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Georgia's Saakashvili, Ukraine's Yushchenko, to Ring in New Year Together


Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is expected in Kiev Friday to take part in a New Year's Eve celebration rally with Ukraine's apparent president-elect Viktor Yushchenko and his supporters.

The two men, who have warm personal ties, will ring in the new year together, days after Ukraine's Central Election Commission declared Mr. Yushchenko the winner of last Sunday's runoff election.

Mr. Saakashvili came to power in January after accusing his country's government of electoral fraud and mounting a protest movement that forced then-Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze out of power.

Mr. Yushchenko's supporters have cited Mr. Saakashvili's "rose revolution" as an inspiration for their own movement.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Central Election Commission has rejected complaints of election fraud filed by Kremlin-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who ran against Mr. Yushchenko.

But a spokesman for the prime minister says he will not concede the election.

Some information for this report provided by AFP, AP.

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