue a statement prior to the event, saying that it strongly opposed and condemned the ambassador's visit, a Press TV correspondent reported from Los Angeles.

"Israel continues its human rights violations, thereby breaking international law and law of Israeli accord," the group had said.

It also added that Israel has committed war crimes against the Gaza Strip and is responsible for the massacre of thousands of Palestinians.

Yanukovich claims victory in Ukraine run-off

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118145&sectionid=351020606

Ukraine's opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich has claimed victory in the country's presidential run-off vote, while rival Yulia Tymoshenko has refused to concede.

With almost 80 percent of votes counted, Yanukovich so far has a narrow lead of nearly four percentage points over Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is trailing with 45.87 percent of the ballot, the election commission said Monday.

However, Tymoshenko's camp has rejected the results, saying their "parallel count" sees them edging out their pro-Russian rival by 0.8 percent.

Even though the controversial vote has been monitored by 500 international observers, both candidates have accused each other of plotting to rig the vote.

Earlier in the day Yanukovich claimed victory and called on Tymoshenko, 49, to resign as prime minister.

"I think that Yulia Tymoshenko should prepare to resign. She understands that well," Yanukovich said in a television interview.

But looking stern before reporters, the co-architect of the 2004 Orange Revolution, urged her team to "fight for every result, every document and every vote."

She however stopped short of repeating her last week's threat that she'll "rally people" if she loses the race.

The bitterly contested presidential election resembles the October 2004 election in which fraud allegations triggered the Orange Revolution, leading to the cancelation of Yanukovich's official victory.

A re-run vote then propelled Tymoshenko and her then-ally President Viktor Yushchenko to power.

However, a sliding economy and five years of bitter political infighting has turned the "Orange" euphoria into frustration and disappointment.

Ukraine Election Signals Shift Towards Russia, Was Orange Revolution for Naught?

Source: The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0115/Ukraine-election-signals-shift-toward-Russia.-Was-Orange-Revolution-for-naught

By: Fred Weir

In Sunday presidential elections, Ukraine appears poised to shift back toward Russia, just five years after the Orange Revolution. Polls show its pro-Western leader Viktor Yushchenko with only 3 percent support.

Moscow - Just five years after Ukraine's Orange Revolution, which saw hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians mobilize peacefully to reject electoral fraud and embrace open democracy and a Westward path for their country, the country appears poised to shift back into Russia's waiting arms.

In a shock to many in the West, the front-runner in Sunday's presidential election is Viktor Yanukovych, whose alleged rigging of the tense 2004 presidential polls triggered three weeks of street protests in Kiev's central Maidan square that brought an unprecedented third round of voting that elected current President Viktor Yushchenko.

Mr. Yushchenko, the leader of the 2004 "Orange Revolution" who pried open a historic window on the West and tried to drag his former Soviet nation through it, is in trouble, running at a dismal 3 percent support in most opinion polls.

His former political ally, the fiery populist Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, is faring a bit better. With an estimated 15 percent backing, she seems set to win second place on Sunday and go forward to a decisive second round that would be slated for Feb. 7.

But most experts agree that Ms. Tymoshenko, a talented and flexible politician, has since made her peace with the Kremlin and, if elected, would be unlikely to press ahead with key elements of Mr. Yushchenko's agenda that deeply angered Moscow, such as joining NATO and evicting the Russian navy from its Black Sea base at the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

An opinion survey published by a Russian agency this week suggested dark horse candidate Sergei Tigipko, a wealthy businessman who has spent $11 million to build his image, might possibly edge out Tymoshenko for the coveted second place slot on Sunday. But, like other front runners, Mr. Tigipko has stated no views that might cause offence in Moscow.

In fact, the Kremlin appears so pleased with the geopolitical turn of events in Ukraine that it announced this week it will immediately send an ambassador to Kiev, even though the post has remained vacant since last summer and President Dmitry Medvedev vowed not to fill it as long as Yushchenko remained in office.

"Russia has not offered any support to any candidate in the Ukrainian elections, but we do see that all the likely winners are people who take a more realistic view of cooperation with Russia [than Yushchenko]," says Andrei Klimov, deputy chair of the Russian State Duma's international affairs committee. "I am quite certain that after these elections, Russian-Ukrainian relations will improve markedly," he says.

Wedged between Europe's eastern doorstep and Russia's backyard, Ukraine – if it does indeed shift eastward – could add ballast to Moscow's tussles with Europe over energy, politics, and security issues such as NATO expansion.

Ukrainians: Yushchenko squandered historic opportunity

Many Ukrainians blame Yushchenko for squandering the historic opportunity created by the Orange Revolution. Yushchenko rapidly fell out with his main ally, Tymoshenko, whom he fired as prime minister within months of their joint victory. By last year, after Tymoshenko had clawed her way back into the premier's job through parliamentary action, the squabbling between the two had virtually paralyzed the government.

"Most Ukrainians remember the Orange Revolution with warmth as a moment of solidarity, enthusiasm, and genuine democracy," says Viktor Nebozhenko, director of Ukrainian Barometer, an independent Kiev think tank. "But there is a widespread perception that politicians only used it as an instrument to gain power, and then forgot all the promises they made during those days."

Critics say Yushchenko pushed pro-Western and Ukrainian nationalist ideas too forcefully for a country where opinion surveys show about two-thirds of the population oppose joining NATO and about 1 in 3 people is a native speaker of Russian.

"Yushchenko did not behave like the president of the whole people, but as if he were the leader of one part of the population acting to suppress the other part," says Mikhail Pogrebinsky, director of the independent Center for Political and Conflict Studies in Kiev. "By the end of his term he looked more like a nationalist and a Russophobe than a democrat, and that was not going to help him in a such a diverse country, where polls show only about 10 percent of the population support extreme nationalist ideas."

A hoped-for influx of foreign investment following the Orange Revolution never materialized, and when the global financial crisis hit last year it sent Ukraine's economy plummeting by 15 percent and slashed the value of its currency, the hryvna, by half.

Did Russia outmaneuver Yushchenko?

Moscow, stung by Kiev's westward turn under Yushchenko, soon dropped its earlier system of energy subsidies and demanded that Ukraine start paying global market prices for Russian gas and oil. In a series of bitter "gas wars," including pipeline shutdowns that sometimes left downstream European customers of Russian energy shivering, Moscow compelled Kiev to accept the new terms

Some Ukrainian experts ruefully admit that in the gas wars, and other geopolitical battles, the Russians outmaneuvered Yushchenko, leaving Ukraine looking to Europeans like a capricious and unreliable partner rather than a victim of Kremlin strong-arming.

"When Russia talks to the West, they have the diplomatic, political, and other kinds of influence to move things their way," says Vira Nanivska, director of the City Institute, an independent political research center in Lviv. "Ukraine is like a baby compared to Russia in these matters. Our big achievement over these years is that Ukraine is still on the map."

Still, lasting positive changes

But Ms. Nanivska says Ukraine's open and competitive democracy, consolidated in the Orange Revolution, is a "solid historical fact" unlikely to be undone even if Ukraine takes a pro-Russian turn.

"You would not be seeing the possibility of the opposition returning to power if we did not have a fully functioning democracy," she says. "Today in Ukraine there is absolutely no fear of the ruling party, whoever they may be, and this is what the Orange Revolution gave us."

But there are concerns that Ukraine could be destabilized following Sunday's voting, especially if the results are close. One worrisome opinion survey released last week by the independent Ukrainian Sociological Service in Kiev found that 57 percent of Ukrainians think the election will be rigged. All sides have accused each other of preparing to falsify the vote tallies and threaten, if that happens, to summon their supporters into the streets to replay the Orange Revolution.

"There is a lot of suspicion out there, and some real possibilities for falsification," says Alexander Chernenko, chairman of the Committee of Ukrainian Voters, a grass-roots monitoring group.

"So we must hope for a clear result, and one that is open and transparent, or we might again face attempts to change the decision in the streets," he says.

Another dark episode that is, rightly or wrongly, associated with Mr. Yanukovych is the still unsolved dioxin poisoning of his main competitor Yushchenko early in the 2004 campaign, which has left the Ukrainian leader's face blotched and disfigured to this day.