International Herald Tribune
Quiet end to Georgia standoff
Seth Mydans/NYT NYT Friday, March 19, 2004
Concessions bring region back into fold
TBILISI, Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili said Thursday that he had won
key concessions from the leader of the renegade province of Adzharia and
that he would lift a four-day-old economic blockade.
“The sanctions will be lifted from midnight tonight because we have resolved
all the issues that led to this misunderstanding which arose between the
local administration and the Georgian government,” he said after meeting
with the leader, Aslan Abashidze, in the provincial capital, Batumi.
“I want to underline that there is no conflict with Adzharia and such a
conflict cannot be,” he said.
The deal defuses a crisis that was touched off Sunday when armed men
supporting Abashidze had refused to allow the president to enter Adzharia.
Saakashvili had placed Georgian troops on alert and Abashidze had declared a
state of emergency in his fiefdom and had sent armed men into the streets.
The standoff had threatened to have international repercussions as officials
from Moscow, which has a military base in Adzharia, had voiced support for
Abashidze.
According to wire service reports from Batumi, Abashidze will allow
parliamentary elections to proceed on March 28, will review the cases of
imprisoned opponents and will disarm his paramilitary militias.
Officials from the central government in Tbilisi will be based in Batumi to
assure that the government receives customs duties that Abashidze had
withheld in the past, the reports said.
Abashidze later said, “The meeting showed that there are no issues that
cannot be resolved.”
The specifics of the agreements were not made public and it was not clear
how much Abashidze had conceded of the economic and military control he had
exercised in what Saakashvili had likened to “a feudal chief from medieval
times.”
Political analysts here said it appeared that the president had earned at
least short-term concessions from Abashidze that would allow the election to
proceed and pro-government supporters to campaign.
Abashidze has harassed and arrested opponents and made it almost impossible
for supporters of the central government to campaign or move freely.
Saakashvili has said Abashidze’s “time is past” and analysts said it was
difficult to see how a compromise could be reached that would allow him to
remain in office. He was one of the last supporters of Eduard Shevardnadze
last November when he was driven from the presidency by a peaceful uprising
led by Saakashvili.
Before traveling to Batumi on Thursday morning, Saakashvili had sounded a
tough note, saying, “I am not going to be horse-trading with anyone or
meeting anyone halfway. The law should be observed across all of Georgia’s
territory. We are not doing any deals.”
He added: “We are speaking here about my subordinate.”
The meeting in Batumi was accompanied by rowdy televised scenes of crowds
chanting, “Babu! Babu!” – a word that means “grandfather” – in support of
Abashidze and other protesters in the distance chanting Saakashvili’s
nickname, “Misha! Misha!”
The blockade, which began on Monday, was causing economic disruption in
neighboring Turkey and Armenia and particularly in Azerbaijan, where
thousands of rail cars carrying oil to the port at Batumi were stranded on
sidings.
Oil exports set to resume
Georgia’s second-largest oil port, Batumi on the Black Sea, will resume oil
exports at midnight Thursday, after the blockade against Ajaria is lifted,
port officials said, Bloomberg News reported.
Georgia had been blocking the approaches to Batumi with gunships.
< < Back to Start of Article Concessions bring region back into fold
TBILISI, Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili said Thursday that he had won
key concessions from the leader of the renegade province of Adzharia and
that he would lift a four-day-old economic blockade.
"The sanctions will be lifted from midnight tonight because we have resolved
all the issues that led to this misunderstanding which arose between the
local administration and the Georgian government," he said after meeting
with the leader, Aslan Abashidze, in the provincial capital, Batumi.
"I want to underline that there is no conflict with Adzharia and such a
conflict cannot be," he said.
The deal defuses a crisis that was touched off Sunday when armed men
supporting Abashidze had refused to allow the president to enter Adzharia.
Saakashvili had placed Georgian troops on alert and Abashidze had declared a
state of emergency in his fiefdom and had sent armed men into the streets.
The standoff had threatened to have international repercussions as officials
from Moscow, which has a military base in Adzharia, had voiced support for
Abashidze.
According to wire service reports from Batumi, Abashidze will allow
parliamentary elections to proceed on March 28, will review the cases of
imprisoned opponents and will disarm his paramilitary militias.
Officials from the central government in Tbilisi will be based in Batumi to
assure that the government receives customs duties that Abashidze had
withheld in the past, the reports said.
Abashidze later said, "The meeting showed that there are no issues that
cannot be resolved."
The specifics of the agreements were not made public and it was not clear
how much Abashidze had conceded of the economic and military control he had
exercised in what Saakashvili had likened to "a feudal chief from medieval
times."
Political analysts here said it appeared that the president had earned at
least short-term concessions from Abashidze that would allow the election to
proceed and pro-government supporters to campaign.
Abashidze has harassed and arrested opponents and made it almost impossible
for supporters of the central government to campaign or move freely.
Saakashvili has said Abashidze's "time is past" and analysts said it was
difficult to see how a compromise could be reached that would allow him to
remain in office. He was one of the last supporters of Eduard Shevardnadze
last November when he was driven from the presidency by a peaceful uprising
led by Saakashvili.
Before traveling to Batumi on Thursday morning, Saakashvili had sounded a
tough note, saying, "I am not going to be horse-trading with anyone or
meeting anyone halfway. The law should be observed across all of Georgia's
territory. We are not doing any deals."
He added: "We are speaking here about my subordinate."
The meeting in Batumi was accompanied by rowdy televised scenes of crowds
chanting, "Babu! Babu!" - a word that means "grandfather" - in support of
Abashidze and other protesters in the distance chanting Saakashvili's
nickname, "Misha! Misha!"
The blockade, which began on Monday, was causing economic disruption in
neighboring Turkey and Armenia and particularly in Azerbaijan, where
thousands of rail cars carrying oil to the port at Batumi were stranded on
sidings.
Oil exports set to resume
Georgia's second-largest oil port, Batumi on the Black Sea, will resume oil
exports at midnight Thursday, after the blockade against Ajaria is lifted,
port officials said, Bloomberg News reported.
Georgia had been blocking the approaches to Batumi with gunships.
Concessions bring region back into fold
TBILISI, Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili said Thursday that he had won
key concessions from the leader of the renegade province of Adzharia and
that he would lift a four-day-old economic blockade.
"The sanctions will be lifted from midnight tonight because we have resolved
all the issues that led to this misunderstanding which arose between the
local administration and the Georgian government," he said after meeting
with the leader, Aslan Abashidze, in the provincial capital, Batumi.
"I want to underline that there is no conflict with Adzharia and such a
conflict cannot be," he said.
The deal defuses a crisis that was touched off Sunday when armed men
supporting Abashidze had refused to allow the president to enter Adzharia.
Saakashvili had placed Georgian troops on alert and Abashidze had declared a
state of emergency in his fiefdom and had sent armed men into the streets.
The standoff had threatened to have international repercussions as officials
from Moscow, which has a military base in Adzharia, had voiced support for
Abashidze.
According to wire service reports from Batumi, Abashidze will allow
parliamentary elections to proceed on March 28, will review the cases of
imprisoned opponents and will disarm his paramilitary militias.
Officials from the central government in Tbilisi will be based in Batumi to
assure that the government receives customs duties that Abashidze had
withheld in the past, the reports said.
Abashidze later said, "The meeting showed that there are no issues that
cannot be resolved."
The specifics of the agreements were not made public and it was not clear
how much Abashidze had conceded of the economic and military control he had
exercised in what Saakashvili had likened to "a feudal chief from medieval
times."
Political analysts here said it appeared that the president had earned at
least short-term concessions from Abashidze that would allow the election to
proceed and pro-government supporters to campaign.
Abashidze has harassed and arrested opponents and made it almost impossible
for supporters of the central government to campaign or move freely.
Saakashvili has said Abashidze's "time is past" and analysts said it was
difficult to see how a compromise could be reached that would allow him to
remain in office. He was one of the last supporters of Eduard Shevardnadze
last November when he was driven from the presidency by a peaceful uprising
led by Saakashvili.
Before traveling to Batumi on Thursday morning, Saakashvili had sounded a
tough note, saying, "I am not going to be horse-trading with anyone or
meeting anyone halfway. The law should be observed across all of Georgia's
territory. We are not doing any deals."
He added: "We are speaking here about my subordinate."
The meeting in Batumi was accompanied by rowdy televised scenes of crowds
chanting, "Babu! Babu!" - a word that means "grandfather" - in support of
Abashidze and other protesters in the distance chanting Saakashvili's
nickname, "Misha! Misha!"
The blockade, which began on Monday, was causing economic disruption in
neighboring Turkey and Armenia and particularly in Azerbaijan, where
thousands of rail cars carrying oil to the port at Batumi were stranded on
sidings.
Oil exports set to resume
Georgia's second-largest oil port, Batumi on the Black Sea, will resume oil
exports at midnight Thursday, after the blockade against Ajaria is lifted,
port officials said, Bloomberg News reported.
Georgia had been blocking the approaches to Batumi with gunships.
Concessions bring region back into fold
TBILISI, Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili said Thursday that he had won
key concessions from the leader of the renegade province of Adzharia and
that he would lift a four-day-old economic blockade.
"The sanctions will be lifted from midnight tonight because we have resolved
all the issues that led to this misunderstanding which arose between the
local administration and the Georgian government," he said after meeting
with the leader, Aslan Abashidze, in the provincial capital, Batumi.
"I want to underline that there is no conflict with Adzharia and such a
conflict cannot be," he said.
The deal defuses a crisis that was touched off Sunday when armed men
supporting Abashidze had refused to allow the president to enter Adzharia.
Saakashvili had placed Georgian troops on alert and Abashidze had declared a
state of emergency in his fiefdom and had sent armed men into the streets.
The standoff had threatened to have international repercussions as officials
from Moscow, which has a military base in Adzharia, had voiced support for
Abashidze.
According to wire service reports from Batumi, Abashidze will allow
parliamentary elections to proceed on March 28, will review the cases of
imprisoned opponents and will disarm his paramilitary militias.
Officials from the central government in Tbilisi will be based in Batumi to
assure that the government receives customs duties that Abashidze had
withheld in the past, the reports said.
Abashidze later said, "The meeting showed that there are no issues that
cannot be resolved."
The specifics of the agreements were not made public and it was not clear
how much Abashidze had conceded of the economic and military control he had
exercised in what Saakashvili had likened to "a feudal chief from medieval
times."
Political analysts here said it appeared that the president had earned at
least short-term concessions from Abashidze that would allow the election to
proceed and pro-government supporters to campaign.
Abashidze has harassed and arrested opponents and made it almost impossible
for supporters of the central government to campaign or move freely.
Saakashvili has said Abashidze's "time is past" and analysts said it was
difficult to see how a compromise could be reached that would allow him to
remain in office. He was one of the last supporters of Eduard Shevardnadze
last November when he was driven from the presidency by a peaceful uprising
led by Saakashvili.
Before traveling to Batumi on Thursday morning, Saakashvili had sounded a
tough note, saying, "I am not going to be horse-trading with anyone or
meeting anyone halfway. The law should be observed across all of Georgia's
territory. We are not doing any deals."
He added: "We are speaking here about my subordinate."
The meeting in Batumi was accompanied by rowdy televised scenes of crowds
chanting, "Babu! Babu!" - a word that means "grandfather" - in support of
Abashidze and other protesters in the distance chanting Saakashvili's
nickname, "Misha! Misha!"
The blockade, which began on Monday, was causing economic disruption in
neighboring Turkey and Armenia and particularly in Azerbaijan, where
thousands of rail cars carrying oil to the port at Batumi were stranded on
sidings.
Oil exports set to resume
Georgia's second-largest oil port, Batumi on the Black Sea, will resume oil
exports at midnight Thursday, after the blockade against Ajaria is lifted,
port officials said, Bloomberg News reported.
Georgia had been blocking the approaches to Batumi with gunships.