Talks urged as Georgia violence erupts

EUROPEAN UNION officials have called for talks between Georgia’s opposition movement and President Mikheil Saakashvili, after protests aimed at forcing his resignation erupted into violence.

Twenty-three demonstrators and six policemen were injured on Wednesday when marchers gathered outside a police station where three opposition activists were being held in the capital, Tbilisi.

Officials said protesters tried to storm the building and were beaten back by police. Opposition figures accused the police of launching an unprovoked attack on the marchers and firing rubber bullets at them.

The clashes were the first to occur since a broad alliance of opposition groups launched protests on April 9th against Mr Saakashvili, whom they blame for starting a brief but disastrous war with Russia last August, for failing to fight poverty and corruption, and for seeking to silence critical voices in politics and the media.

Fears for the stability of Georgia – the West’s main ally in the strategic Caucasus region – intensified this week when Mr Saakashvili claimed to have quashed a Russian-backed mutiny at an army base near Tbilisi.