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No Sign of Truce in Georgian StandoffWith a little help from Moscow, the leader of the Black Sea region of Ajaria continues to defy the leaders of Georgia's revolution.
By Eteri Turadze in Batumi (CRS No. 209, 11-Dec-03)
Georgia's new government and the province of Ajaria remained on a collision course this week after acting president Nino Burjanadze failed to persuade Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze to recognise the provisional central authority in Tbilisi and accept the upcoming presidential election.
Burjanadze met with Ajaria's leader for nearly six hours behind closed doors in the Ajarian capital Batumi on December 10, but no breakthrough was made.
"There are so many problems between the centre and the region, and they go back so many years, that one meeting is clearly not enough to settle them," Burjanadze told reporters after the meeting. "It's now the turn of Zurab Zhvania to come to Batumi. If needed, I will also come back as many times as necessary."
The decision by Russia to ease visa restrictions for Ajarian residents has further enflamed the row between Tbilisi and the rebellious province.
Abashidze is now the only regional leader still refusing to recognise the new administration in Tbilisi headed by Burjanadze, Zhvania and Mikael Saakashvili - the leaders of mass rallies that forced ex-president Shevardnadze's resignation on November 23.
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http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/cau/cau_200312_209_1_eng.txt
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