Gorbachev in tirade against Yeltsin 'plot'

Moscow - The bitter row between President Boris Yeltsin and the ex-Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev, reached a new low yesterday when Mr Gorbachev used some unusally earthy language to describe what he sees as a Yeltsin plot to discredit him, writes Peter Pringle.

Efforts to get him to testify at the Constitutional Court's trial of the Communist Party - the core of the row with Mr Yeltsin - were doomed to failure, said Mr Gorbachev. 'I am not going to take part in this shitty trial,' he told a news conference. 'No one and nobody will force me to change my position.'

In the trial, Mr Yeltsin is seeking to justify his ban on the party and Mr Gorbachev has been called to give evidence, but has refused. In return, Mr Yeltsin ordered a ban on Mr Gorbachev travelling to Italy.