KIEV, Oct. 9 ??“ Former President Leonid Kuchma and his aides will be investigated for allegedly hampering investigation into the murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, according to a new inquiry launched by the Prosecutor General Office.

The inquiry focuses on Kuchma??™s sacking of then-Prosecutor General Sviatoslav Piskun in October 2003 after he had apparently made significant progress in the investigation, the PGO press service said Sunday.