GEORGIA: Authorities threaten to track down opposition leader as protests continue

Georgian authorities threatened on Tuesday (November 6) to launch an international manhunt for President Mikhail Saakashvili's arch foe after he surfaced in Germany and accused Georgia's leader of corruption. The television interview by former defence minister Irakly Okruashvili injected fresh momentum into opposition protests -- which have attracted thousands since Friday -- calling for the resignation of close U.S. ally Saakashvili for corruption and economic mismanagement. "Irakly Okruashvili is still a defendant. Nobody retracted charges and he is released on 10 million (Georgian) lari ($ 6 million) bail and I want to remind everyone that this is an unprecedented sum. If he (Irakly Okruashvili) does not return to Georgia on the first demand of the prosecutor-general's office the bail will be transferred to the state budget. His preventive punishment will be changed into a stricter one and the search for him begins," Deputy Prosecutor-General Nika Gvaramia told a news briefing. Outside the parliament in central Tbilisi protesters gathered for a fifth successive day and some demonstrators joined four opposition politicians on a hunger strike to press for the president's resignation. Fiery nationalist Okruashvili first took aim at Saakashvili in September, alleging that his former boss had plotted the murder of a businessman and had overseen massive corruption. His charges, vigourously denied by Saakashvili, galvanised the previously disunited opposition but also led to his arrest. A few days later, looking tired and dazed, Okruashvili was released on bail of $6 million after retracting all his allegations in a televised statement. On Monday (November 5), in his first public comments since his release from jail, Okruashvili said in a broadcast from Germany that he had been pressured into retracting the allegations, insisted once again that they were true, urged Saakashvili to resign and said that he was now a political refugee. All lies, deputy Prosecutor-General Gvaramia said. The speaker of Georgia's parliament, Nino Burjanadze, on Tuesday called for constructive dialogue, and appealed to opposition leaders to avoid actions and statements that could inflame and already tense situation. "I call for calm. I call everybody to think together about the future of our country and do our best on our post and positions to contribute to the benefit of our country. And we should do it not by rallies and "loud slogans", not by threats and blackmail but by normal constructive dialogue," said Burjanadze during an address in parliament. Saakashvili has flatly rejected the opposition's demands for his resignation and for early parliamentary elections. He says the protests are the work of "dark forces", hinting that former imperial master Russia is behind them. Moscow denies involvement. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described Saakashvili's comments as a "farce" on Tuesday, adding: "I believe that the Georgian nation deserves a better future, and in this it can have Russia's support." Thousands have protested in the Georgian capital Tbilisi since Friday in the biggest challenge to Saakashvili's authority since he came to power in a peaceful 2003 revolution. The opposition's main accusations against Saakashvili are that his government is corrupt and authoritarian. It also says the benefits of economic growth have not been felt by ordinary Georgians. Most critics do not question his pro-Western line.

ITN Source | November 7, 2007

Tags:. .nobody. .tired. .revolution. .protesters. .plotted