The headquarters of an independent Georgian television station which played a part in the downfall of veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze came under grenade attack yesterday. The attack heightened tension ahead of a January 4 presidential election in which Mikhail Saakashvili, who led street protests that brought down Shevardnadze, is widely expected to triumph. A grenade fired from a shoulder-held launcher hit the studio of Rustavi-2 in the capital Tbilisi in the early morning, damaging the stationâs editing suites, security officials said. No one was injured. âThis was a real terrorist attack,â said State Minister Zurab Zhvania. He said the culprits were people opposed to stability in the volatile ex-Soviet state on the southern fringes of Russia. âIt (the grenade) struck concrete between floors. If it had gone into the building, the results would have been much more serious,â State Security Minister Valery Khaburdzania told reporters at the scene. âI think this was not just to frighten, like before, because there could have been casualties,â said the stationâs owner Erosi Kitsmarishvili. Rustavi-2 has been the target of intimidation in the past. Founded privately 10 years ago, the station became sharply critical of Shevardnadze during his years in power and at one point was shut down for 18 months. It played a part in toppling Shevardnadze in November by rallying people to turn out in support of street protests against a parliamentary election said to have been rigged in favour of Shevardnadzeâs supporters.
| Dire Revenge™ on the part of Shevardnadze die-hards? Seems kind of pointless, but I'm sure they'll be running a surrogate. Kitsmarishvili is probably on somebody's hit list. |
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