Ukraine parliament debates amnesty after 'civil war' warning

Ukraine's parliament today launched a debate on whether to grant amnesty for detained protesters as the country's first post-independence president warned of civil war.
A day after scrapping tough anti-protest laws that had ignited the latest political turmoil, deputies met in an extraordinary session to consider granting amnesty to those arrested in the anti-government unrest.
The debate came after Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his entire government resigned yesterday after weeks of protests that began when President Viktor Yanukovych pulled out of a key EU deal in favour of closer ties with Moscow in November.
Urging deputies to come to an agreement on the amnesty issue, former president Leonid Kravchuk warned parliament that the country was "on the brink of civil war".

"It is a revolution. It is a dramatic situation in which we must act with the greatest responsibility," Kravchuk, president from 1991 to 1994, said to applause and a standing ovation.
The crisis has reverberated internationally with Russian President Vladimir Putin criticising what he called "foreign interference" in Ukraine and US President Barack Obama voicing support for the protesters during his annual State of Union address yesterday.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was today set to hold talks on the crisis in Kiev.
Lawmakers had been unable to vote on the amnesty a day earlier after negotiations became bogged down over the authorities' insistence that protesters should vacate seized buildings and streets in Kiev before anyone was released.

Dozens of activists have been arrested since clashes broke out January 19 that resulted in the fatal shooting of three protesters.
The security forces have insisted they were not to blame for the killings, a claim met with incredulity by activists.
In a sign that negotiations between factions on the amnesty were proving tough, speaker Volodymyr Rybak ordered a break in the session until early afternoon for more talks.