The pro-Western president of Georgia interrupted an overseas trip and returned to the ex-Soviet republic Saturday amid tensions over the arrest of a former ally who accused the leader of involvement in a murder plot.
Former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili was arrested Thursday on corruption charges after alleging that President Mikhail Saakashvili ordered the killing of a well-known businessman. "Okruashvili and everybody else knows that all the things he said about me and about the country's leadership are unpardonable lies," Saakashvili said in televised remarks. Saakashvili returned overnight from the UN. General Assembly in New York instead of traveling directly to Greece for a visit starting Monday.
Deputy administration chief Eka Dzhodzhua declined to comment on the reason for Saakashvili's return. But it came hours after thousands of opposition supporters rallied in the capital Friday, calling for Saakashvili's resignation and possibly signaling the start of Georgia's most serious political crisis since the 2003 Rose Revolution brought him to power. [More]
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