KIEV (Reuters) - Viktor Yanukovich said on Friday he was resigning as Ukraine's prime minister, but refused to concede defeat in a presidential poll as a vast New Year crowd feted liberal Viktor Yushchenko's victory in Kiev's main square.
Yanukovich has denounced his rival's victory in the re-run of last month's rigged election and is pursuing legal challenges to overturn the outcome.
But in a New Year's address, he admitted the appeals to election authorities and the Supreme Court stood little chance.
UPDATE: 2005-blogger Tim Blair reports from next year: "Welcome to 2005. From my futuristic Australian vantage point, I can exclusively reveal that 2005 is very similar to 2004; except, of course, for all the hover bikes."
