Embattled Shevardnadze quits in Georgia (PROTESTERS WIN)

[matcom]

<snip>

MOSCOW -- Eduard Shevardnadze, a man who helped end the Cold War, resigned yesterday as president of Georgia, heading off a violent confrontation in this strategically important former Soviet state by bowing to the opposition's "velvet revolution."

Shevardnadze, 75, was the Soviet Union's foreign minister when the former Communist regimes of Eastern Europe fell in the late 1980s during mostly bloodless "people power" rebellions. In the end, he left office the same way, stepping down after the opposition, which accused him of trying to steal an election victory, threatened to storm his residence.

The longtime leader's remaining support evaporated when army units began joining the tens of thousands of protesters in the streets of the capital, Tbilisi. The crowd cried "victory," waved flags, and danced, and fireworks shot off overhead as one opposition leader, Mikhail Saakashvili, announced the resignation on national television.

Shevardnadze, who as Georgia's leader since 1992 had pursued a pro-Western foreign policy but had grown increasingly authoritarian and unpopular in the impoverished Caucasus nation of 5 million people, then addressed the country.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2003/11/24/embattled_shevardnadze_quits_in_georgia/

[Kellanved]

1. He just landed in Germany

No English story yet - seems that he bought a villa in southern Germany and will spend his exile there.



http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,275405,00.html

[TheLastMohican]

2. The last soviet dinosaur to be exiled to Germany

Bwahaha, he won't be missed. He was irritating all the parties, the US, the Russians, the Georgian opposition.
But beware: this "people's revolution" has a right-wing sound to it. And Georgia is on the brink of civil war as its regions Adjaria and Southern Osetia are planning to separate themselves from the rebellious center. This does not bode well for all the Georgians.

[DUreader]

3. Who really wins? Jim Baker has a hand in this

Big Energy

[Judi Lynn]

4. New Georgian Leaders Seek U.S. Cash for Fresh Vote

New Georgian Leaders Seek U.S. Cash for Fresh Vote
Mon November 24, 2003 07:13 AM ET

By Jon Boyle
TBILISI, Georgia (Reuters) - Georgia's new leaders, boosted by U.S. support for the bloodless ouster of President Eduard Shevardnadze, sought urgent financial aid on Monday and called for order and stability after the country's "velvet revolution."

A senior economic aide close to the interim president said Georgia would ask Washington for $5 million to stage new elections after a discredited November 2 parliamentary ballot which led to Shevardnadze's downfall.

Developments are being watched closely by Georgia's big neighbor Russia, and by Western powers wanting political stability to avoid problems with a pipeline being built through the territory to take Caspian oil to the Mediterranean Sea.

Shevardnadze, 75, resigned late on Sunday, bowing to three weeks of mass protests over economic mismanagement and widespread corruption during his 11 years in power, culminating in alleged vote-rigging in the November parliamentary polls. (snip/...)

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=SBCDWYZLAMZOMCRBAELCFFA?type=topNews&storyID=3880135

[ZenLefty]

5. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=236594

ZenLefty
DU Moderator