GEORGIA: Georgian opposition activists sped into the capital in buses, vans and cars yesterday, cheered by hundreds lining the streets, to push demands for President Eduard Shevardnadze's resignation.
As night fell, a long snake of lights from a convoy of vehicles approached Tbilisi, bringing thousands more opposition protesters and raising fears of clashes with pro-government followers already massed in the capital.
Supporters of main opposition leader Mr Mikhail Saakashvili said they would stop just short of the pro-government rally outside parliament to protest at "Freedom Square" where a statue of Vladimir Lenin was toppled after the Soviet Union fell in 1991.
Earlier, hundreds of interior troops and riot police blocked off roads surrounding the parliament and President Shevardnadze's offices.
"Shevardnadze's regime ends tonight," Mr Saakashvili told supporters in Tbilisi. "It is better for him to flee, otherwise tomorrow we will trample his regime."
Georgia's Security Council secretary said he feared the confrontation could plunge the country of about five million into even worse violence than during the civil war in the early 1990s.
"If there is a stand-off, it will be all-encompassing and much more dangerous than 10 years ago," Mr Tedo Japaridze told reporters, warning that the security services feared "bloodshed".
Opposition protesters have convulsed Georgia since a November 2nd parliamentary election, which they say the authorities stole. Official results on Thursday gave the two top spots to Mr Shevardnadze's allies.
With average salaries for state workers at just $20 a month, early protests over electoral abuses have snowballed into wider calls for Mr Shevardnadze's ousting over plunging living standards, corruption and the loss of territory to separatists.
Western powers and neighbours have appealed to both sides to resolve the standoff peacefully. - (Reuters)