Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko sacked the government of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday, saying cabinet members and other top aides had lost their "team spirit."

"I knew that there were definite contradictions between these people...I hoped that there would not be enough time for intrigues," Yushchenko said at a news conference.

He would ask regional governor Yuri Yekhanurov, a former economics minister who now heads a parliamentary committee on industrial issues, to form a new cabinet, said the president who came to power in January.

"I am setting before the new team one task -- the ability to work as one," he stressed.

Earlier in the day, Yushchenko also accepted the resignation of Petro Poroshenko the head of the Security and Defense Council, a close ally who quit after two other top officials resigned, accusing him of corruption.

Yushchenko's chief-of-staff, Oleksandr Zinchenko, resigned Saturday and also leveled charges of corruption against high-level officials, including Poroshenko.

Earlier Thursday, Vice Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko became the second top official to step down in a week, accusing Poroshenko and others of corruption.

A special commission has been ordered by security authorities to be set up to investigate all corruption allegations against high officials.

Yushchenko said Thursday in televised remarks that conflicts between Poroshenko and Tymoshenko have "became the everyday agenda."

The trust between Tymoshenko's partners was "zero," he noted.

The president said he had decided to act because "this now concerns not only government interests... but also the goals of the voters."

Yushchenko said on Wednesday that personal conflicts between members of the government "caused serious damage not only to the team's reputation, but also to the government's image," according to his office.

"Responsibility for this lies with everyone...it's time to work for the country," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2005)