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Citing coup threat, Georgian president declares emergency

Camouflaged police patrolled the Georgian capital Tbilisi yesterday and news programs were shut down at the start of a state of emergency ordered after clashes between police and opponents of Georgian President Mikheil Saashvili.

About 200 riot police were visible in the city center, where on Wednesday police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of demonstrators.

The government imposed a 15-day state of emergency after the violence, which Saakashvili -- a strongly pro-Western leader aiming for NATO and EU membership -- described as a Russian-backed coup attempt.

The decree banned demonstrations and imposed a near-total news blackout.

Georgia's opposition urged supporters not to defy the police.

"We have told everybody to calm down," said Davit Usupashvili of the opposition Republic Party.

Amid already strained Georgian-Russian relations, Georgia gave the Russian embassy the names of three diplomats being expelled on spying charges, Georgian state TV reported.

Vyacheslav Kovalenko, the Russian ambassador, told Interfax news agency described the expulsions as "an unprecedented provocation."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said: "Georgia is getting close to a serious human rights crisis."

Russia's speaker of parliament, Boris Gryzlov, said that "bloodshed has already begun."

The Health Ministry said 589 people sought medical help during Wednesday's clashes, which started when police broke up a six-day-old protest rally, and that 20 remain hospitalized.

For many residents of Tbilisi, the brutal scenes on Wednesday and the subsequent state of emergency ended their dreams of transforming the ex-Soviet republic of under 5 million people into a Western-style democracy.

"I'm going to work as normal but it's already a different country. I never believed such a thing could happen," said Nugzar Talavadze, a 47-year-old trader.

Saakashvili, who came to power in the peaceful 2003 Rose Revolution, on Wednesday accused neighboring Russia of fomenting the unrest.

Announcing the state of emergency, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said Saakashvili had decided on the measure to prevent "a coup d'etat."
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