Food Poisoned Gorbachev, Paper Claims
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HAMBURG, West Germany — A West German newspaper reported today that Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev had to be hospitalized during his Black Sea vacation after suffering serious food poisoning.
The mass-circulation newspaper Bild, citing no sources for its story, said the Kremlin leader may have been the target of a poisoning attempt.
There was no Soviet comment on the report today. Gorbachev’s motorcade was seen traveling to the Kremlin this morning.
The West German newspaper also said Gorbachev escaped an apparent assassination attempt in February, when authorities found a police car filled with explosives in Rica the day before he visited.
Bild said Gorbachev had taken an unusually long vacation and had not been seen in public since Aug. 6. Kremlin officials, Bild said, had explained his absence as an extended vacation after hard work.
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