Austrian doctors who have been treating the presidential candidate said blood and tissue tests revealed concentrations of the chemical 1,000 times above normal levels.

Dr Michael Zimpfer, the head of Vienna's Rudolfinerhaus clinic, said further tests would establish whether Mr Yushchenko, who first fell ill in September, had also been poisoned by another toxin.

"Dioxin is easily absorbed by the body and might have been used as a carrier to facilitate the passage of other substances into the body," said Dr Zimpfer. "If, for example, arsenic had been used, it would have taken effect quicker had dioxin been used as a carrier."

His patient's condition was now satisfactory. "But if this dose had been higher, it may have caused death."

The test results are the latest twist in the presidential poll campaign.

Mr Yushchenko has said he believes that he was poisoned by supporters of Ukraine's outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma. His illness kept him out of early stages of the campaign and left his face bloated and pockmarked.

Voters will return to the polls on December 26 after the supreme court ruled that last month's run-off election was rigged in favour of the prime minister and Mr Kuchma's preferred successor, Viktor Yanukovich.

Supporters of Mr Yanukovich, who is backed by the government in Moscow, had claimed that Mr Yushchenko's illness was caused by bad sushi, too much cognac or a sexually transmitted disease.

Mr Yushchenko did not attend yesterday's press conference and refused to comment on the findings.

The opposition leader was in a critical condition when first seen by the Austrian doctors, suffering abdominal pain and unsightly lesions on his face and body.

His liver, pancreas and intestines were swollen and his digestive tract covered in ulcers. The Rudolfinerhaus did not initially test him for dioxin poisoning, partly because his skin changes were not so severe at first.

Dioxin is a component of Agent Orange, the herbicide used by the Americans in Vietnam and blamed for causing birth defects and cancer.

Mr Yushchenko's American-born wife, Kateryna Chumachenko, said at the clinic that she had been convinced that he had been poisoned.

"We had received threats before it happened and we continued to receive threats," she said. "I think there are many people who consider my husband and the changes he would bring to Ukraine a threat to them personally."

(The Independent, UK)

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