Ukraine leader, opposition reach deal to end crisis

KIEV: Ukraine's leader and opposition said Friday they had agreed a deal to end the splintered country's worst crisis since independence after three days of carnage left nearly 100 protesters dead and the heart of Kiev resembling a war zone.
President Viktor Yanukovych's dramatic announcement that he was ready to hold early elections and form a new unity government was brief and met with caution by the tens of thousands gathered on central Kiev's main square for a protest that began exactly three months earlier.
However, Ukraine's nationalist opposition leader Oleh Tyahnybok said the protesters had conditionally agreed to the terms.
"It was decided to approve the decision to sign the agreement with the president on the condition that the (current) interior minister is not in the next government and the attorney general is replaced," he was quoted as saying by Ukraine's Interfax news agency.
The European Union confirmed that a "temporary" agreement had been reached after marathon talks with Yanukovych and opposition leaders that began  Thursday and stretched into Friday afternoon, according to a news agency.