Yeltsin: I knew about Lewinsky plot before Clinton
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MOSCOW, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Russia's former President Boris Yeltsin said Saturday that intelligence sources had told him of the Republican "action" to use the Lewinsky scandal to disgrace President Clinton, but chose not to warn him.
In a televised interview Saturday before his book, "The Presidential Marathon," hits Moscow bookstores, Yeltsin also said he felt guilty for the mistakes he'd committed by sending troops to quell the rebellion in Chechnya.
In his trademark open-hearted style, Yeltsin also spoke emotionally about his daughter and aide, Tatyana, admitted without hesitation that he did not like Mikhail Gorbachev and that he felt guilty for the mistakes he'd committed by sending troops to quell the rebellion in Chechnya.
In a relaxed conversation, Yeltsin spoke for nearly 20 minutes with Konstantin Ernst, the head of the state-controlled ORT television network, and reflected on some of the issues he had written about at length in his book.
The interview was taped at Yeltsin's Gorky-9 residence, a country villa outside Moscow that was provided to him after his surprise resignation last December by his successor, Vladimir Putin.
In a warm, cozy atmosphere, Yeltsin dwelt upon a host of issues he tackled in his book, which encompasses the period from his 1996 re-election up to his resignation.
Asked about his relationship with the U.S. president, Yeltsin said that they had met quite often, "around 20 times," and added that one incident -- the Lewinsky scandal -- could not change his attitude toward Clinton.
"I learnt from our foreign intelligence that the Republicans were preparing such an action long before it actually happened," Yeltsin said. "I had an opportunity to warn him."
"I didn't do it -- in the first place, it seemed disgusting. Secondly, I could hardly believe that it was true. And finally, I thought Bill Clinton was capable of dealing with the issue himself."
Yeltsin praised Clinton and their mutual efforts to reduce the threat to global security and described their relations as "good."
He said that he had continued to meet occasionally with former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and former Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.
Yeltsin had words of respect for another president, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev whom he never liked and had often fought with before ascending to power as the leader of a new Russia in 1991.
"No matter how much they may have criticized him, but he (Gorbachev) nonetheless came to epitomize an epoch in the life of the country," said Yeltsin.
"This should not be forgotten even if you criticize him or dislike him and I don't like him."
Speaking of his last years in office, Yeltsin dismissed speculations that he was influenced by some of Russia's most influential business tycoons, also dubbed as "oligarchs," who had reportedly pumped cash into his re-election campaign in 1996 in exchange for wide liberties in their business dealings afterward.
Yeltsin admitted, though, that he could be influenced... by his daughter, Tatyana Dyachenko, explaining that he saw nothing bad in turning to his kin for a piece of advice.
"There is a difference between influencing and pressurizing someone," he said. "I am not the kind of man who you can pressurize... it's useless. But Tatyana, she's my daughter, my adviser... she left when I left and she's still doing a great deal of work helping me."
Dyachenko was widely regarded to be the only person who could influence the strong-willed Yeltsin and many observers speculated that it was she who was making numerous important political decisions instead of her father.
She was also rumored to have transferred large sums of money to private bank accounts abroad and to have bought an estate and a luxurious villa in the south of France.
None of these rumors were officially confirmed.
Asked about his greatest regrets and mistakes committed during the eight and a half years in the Kremlin, Yeltsin singled out the Chechen campaign, saying he felt responsible for the plight of Russian servicemen whom he had sent to intervene in the breakaway republic in 1994.
"The guilt for Chechnya cannot be taken off me, the grief of many mothers and fathers."
Asked whether a different way out could have been found to resolve the issue of Chechnya, Yeltsin responded negatively.
"There was no other way to deal with it, but it was me who took the decision (to send troops). Therefore, I am responsible."
Among his accomplishments Yeltsin named the establishing of a democratic society, the introduction of the free market and the emergence of Russia as a power the international community should reckon with.
He also underlined the importance of a smooth, peaceful, civilized transfer of power, so uncharacteristic of Russia whose czars and communist leaders were often deposed through plots, conspiracy and murder.
Speaking about his 10 months of retirement, Yeltsin said that it had been difficult for him to get accustomed to a slower pace of life. He still gets up at 5 a.m. and feels the need to work.
He didn't say anything regarding his possible comeback on Russia's political scene, adding that his plans in the near future include paying visits to the heads of the former Soviet republics whose invitations keep pouring in.
Earlier in the day Saturday, Yeltsin held a reception that gathered many government officials and the his former associates who came to congratulate him on his new book.
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov greeted Yeltsin as others, including former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, privatization mastermind Anatoly Chubais and former Kremlin administrator Pavel Borodin were also on hand to pay tribute to Yeltsin's work.
The book was published by AST publishing house and will appear in the Russian capital's bookstores on Oct. 10.
The copies of its translation into several European languages will appear in Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States on Oct. 18. |
