Ukraine candidate placates 'foes'

Yushchenko has been trying to appeal to voters in the east

Ukraine's opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko has said there will be no political persecution if he wins a repeat presidential run-off.

He also vowed to serve the interests of the whole country, including supporters of his rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, in the east and south.

Mr Yanukovych, meanwhile, accused opposition members of intimidating his own supporters in western Ukraine.

Both rivals were campaigning on Friday ahead of the 26 December re-match.

I am counting on support of more than 60% [of the voters] Viktor Yushchenko Opposition leader Analysis: Compromise deal

Supporters of the West-leaning opposition leader have been scaling down 17 days of protests against the fraudulent run-off on 21 November.

The decision was taken after Wednesday's deal between opposition factions in parliament to make changes to the electoral law to avert vote-rigging and to transfers some presidential powers to parliament.

Mr Yanukovych - backed by Russia and also outgoing President Leonid Kuchma - won last month's run-off, but the results were later annulled by Ukraine's Supreme Court following claims of widespread fraud.

Mr Yanukovych earlier described the parliament's vote as a "soft coup d'etat".

In other developments on Friday:

• Mr Yushchenko is admitted to a Vienna clinic for further tests to determine the cause of his mystery illness that disfigured his face

• His wife tells ABC's Good Morning America she tasted poison on her husband's lips when she kissed him

• Mr Yanukovych's native Donetsk region postpones a self-rule referendum planned for 9 January

• Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has no objection to Ukraine joining the EU - in contrast to previous statements.

Yushchenko confident

Mr Yushchenko extended an olive branch to Mr Yanukovych's supporters in the predominantly Russian-speaking east.

"There will come a time when people in the east will know that I was born in eastern Ukraine and will know that I'm not a Nazi but the son of a prisoner," he told a news conference in Kiev.

I had to struggle not only against the opposition, but people in the government Viktor Yanukovych Prime Minister Euro press differ over vote

"There will be a time when people will learn that I was born on the east side of the Dnieper river and that I'm for development of every language in Ukraine, including Russian," he said.

He promised there would be no witch-hunting after the poll, in which he hoped to gain more than 60% of the votes - provided the balloting was fair.

However, Mr Yushchenko promised to finish high-profile investigations, saying all those responsible could face legal prosecution .

He singled out the case of Ukraine's investigative journalist Georgiy Gongadze whose decapitated body was found four years ago.

'Liars and traitors'

"The vote results won't be fair," his rival, Mr Yanukovych told reporters at his own news conference in Kiev.

He accused the Yushchenko camp of trying to intimidate his supporters in the western regions of Ukraine where the opposition had been the dominant force.

Yanukovych's supporters say their candidate will triumph

Mr Yanukovych warned that this could prompt southern and eastern regions to reciprocate.

"If they think they can win in this way, I think they will get such a reaction in the east and south that they will never be able to handle it," Mr Yanukovych said.

He also distanced himself from Mr Kuchma, accusing the authorities of failing to stand up and defend the original election result.

"I feel very upset that I trusted these liars and traitors with whom I worked in the government," Mr Yanukovych said.