RUSSIA MIKHAIL GORBACHEVS REACTION TO YELTSINS ILLNESS UPDATE

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Russian/Nat • • Former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev has said Boris Yeltsin is incapable of fulfilling his duties and should step down immediately. • • Speaking in an exclusive interview with APTV, the former Soviet president had few friendly words for his old political sparring partner. • • But German chancellor Helmut Kohl said on Thursday that he thought Yeltsin has an excellent chance of recovery following his recent heart surgery. • • Boris Yeltsin's opponents are renewing their call for his resignation following the Kremlin's confirmation that the Russian president has pneumonia. • • The 65-year-old president was hospitalised Wednesday, two weeks after he returned to work. • • Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev is one of Yeltsin's critics - he says the Russian leader is a sick man and should quit. • • SOUNDBITE: (Russian) • Our president is physically unable to work. Politically, he has outlived himself, too. We've had the elections, but, as a matter of fact, still have no president. We just don't have a president! • SUPER CAPTION: Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet president • • Gorbachev said Yeltsin today reminded him of his days in the politburo under the ailing Leonid Brezhnev and other geriatric Soviet leaders. • • Yeltsin's speech, gait and inability to address the problems facing Russia bear striking similarities, Gorbachev said, to the old Soviet Kremlin bosses. • • SOUNDBITE: (Russian) • There are many similarities between Brezhnev and Yeltsin: the way they walk the same way , the same difficulty in speaking, the same pretence of working two or three hours a day when actually no real work is done... I took part in just this kind of sham when I was a • politburo member under Brezhnev. Such were the rules of the game. • SUPER CAPTION: Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet president • • While calling on Yeltsin to resign his office for the good of the country, Gorbachev admitted that he held out little hope that the Russian president would heed his plea. • • Gorbachev believes the ailing Russian leader will do everything possible to stay in power. • • SOUNDBITE: (Russian) • Knowing Boris Nikolayevich the way I do, I doubt very much he will make this wise and responsible step of resigning. I've followed his political career since the fall of the Soviet Union, and my conclusion is Yeltsin is not the kind of person to resign. He doesn't have it in him . He will do everything possible to keep the country in political turmoil, will continue to divide and rule and do his utmost to remain in power. • SUPER CAPTION: Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet president • • But doctors who've treated the 65-year-old president say otherwise. • • The president's heart surgeon says Yeltsin's condition is good and that his current illness is unrelated to recent heart surgery. • • German chancellor Helmut Kohl on Thursday had better things to say about the hospitalised Russian president. • • Kohl was in Russia for talks with Yeltsin only last Saturday and said he had found him to be alert and eager to get back to business. • • But Kohl also urged the president to take it easy. • • SOUNDBITE: (German) • I think he has a good chance (of recovery) if he takes care of himself. That is also what I told him. And one thing I think is important - that is he wants to carry out his office. For me that is no sign of resignation. • SUPER CAPTION: Helmut Kohl, German chancellor • • As it happens, Yeltsin is far from alone in his illness. • • Moscow health officials estimate that 64-thousand people in the Russian capital have contracted the flu -- or something like it -- since New Year's Day. • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you... • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

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