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GEORGIA STATE OF EMERGENCY ENDING FRIDAY
By Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili
Associated Press Writer
Thursday November 15, 2007 10:01 PM
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - A nationwide state of emergency imposed last
week amid a police crackdown on opposition protests will end Friday
under a measure approved overwhelmingly by Georgia's parliament.
The United States and other Western nations had pressured President
Mikhail Saakashvili to end the state of emergency imposed Nov. 7
after police violently dispersed opposition protests in the capital,
Tbilisi. Independent newscasts and demonstrations were also banned
as a result.
The West had warned the action harmed the U.S.-allied president's
efforts to integrate the small Caucasus nation into the European
Union and NATO.
Lawmakers voted 142-2 on Thursday to end the state of emergency at
7 p.m. Friday.
"The nation is no longer in danger, so there is no need to extend
the state of emergency," parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze said.
In Washington, the State Department welcomed the step but stressed
it had to be followed by other moves to restore accountable democracy.
"It's a positive development and it's an important development that
will put Georgia back on the democratic pathway after a brief detour,"
spokesman Sean McCormack said.
McCormack said the next steps should include "good, clean, free and
fair elections as well as open and transparent consultations about
future steps for Georgia's democracy."
In a bid to defuse the political crisis, the worst Saakashvili has
faced in nearly four years in power, he called early presidential
elections on Jan. 5.
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday denounced the early vote as a
"farce" to "keep the current government in power."
Saakashvili's efforts to break with Moscow, integrate into the
West and join NATO has put him on a collision course with a newly
confident Russia.
Last fall, the Kremlin responded to Georgia's detention of Russian
military officers on spying charges with a massive transport blockade
and expulsion of Georgians living in Russia.
On Thursday, Russia completed a withdrawal of troops based in Georgia
since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, although several thousand
remain as peacekeepers in two breakaway provinces despite protests
from the Georgian government.
The railroad convoy carrying 150 troops and equipment, which had been
based in Batumi in far southwestern Georgia, crossed the border into
Armenia near midnight, Col. Igor Konashenkov, Russia's Ground Forces
spokesman, told the ITAR-Tass news agency.
Russia had stationed several thousand regular troops at former Soviet
bases in Georgia since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Moscow had pledged
to withdraw them by the end of 2008, but accelerated the withdrawal
as tensions increased between the two neighbors.
Konashenkov said about 1,500 peacekeepers remain in Abkhazia
and another 500 are deployed in South Ossetia - the two breakaway
provinces. Georgia claims Russia has more soldiers in Abkhazia than
it is officially reporting and has estimated there are about 2,500
Russian troops there.
Saakashvili's government has accused the Russian peacekeepers
of backing separatists and pushed for their replacement with
a U.N. force. Russia says its peacekeepers were deployed as part
of peace agreements in the early 1990s that ended wars between the
rebels and the government in Tbilisi.
---
Associated Press Writer Vladimir Isachenkov contributed to this story
from Moscow.
By Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili
Associated Press Writer
Thursday November 15, 2007 10:01 PM
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - A nationwide state of emergency imposed last
week amid a police crackdown on opposition protests will end Friday
under a measure approved overwhelmingly by Georgia's parliament.
The United States and other Western nations had pressured President
Mikhail Saakashvili to end the state of emergency imposed Nov. 7
after police violently dispersed opposition protests in the capital,
Tbilisi. Independent newscasts and demonstrations were also banned
as a result.
The West had warned the action harmed the U.S.-allied president's
efforts to integrate the small Caucasus nation into the European
Union and NATO.
Lawmakers voted 142-2 on Thursday to end the state of emergency at
7 p.m. Friday.
"The nation is no longer in danger, so there is no need to extend
the state of emergency," parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze said.
In Washington, the State Department welcomed the step but stressed
it had to be followed by other moves to restore accountable democracy.
"It's a positive development and it's an important development that
will put Georgia back on the democratic pathway after a brief detour,"
spokesman Sean McCormack said.
McCormack said the next steps should include "good, clean, free and
fair elections as well as open and transparent consultations about
future steps for Georgia's democracy."
In a bid to defuse the political crisis, the worst Saakashvili has
faced in nearly four years in power, he called early presidential
elections on Jan. 5.
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday denounced the early vote as a
"farce" to "keep the current government in power."
Saakashvili's efforts to break with Moscow, integrate into the
West and join NATO has put him on a collision course with a newly
confident Russia.
Last fall, the Kremlin responded to Georgia's detention of Russian
military officers on spying charges with a massive transport blockade
and expulsion of Georgians living in Russia.
On Thursday, Russia completed a withdrawal of troops based in Georgia
since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, although several thousand
remain as peacekeepers in two breakaway provinces despite protests
from the Georgian government.
The railroad convoy carrying 150 troops and equipment, which had been
based in Batumi in far southwestern Georgia, crossed the border into
Armenia near midnight, Col. Igor Konashenkov, Russia's Ground Forces
spokesman, told the ITAR-Tass news agency.
Russia had stationed several thousand regular troops at former Soviet
bases in Georgia since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Moscow had pledged
to withdraw them by the end of 2008, but accelerated the withdrawal
as tensions increased between the two neighbors.
Konashenkov said about 1,500 peacekeepers remain in Abkhazia
and another 500 are deployed in South Ossetia - the two breakaway
provinces. Georgia claims Russia has more soldiers in Abkhazia than
it is officially reporting and has estimated there are about 2,500
Russian troops there.
Saakashvili's government has accused the Russian peacekeepers
of backing separatists and pushed for their replacement with
a U.N. force. Russia says its peacekeepers were deployed as part
of peace agreements in the early 1990s that ended wars between the
rebels and the government in Tbilisi.
---
Associated Press Writer Vladimir Isachenkov contributed to this story
from Moscow.