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Ukrainian Parliamentary Panel Says Kuchma Behind Gongadze Kidnapping

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A Ukrainian parliamentary commission says former President Leonid Kuchma organized the 2000 kidnapping of an opposition journalist who was later found murdered.

The panel said Tuesday it unanimously agreed on Mr. Kuchma's role in the abduction and forwarded the report to Ukraine's prosecutor general.

It also said that Mr. Kuchma's then chief-of-staff and current Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn was the instigator of the crime against Georgy Gongadze, who was a frequent critic of the Kuchma government.

Both Mr. Kuchma and Mr. Lytvyn have denied any involvement.

Assailants kidnapped Mr. Gongadze, an Internet journalist and editor, five years ago this month. His headless body was found two months later in a forest outside Kiev.

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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