| An emboldened Russia is making more moves in the Caucasus. Beware. |
Mr Saakashvili was speaking after riot police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse opposition demonstrators staging a sixth day of protests. The health minister said 250 people had been admitted to hospital.
Mr Saakashvili has rejected the protesters' accusations of corruption and says he will not quit. In a televised address, Mr Saakashvili said his country faced "a very serious threat of unrest". "High ranking officials in Russian special services are behind this," he said, adding that he had evidence.
| The background is this: once Saakashvili's party won in 2003, the opposition, mostly pro-Russian, was too disorganized to do much about it. Russia helped them out and they're now united in a common front. Plus, Russia has been egging problems on in the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Georgia would like to reclaim. Now that Putin's about solidified his hold on his own parliament and has his feet on the Euros' natural gas pipelines, he's moving to fix his problems in the south. |
Police used tear gas and water cannon after several thousand protesters tried to occupy Rustaveli Avenue - Tbilisi's main thoroughfare. The BBC's Matthew Collin in Tbilisi says the police action provoked chaos among the demonstrators, sending them running for cover.
| Excellent! |
| Nary a word about Vlad's authoritarian tendencies. |
The authorities said they had to act to unblock the city's main thoroughfare and stop protesters from setting up a tent camp there. A government official said the rally could continue on the pavement.
Opposition supporters have been gathering outside parliament every day since Friday, when 50,000 people attended the largest street protest seen since the 2003 "Rose Revolution" that brought pro-Western Mr Saakashvili to power.
The protesters accuse him of corruption and of not doing enough to tackle poverty. They are calling for the president's resignation and want a fresh election.
Many of the protesters back the president's former ally, Irakli Okruashvili, who was arrested last month. Mr Okruashvili was detained shortly after he said Mr Saakashvili had plotted to kill a top businessman. He was later released on a multimillion-dollar bail and went to Germany. The government says Mr Okruashvili's accusations are "false and baseless".